Spend a few moments sitting in an orientation class and you’ll hear the stirrings of nervous drivers who aren’t sure what to expect from their road test.
How intense will it be? Where are they going to take me? How long is it going to take? Am I going to fail?
Even though you’re a professional driver, you can still get a little nervous when it comes down to being judged on your skills. It can be nerve-racking, especially when you’re trying to get in at a company that you’re really excited about.
You don’t want to fail, and I certainly don’t want you to fail.
Are you worried about what to expect from the Anderson Trucking Service (ATS) road test?
Well, I'm here to tell you there’s nothing to be worried about. The road test shouldn’t make you nervous (though it’s totally understandable if it does). It’s just a way to show the company you know what you’re doing.
Nonetheless, I'm going to provide you with a comprehensive list of everything we cover in a road test so you know how to prepare yourself.
I help facilitate driver orientation for company drivers in Porter, Indiana. Among countless other tasks, I prep drivers for their road tests and carry out the road tests.
Here are my best insider tips to help you pass the road test with flying colors.
A road test is a comprehensive test truck drivers go through at driver orientation to ensure their driving skills are up to par with the carrier’s standards.
Carriers have a duty to their customers to deliver their freight safely and on time. To do so, they have to hire qualified, safe drivers and they have to make sure these drivers can safely operate the carrier’s equipment. Doing so is a requirement of the Driver Qualification (DQ) process.
It’s not enough to see a driver’s ability and experience on paper; carriers must also see their driving skills in person before they can move them through the orientation process and certify them to join the fleet.
Drivers must take the road test in the equipment they were hired to operate, and prove they can operate it well. For instance, if you plan to drive a manual transmission, you’ll take the test in a truck with a manual transmission.
Ideally, the road test will be performed in a setting similar to the one drivers will be driving in every day. For example, if you’re driving on highly-trafficked roads or you’ll do a lot of backing up in tight spaces in busy areas, the road test should be conducted there.
Whether you’re a company driver or an independent contractor at ATS, you’ll go through a road test at orientation.
Before the road test, you’ll go through a thorough presentation that details everything you can expect from the test, including how it’s scored and what could cause you to fail.
You may be confused about the test and why you have to take it if you're an experienced driver. Many companies will still require you to take a road test even if you've been driving for decades. The carrier needs to see your driving skills in person to ensure they meet driver qualifications.
The road test shouldn't be anything to worry about and goes quickly.
The test takes around an hour and you’ll drive about 10 miles.
The road test isn’t designed to make any of you veteran drivers reading this feel like you’re being watched. It’s just a chance for us to see your skills. When you’ve been on the road for a while, you start to get comfortable and you build habits.
It’s easy to relax into a routine and forget how to do certain things. Veteran drivers will surely tell you they’re guilty of adopting some habits or getting lax on others.
The road test helps us to see if you have any habits we need to coach you through. It reminds you of a few important things you need to do on the road and, most importantly, it ensures you can safely operate our equipment.
You’ll be tested on the following:
Let’s go through each a little more in-depth.
A good pre-trip inspection should take you about 15 minutes. Many drivers, however, do them a lot quicker because they’re skipping steps or doing certain checks too quickly. That’s why we go through an entire pre-trip inspection.
Again, remember that you’ll hear a presentation about the road test prior to taking it, so you’ll be given reminders about proper protocol when it comes to pre-trip inspections and backing.
You may be driving a manual truck or an automatic truck. We’ll ensure you’re shifting properly and smoothly and not tearing up the transmission. It’s easy to tell if someone is or isn’t experienced with a manual. If you need more experience, we can coach you.
You’ll drive through the city and on a highway, during which we’ll be watching to make sure you’re following the rules of the road and you’re a safe driver. This includes making sure you’re following the speed limit, keeping a healthy following distance, making appropriate lane changes, and braking with plenty of stopping time.
We’ll also make sure you know how to turn properly and turn into the proper lanes. For instance, if you’re turning left from a single lane onto a three-lane highway, which lane do you turn into?
It’s important to remember that the road test is also about keeping you safe and maintaining the health of your CDL. It’s really easy to adopt unsafe behaviors on the road and forget everything you learned in trucking school — especially if trucking school was 20 years ago.
If you drive dangerously and cause an accident, there are consequences. It’s in the best interest of both carriers and drivers to protect themselves by administering and completing road tests, respectively — and the appropriate safety training.
When you get into this mindset — that driving safely helps protect you, your livelihood and other drivers on the road — it helps you adopt those safe behaviors.
I’ve been both a truck driver and an employee for a trucking company, so I've seen it from both sides. And believe me when I tell you, I wish someone would've given me this advice when I was at the height of my driving career.
If you fail the road test, a few different things can happen at ATS.
Before we got the driving simulators, a driver could fail the road test and get sent home from driver orientation. They wouldn’t be able to apply at ATS again for another six months.
Now that we have simulators, we’ll take you through different exercises on the simulator to coach you on the behaviors you struggled with. Maybe you struggled with backing up or turning and you need some help. The simulator can train you and help you fine-tune those skills. It can get you to a place where you’re excelling at the skills you struggled with.
After you complete simulator training, we’ll take you back out for a road test. Most of the time, drivers have greatly improved after they go through simulator training.
If you still struggle with the skills and you’re exhibiting unsafe driving behaviors, we cannot certify you. You’ll be sent home.
Related: Truck driving simulators and how they work
See, the road test isn’t so scary after all! All it does is test the things you already know and do every day.
ATS won’t set you up to fail. We want you to succeed and if there are behaviors you need help with, we will help to train you in the simulators so you can refine your skills and feel safe on the road.
We’ve also implemented the Lytx front-facing camera system. The system is a tool used by trucking companies not to spy on drivers, but to help them become better drivers by recording incidents drivers can be coached on.
Understand more about the Lytx camera system and how it can improve your skills.
If you’re ready to claim your seat in driver orientation at ATS, contact a recruiter today.