Are you training these recruits in all aspects of the LTL industry? Or at least, as many as you can? Or are you just teaching them how to drive the truck and maybe unload the truck. i e are you teaching them how to pay attention to their body positions and movements when lifting and moving freight? It may sound trivial and ridiculous but our bodies are at least as much at risk as the freight, the trucks and the motoring public. Sure, it's easy to say, "Keep your back straight and lift with your knees", but what do they do with that 80 lb 10' long box that shows up and has to go into that 3/4 loaded pup? That scenario right there is a broken back waiting to happen. Are you hammering into their heads "body first, freight last"? You should be, it's sad to see a 30 year old worker end his career with one wrong move.
And how about those residential deliveries? Are you explaining the services rendered and the obligations that go with each level of service? What is that driver to do when the homeowner shows them a staircase, up or down, and says, "it goes up/down there"? Do you provide them with weight limits on what they should wrestle down off of a trailer? i e a washer, dryer, refrigerator, generator, etc? Or do you just tell them, "See what you can do with it", like they always tell me? And one more thing that I strongly urge you to teach them...how to get that #2200 pallet of 8' long wood flooring, rubber mulch, ceramic tile, etc on and off of that liftgate safely. And not just on a good concrete or asphalt pad, train them how it's done safely on an upgrade driveway with stones and holes in the asphalt.
You're probably thinking that I'm just being a smart ass right now but I am not. These are serious, real life scenarios that we encounter and endure on a daily basis and nobody but us cares about it. My advice to the man, if you see something that will stretch the physical capabilities of your body, refuse to do it. If you wouldn't do it for yourself at home, refuse to do it, it's not your freight, it's not your problem and while you're querying the elders for information and advice look at what shape their bodies are in and how they walk, this is serious business that is not taken seriously enough.
I stress to the TMAP Students that Training does not just start and stop with that TMAP program. A great example is new drivers get on these Trucker boards or Facebook pages and see our drivers screwing off and doing the wrong thing. Bullfrog just recently had a driver filming himself riding a pallet jack down a customers driveway! Really?! Or how about filming yourself with a phone in your hand while driving across a narrow bridge and traffics coming at him! These actions are not to be seen by the new hires because that sets the standard in the new drivers eyes.
I know from what our TMAP driver has said about the program that they are limited on the Military bases because they have no liftgate, can't get freight through the front gate without a bill going to an address on the base. He also said they do a good job at trying to explain or showing as much realistic videos as possible.
Nothing can prepare a New Driver better than getting to the specific "terminal" and getting LTL training from an experienced and safe driver.