Does Dump Truck Driving Require More Skills?

Dump trucks are often forgotten about when people talk about truck driving careers. For many people they are just another truck on the road; for others, a vehicle to be avoided. If you have ever driven behind one that doesn’t have a covered load, you will know why. Dump truck driving isn’t your standard truck driving career. While most trucks drive point to point and rely on others to load and unload the vehicle, dump trucks are very different and so too the skills required to operate them.

When it comes to operating a dump truck, the emphasis, and one of the major skills, is on the ‘dump’ part of the name. Sure, loaders, excavators and backhoes often fill a dump a truck, but it is the dump truck driver that has to empty the load. While you may think this is an easy task – press a button and the tray lifts to empty the contents – the reality is often very different.

Dump truck drivers are often required to reverse to the edge of steep slopes, a foot or two too far and it’s not the load that gets dumped, it’s the whole dump truck. In other situations, the driver may need to spread the load rather than dump it all into one area. This involves the coordination of several factors – the width the tailgate is open, the rate the tray is rising and the speed of the vehicle. This requires real skill and real timing to have everything come together to lay an even spread of material. You can often see this in action as new roads are being built – a dump truck slowly moving down the new road leaving a trail of gravel spread evenly.

One of the areas that ATS Truck Driving Schools specialize in is the training of dump truck drivers. If you are considering a career as a dump truck driver then why not start by undertaking your training through one of the nation’s oldest and most reliable truck driver training establishments?