Professional Off-Road Instructor Development for Public Safety Agencies

The Driving Company's Off-Road EVOC Instructor Train-the-Trainer Course prepares law enforcement, firefighters, search and rescue personnel, government agencies, and other organizations to develop and deliver professional off-road driver training within their own agencies.

This is much more than an advanced off-road driving course.

Our program combines advanced vehicle operations, recovery techniques, adult education, instructional development, and practical teaching experience. Graduates leave with the knowledge, resources, and instructional skills necessary to establish a structured, documented, and defensible off-road driver training program.

Our objective is simple: Develop qualified instructors who can effectively train their agency's personnel to operate vehicles safely off road.

4-Day Instructor Course: Hollister Hills SVRA

Our established training area at Hollister Hills allows us to deliver the complete instructor curriculum in four intensive days. Decades of experience at this location have enabled us to refine the course exercises, logistics, and instructional schedule.

We can bring professional off-road instructor training directly to your agency.

5-Day Instructor Course: Other Training Locations

We regularly conduct agency-hosted instructor courses throughout the western United States and beyond.

Courses at other locations are normally scheduled for five days to accommodate unfamiliar terrain, local operating conditions, and the additional flexibility needed to deliver our complete curriculum.

Agency-hosted courses outside our established training locations require advance scouting, training-area evaluation, and curriculum adaptation. Pricing is provided through a customized proposal.

Our instructors have conducted training throughout the United States and internationally, including a two-phase off-road training project in Tajikistan.

Before someone can effectively teach off-road driving, they must thoroughly understand the skills they're teaching.

Our Instructor Course builds upon the material presented in our 2-Day Off-Road EVOC Course, but explores vehicle dynamics, four-wheel-drive systems, traction management, terrain assessment, spotting, recovery, and emergency-response operations at considerably greater depth.

Instructor candidates learn not simply how to negotiate difficult terrain, but why particular techniques work, how to recognize driving errors, and how to provide effective corrective instruction.

A good off-road driver knows what to do. A good off-road instructor understands why it works and can teach someone else to do it safely.

Being an experienced driver does not automatically make someone an effective instructor. Professional instruction requires an understanding of adult learning, instructional design, coaching, student evaluation, remedial training, and risk management.

TDC Lead Instructor Dave Storton holds a Master's Degree in Adult Education, and our instructor-development curriculum incorporates established adult-learning principles.

Students learn how to develop learning objectives, organize practical exercises, evaluate performance, identify training deficiencies, and provide effective feedback.

Our goal is to develop instructors who can teach students to assess terrain, recognize hazards, make sound decisions, and safely operate vehicles in demanding off-road environments.

Professional off-road instructors cannot be developed primarily in a classroom. Our Instructor Course emphasizes practical, hands-on training. Students spend substantial time driving, observing, teaching, coaching, spotting, evaluating performance, managing exercises, and solving realistic off-road problems.

Instructor candidates experience the training environment from both perspectives: as drivers developing advanced skills and as instructors learning how to teach those skills to others.

Our problem-based learning approach challenges students to assess terrain, identify hazards, develop solutions, communicate effectively, and manage safety while accomplishing operational objectives.

Learning to teach off-road driving requires actually teaching off-road driving.

• Off-road safety and risk management
• Four-wheel-drive systems and theory
• Vehicle capabilities and limitations
• Advanced terrain assessment and route selection
• Ascending and descending steep terrain
• Approach, departure, and breakover angles
• Tire pressure and traction management
• Braking techniques and vehicle dynamics
• Weight transfer and vehicle stability
• Vehicle configuration and drive modes
• Traction-control systems and locking differentials
• Spotting techniques and communication
• Mechanical Sympathy and vehicle preservation
• Emergency-response considerations
• SUV, pickup, and fleet 4x4 operations
• Type III engines and wildland fire apparatus operations

Vehicle recovery operations involve tremendous forces and require careful planning, proper equipment selection, and effective risk management.

Instructor candidates learn both professional recovery techniques and how to safely teach and supervise recovery operations.

Topics include:

• Recovery planning and risk assessment
• Recovery equipment selection and inspection
• Winch operation and safety
• Rigging techniques
• Mechanical advantage
• Pull-force and anchor-force calculations
• Anchor selection and evaluation
• Kinetic Energy Recovery Rope techniques
• Recovery safety zones and communication
• Recovery scenarios and problem-solving
• Teaching and supervising recovery operations

Particular emphasis is placed on recognizing hazards, establishing safe operating procedures, communicating effectively, and preventing dangerous situations during recovery exercises.

• Adult learning principles
• Instructional Systems Design
• Developing measurable learning objectives
• Lesson-plan and course development
• Creating effective learning activities
• Demonstration and coaching techniques
• Facilitating hands-on driver training
• Evaluating student performance
• Providing effective feedback
• Identifying and correcting driving errors
• Remedial training strategies
• Managing difficult or struggling students
• Maintaining consistent instructional standards
• Training safety and risk management
• Developing structured, documented training programs

Students also learn how to develop and administer agency-specific training programs using progressive skill development, appropriate learning activities, documented safety procedures, and consistent evaluation standards.

When applicable, we discuss considerations involved in developing programs intended to meet California POST course-certification requirements.

Training firefighters to operate large emergency apparatus off road requires more than understanding vehicle specifications.

Our instructors have real-world experience working on fire strike teams and operating in off-road emergency-response environments. They understand the challenges of operating Type III engines and other wildland fire apparatus in remote terrain, where vehicle clearance, weight transfer, traction, route selection, spotting, and sound judgment can directly affect crew safety and operational success.

Our courses can accommodate SUVs, pickups, fleet 4x4 vehicles, Type III engines, and other wildland firefighting apparatus, depending on agency requirements. We have even trained operators of an 81,000-pound, 8x8 aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle.

Our instruction combines professional teaching experience with practical knowledge of the challenges encountered by emergency responders operating large, expensive vehicles in demanding off-road environments.

We don't want graduates returning to their agencies with a certificate and having to develop an entire training program from scratch.

Instructor Course participants receive a comprehensive package of instructional and course-development resources they can adapt for their own organizations.

These include:

1. Expanded Course Outline: A sample off-road training course outline adaptable to agency requirements.
2. Lesson Plan: A sample lesson plan demonstrating how to organize and document instruction.
3. Safety Guidelines: Sample training safety guidelines adaptable to agency policies and applicable certification requirements.
4. Student Workbook: A workbook that can be adapted for agency driver training.
5. Classroom Presentation: A PowerPoint presentation for the classroom component of an off-road training program.
6. Program Development Guidance: Assistance with training exercises, learning objectives, documentation, student evaluation, and instructional consistency.
7. Ongoing Instructor Support: Continued access to TDC instructors for questions and professional guidance.

Lunch is provided each day during the Instructor Course.

One of the greatest challenges facing agency instructors is maintaining proficiency between training cycles.

An instructor may complete our course, return to their agency, and then go a year or more before conducting another class.

That's why graduates of our Off-Road EVOC Instructor Course are welcome to return and shadow TDC instructors during future courses at no additional charge.

Observe training exercises again. Watch experienced instructors coach students. Refresh your knowledge of recovery procedures, instructional techniques, and safety considerations. Ask questions and regain familiarity with the training environment before teaching your agency's next class. This opportunity is available at TDC training locations, subject to scheduling and coordination. Not every agency course appears on our public calendar. Graduates interested in returning should contact us directly for available opportunities.

We want our graduates to remain effective instructors, not simply people who attended an instructor course years ago.

Our relationship with graduates continues after the course.

TDC instructors remain available to answer questions about training exercises, instructional techniques, vehicle concerns, recovery operations, student performance, course development, and unusual situations encountered during agency training.

We also offer to review our graduates' agency lesson plans to help ensure their training remains consistent with the curriculum, instructional methods, and safety principles taught by TDC.

Combined with our complimentary return-and-shadow opportunity, this provides graduates with continuing access to professional off-road instructor experience.

The Driving Company stands behind the training we provide.

If our curriculum or instruction is questioned in a court or administrative hearing, TDC will provide professional testimony, when properly requested, to explain and substantiate the training we delivered.

Our commitment is backed by experience.

Three of our nine instructors have personally testified in legal or administrative proceedings involving the defense of professional training. Our staff understands the importance of properly developed curricula, documented instruction, defensible training practices, and professional accountability. We can explain the curriculum, lesson plans, learning activities, instructional methods, and safety principles taught during our courses.

This support extends to training and instructor development provided directly by TDC. It does not extend to endorsing or defending independently conducted Train-the-Trainer programs developed by our graduates.

The Driving Company offers two distinctly different levels of training.

Our 2-Day Off-Road EVOC Course develops the knowledge and practical skills necessary to operate vehicles safely in off-road environments. Completing this course does not qualify someone to teach off-road driving to others.

Our Off-Road EVOC Instructor Train-the-Trainer Course prepares qualified personnel to develop and deliver basic off-road driver training within their agencies. Graduates may teach individual training modules, shorter instructional sessions, or comprehensive one- and two-day driver training courses. However, completing our Instructor Course does not qualify graduates to conduct their own Train-the-Trainer courses or train and certify additional instructors.

Developing professional instructors requires considerably more than teaching someone how to drive off road. It requires extensive experience in adult education, instructional development, course design, student evaluation, risk management, and practical instruction. TDC instructors bring decades of professional training experience, specialized education, and State-certified instructor qualifications to the development and delivery of our Instructor Course.

When an agency allows someone who has completed a four-day Instructor Course to train and certify additional instructors, it creates significant potential liability exposure.

If an accident or injury results in litigation or an administrative proceeding, the agency may be required to demonstrate that its personnel received appropriate instruction from qualified instructors.

The critical question becomes: Who trained those instructors, and what qualifications did that individual possess to develop and certify other instructors?

A recent graduate of a four-day course does not necessarily possess the extensive instructional experience, education, and professional qualifications necessary to develop other instructors. When a TDC graduate teaches an agency driver training course, that instructor can rely on the professional training, instructional methods, and curriculum received directly from The Driving Company. TDC can explain and substantiate the training we provided. However, when a graduate subsequently conducts their own Train-the-Trainer program, the individuals they train have not received instructor development or evaluation directly from TDC's experienced, State-certified instructional staff.

The Driving Company does not endorse these second-generation instructor programs and will not provide professional testimony representing that our graduates were qualified by TDC to train or certify additional instructors.

Agencies choosing this approach must be prepared to independently establish and defend the qualifications of those instructors and the training they subsequently provide.

Our recommendation is straightforward: If your agency needs four off-road instructors, send four personnel through a qualified Instructor Train-the-Trainer Course. Do not send one person and expect that individual to qualify the other three.

This approach helps protect instructional quality, maintains consistent training standards, and places agencies in a stronger position to substantiate their training practices if challenged.

Over the years, people have occasionally suggested that by offering Train-the-Trainer courses, we're training ourselves out of business.

That has never been our concern. Our mission is to help get as many front-line emergency responders properly trained in off-road vehicle operations as possible.

The most effective way to accomplish that isn't for TDC to personally train every firefighter, law enforcement officer, search and rescue member, or emergency responder who needs these skills.

It's to develop capable instructors within their own agencies who can provide professional training to the people they work with.

As experienced instructors promote, retire, transfer, or move into other assignments, agencies can send new instructor candidates through our program and maintain their internal training capability.

Our goal isn't to make agencies dependent on The Driving Company. Our goal is to help them develop safe, professional, sustainable off-road training programs of their own.

Our Off-Road EVOC Instructor Train-the-Trainer Course provides the advanced driving knowledge, instructional skills, practical experience, curriculum resources, and ongoing professional support necessary to develop a successful internal training program.

We don't need to train every driver. We need to make sure the people training those drivers know what they're doing.

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