Step by step in my trucker education

The school I am enrolled in, has put up a handy dandy chart, breaking down how the education is structured.

It starts with 20 weeks of school, where I get basic subjects, like Danish, IT, science, forklift certificate, first aid, fire and rescue and subjects relating to the course. Rules and such things.

Once those 20 weeks are over, it's time to take my category B driving license, which allows me to drive any car and van up to 3.5 tonnes. That course it about 1.5 weeks

When I pass that, I am sent to an employer, where I get to spend some time with them, getting the basics of the job.

Then it's back to school, where I get my category C license, which is semi truck/lorry, as well as more subjects. This course lasts around 7 weeks.

When I pass that, then it's off to do some more work, this time as a truck driver. After that, it's back to school for about 4 weeks, where I will train to receive my trailer and ADR license. This ADR license is the one I am looking most forward to getting done. With ADR, I can haul dangerous or hazardous goods. Think stuff like fuel, fireworks and corrosive materials.

Once I have passed that, it's time for yet another trip to the employer, to work.

After a bit, guess what.. Yes, it's back to school, where it's time to pick my speciality: goods, tanker, sanitation or movers. I have two in mind already: Goods and tanker. I get my final pick then, so a lot of time to think about that. This course is around 6 and a half week long.

Then.. You guessed it, time for more work with an employer.

Back to school for three weeks, where I learn how to drive with a trailer, and learn more stuff about trucking.

You can probably see where this is going. Yep, back to work.

After that, it's time for the one part of the education I am VERY excited about - a 4 and a half week course about hauling across borders. I also get language courses, so I will possibly have to learn a new language. I kind of doubt it, since most people in Europe speak English, but we'll see how it goes. I will also learn specific subjects, that relates to hauling across borders.

Then, back to work, for the final time. We're almost done!

Once I have completed my last work assignments, it's time for the final phase, where I am being quizzed about everything I have learned. If all goes well, then this final 5 week course will result in me passing my test at the end, and calling myself a truck driver! And I am looking forward to it!
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Comments (19)

What were some of the maneuvers you learned at Truck Driving school?
ooby: I have not begun the education yet. January next year :)
Do you get paid while you're studying, or are you having to self-fund?

Are there tuition fees?
Decades ago Fred Opert, a friend of mine, called me from Madison WI and asked if I would like to come out there and drive a tractor trailer back to New York with him. Neither of us had ever driven one before and neither of us had a commercial license. I said sure it sounds like a lot of fun. I hopped a plane to Wisconsin, at his expense of course, and the two of us hit the road in the tractor trailer. It was one of those car carrier types you know the open bridgework looking things that would hold 6 cars, 3 on top and 3 on the bottom. It was made by Chevrolet and had a 6 cyl gasoline powered engine. Probably the same engine Chevy put in their cars. Can you spell SLOW? Remember this was in the mid 60s. We figured we only had to go straight, if we had to back up we might be in trouble. Both of us had driven cars with trailers so we had a rough idea how to back up a vehicle with a trailer but nothing this long. We made it and after dropping him off in NYC I drove the rig to Queens and parked it on the street in front of the house. It sat at the curb for a couple of weeks until he needed it to haul a load of Lotus Elans he imported from England back out to Wisconsin. Of course I was delighted to make that trip.
Jac: I get paid to study. There are no tuition fees, since most educations here in Denmark are free to attend :)
That's terrific that you get paid to study and that tuition is free. thumbs up
Good luck with the schooling and the work experiences.
Once behind the wheel, it is much better to do things slowly and get them right,
rather than cause damage, or worse.
Philipsen: Weither why are those schools so generous??...
Melody: It's the government that makes those decisions. They see education as a right, not a privilege. The same with healthcare. We have universal healthcare here, which means our taxes are a bit high :)
I think the world would benefit from looking at Nordic countries and how you do things.

From a UK perspective, apart from Ikea and Lego, it's as the world ends after Scotland. laugh
Jac: No, government funded healthcare is socialism, and therefore very bad, according to some.

But we love the so-called socialism here. No payment required when you head to the doctor, no payment required for surgery and no crippling debt when you give birth to a child. Every country on Earth could really benefit from universal healthcare laugh
We have the NHS, but free education stops at age 18/19.

I think it's short-sighted. The better educated and healthier we are, the more we can contribute to society.
I agree with you Jac. head banger
Tankers mean fluids, fluids can mean fumes.

Maybe consider industrial exposure risks when considering specialties.
well done young man on getting the course , and i am sure you will do very well ,
truck driving is a skill and a art ,but most of all it is a job that can be very demanding ,and is not a 9 to 5 job ,there will be plenty of nights away from home , and in some cases weeks depending on your delivery destination, as you are aware that europe has many open borders so border crossings are not to probmatic it is only when you have hazardous goods on board that things differ , you will meet lots of different people some helpful and some that are just having a bad day , just smile and be polite and it tends to mellow those that are having a bad day ,
you will no doubt be using the ferry boats on the baltic sea at some point which can be exhilarating ,as it can be daunting ,but have no fears as the pilots that assist you in backing your trailer are brilliant at their jobs ,,
so good luck in your new career ...
But P, we all hope you will show different colors. Just beware of all those "4 Wheelers".
Especially the Real Moonbat ones with Dem bumper stickers. Wish I were digressing.
check out some trucker blogs there are a few norwegian truckers on you tube and a very good swedish trucker also ,,but properly the best truckers to look at are the dutch truck drivers as they cover most of europe patrick wittezeale has some excellent videos on you tube
jac,
We brought in free third level education about ten years ago. The idea was to get more working class kids into university. It didn't work. All it did was reward the middle classes whose children went to university, a financial boast for them.
A much fairer way is to put the money into primary level education as this is the only real education the most disadvantaged get. Money put in here makes a difference. What happened here was no real increase in working class kids going to college but rather a big change in the drop out rate from university courses, a big increase.
Third level fees were gradually re-introduced, although they weren't called fees of course, they were called admin charges or something like that!
Edison: I am already subscribed to some truckers on YouTube. Cassie, from Sweden and the Road Legends from the UK. They make videos that give a pretty good look into the trucking business. The ups and downs as well as some very useful tips as well
as for the road legends , well you will not learn a lot from them ,as none of them have travelled to europe ,
and as your work will be based in europe then it is european drivers that you should be following, the uk has a lot less rules regarding obtaining a heavy goods licence ,getting a licence in the uk can take only 7 days , the uk also does not have a restriction distance between vehicles on motorways , like they have in germany and france ,,,
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