ABSTRACT
This study is based on the assumption that the TRAINER concept, presented at the 2003 DB&T conference (Falkmer and Gregersen, 2003), could be used also for truck and bus driver training. This paper has tried to describe from a theoretical point of view what we should aim at, why we want to do it and how it may be done. A truck and bus driver training simulator has different demands to that of a training simulator for car driving, but would a truck driver training simulator also have different demands than that of a bus simulator? The answer may be both ‘yes’ and ‘no’. On the one hand, buses are heavy vehicles and, as well as trucks, demand a specific knowledge on how to drive this type of vehicle. Moreover, certain types of professional driver licences are usually required, as is the case for trucks. In addition, nearly all who obtain those driver’s licences do it for their profession, not for personal reasons. Hence, the requirements for bus driving and truck driving may be regarded as similar. On the other hand, driving a bus is often done in congested city traffic, sometimes under heavy pressure from tight time schedules and varied passenger demands, features that are not necessarily applicable to truck driving. Furthermore, driving a bus is rarely done with the addition of a trailer or a semi-trailer, a feature necessary for a truck simulator. Hence, there are many similarities between truck driver training and bus driver training, but also certain obvious differences.
