An unrestricted commercial driver’s license (CDL) certifies that a driver can operate manual transmissions in tractor-trailers, bucket trucks, cranes and digger derricks.
“The certification is crucial for doing line work,” said Jeremy Whittaker, executive director of Mountain States Line Constructors Apprenticeship and Training (MSLCAT), based in West Jordan, Utah. MSLCAT has training centers in Brighton, Colo.; Helena, Mont.; and Tooele, Utah. MSLCAT trains apprentices and technicians from Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.
An unrestricted CDL Class A license is a requirement for applying to the MSLCAT apprentice program, but trainees accepted for other job categories—gas technician operators and fitters, traffic signal technicians and substation technicians—usually earn their CDLs six months or so into training.
Simulation training
About a year ago, the Western Line Constructors NECA Chapter, based in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, made obtaining a CDL a lot easier by donating a $170,000 Virage Simulation CDL simulator to MSLCAT’s Brighton training center. The JATC launched a pilot program to train technicians. So far, 35 technicians have used the simulator as preparation for additional hands-on CDL training.
“This makes a world of difference,” said Jordan Kohn, assistant director and instructor for MSLCAT. “They’re not burning up clutches and tearing up transmissions. It saves a lot of damage. It can cost anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000 to fix a clutch and transmission.”
Kohn’s office is located next door to the simulator. Through the wall, he can hear the simulator’s gears grinding when students are struggling.
“After just a few practices, I don’t hear a thing—it’s quiet,” he said.
For technicians, just as for the apprentices, CDL training and testing fees would normally pose an out-of-pocket expense of $2,500 to $6,000 dollars or more.
“A lot of young people don’t have those resources,” Whittaker said. “Plus, most applicants have never driven a manual transmission because cars and trucks these days are built with automatics. It can be really intimidating when you’re trying to shift gears for the first time in a huge rig.”
Besides teaching how to shift gears to gain speed, the simulator teaches downshifting to reduce speeds on steep grades. It also teaches users how to back up to a loading dock, how to back up 2,000 feet on a road between cones, how to parallel park and how to turn to avoid hitting other vehicles, objects or pedestrians with the truck trailer.
The simulator mimics weather and lighting conditions, urban and rural settings and unpredictable situations such as pedestrians, reckless drivers and even wildlife darting out of nowhere. It also closely monitors acceleration, braking and signaling. A camera inside the cab tracks eye movements to make certain drivers are checking mirrors and watching the road.
“People who have taken advantage of the simulator have said it’s great training to help get into the shifting. One apprentice scheduled extra time on it just hours before training on the real equipment,” Kohn said. “We’ve heard nothing but good things about it.”
Whittaker said MSLCAT also plans to use the simulator to help enrollees in a pre-apprentice program qualify for CDLs.
“It can also be used for retraining an apprentice post traffic incident,” Whittaker said.
After a traffic incident, a training subcommittee can recommend a specific number of hours of simulator training to shore up driving skills before returning the apprentice to a different electrical contractor.
Retraining was the original intended purpose of the simulator, said Jules Weaver, executive director and chapter manager of the Western Line Constructors Chapter.
According to Weaver, the outside line construction industry is seeing “far too many” vehicular accidents that cause extensive property damage, third-party damage and personal injuries.
On the heels of numerous incidents, “our chapter board authorized the purchase of the simulator to help with remediation and retraining drivers in an effort to reduce these incidents,” Weaver said.
Header image: An MSLCAT technician apprentice trains on a CDL simulator donated by NECA's Western Line Constructors Chapter. Photo provided by Mountain States Line Constructors Apprenticeship and Training
About The Author
DeGrane is a Chicago-based freelance writer. She has covered electrical contracting, renewable energy, senior living and other industries with articles published in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times and trade publications. Reach her at [email protected].