i don't think companies start out trying to screw over a company but when a driver leaves the company they sure do like to go hog wild on a dac. unless a driver has caused his own demise when leaving a company, like by wrecking, violating dot laws or something like that then there should only be positive writin on a dac. and it seems companies like to get even with drivers for leaving the company and put down lies or over exagerate info. i have seen to many good drivers get messed over by a dac.

Some of the "the company screwed up my DAC and I was such a wonderful driver" comments are garbage. I drove for a company who supposedly craps on all dxrivers on their DAC reports upon the drivers departure. I drove for Swift. When I was hired by a local company for personaly reasons, I went to my DM and told him. I said the local company was willing to wait up to two weeks for me to start and I told him I was willing to drive for Swift for those final two weeks. He looked at my screen and saw I was scheduled for hometime the following week and said that if I would take one more run out and back by the next weekend that would be fine with them. I had even had a minor accident, brushing a retainer wall while backing into a tight dock necessitating the front bumper being removed and popped out. There was no other damage or damage to the retaining wall. How bad did Swift mess up my DAC? There were no comments at all about the accident or anything other than verification that I drove for them.

Companies understand the legal liability of putting false information on the DAC. They are not going to make up stories just to "screw" a driver.

sounds like you had a decent experience with swift. first story i have heard but it also seems you handled it professionally and so did they. good to hear.

now the dac comment. i call bs. westside transport is well known when it comes to exagerating on a dac. and it has become so bad with them on this practice that other companies know that and ignore it. they have a real bad rep on this. and until companies get a so called dac on them these things will continue to happen.

First a couple of questions on how to do this - how do I add the 'quote' from another post? How do I add a part of a post inside my post?

About the idle to stay cool in the truck. Isn't there a law or DOT policy somewhere about keeping the driver in a comfort zone? If the company policy is in conflict with the DOT or OHSA policy, which policy trumps the other? I know that CA is having some problems figuring out how to balance the two policies. I realize the importance of saving fuel, whether it's company paid, driver or L/O, O/O paid. But no one wants to stay in a hot truck.

Almost all the companies I'm looking to drive for has a training plan where the newbie goes out with the trainer for 2-6 wks. Prime is talking about a total of 80k miles before I get out on my own. If a driver can only drive for 10 hours and if seating in the 'B' seat is not considered 'off duty', then the trainer has to be in the bunk [off-duty], trying to get some sleep, while the student is driving. How does the trainer do his job from the bunk? Also, any idea how the trainer gets paid for the training he does? It sounds like the required 80k miles would take a real long time to roll up if the only miles counted are one driver's.

Any thoughts out there?

First, to quote someone, click on the "quote" button on the bottom right of the post. At first, most companies limit the amount of time the trainee can drive. However as training progresses, it actually bcomes a team operation. Then the miles begin to stack up. I have a 20K requirement and have been told that should take no more than 30 days since we should be able to team right from the beginning.

Actually, if your trainer is good, it is better to spend more time with him.

Find a decent trucking school in your area to get a CDL A so you can do it in comfort and with confidence. The school will help get you pre-hired with a decent company and alot of them, like Sage schools, offer lifetime job assistance. Best of luck!

If I understood and followed the directions correctly in getting the quote in the post, this worked, we'll see.

As a true team, no one is 'training' and no one is the trainer. In a training situation, there is a trainer and trainee, and someone is paid to 'do' the training. As a trainee, I'm going to expect the trainer to be watching what I'm doing and instruct and correct my driving from the 'B' seat [at least at first]. So, how many miles can actually get rolled up and be safe?

I have a couple more suggestions for your opinions. After talking with a trucker friend of mine, and reading the forum, give me some feed back on these companies. Covenant, a sister to Express; GTS; PAM;Stevens; Willis Shaw?

Any comments would help. Thanks

A lot of the "training" process is actually the trainee getting more practice while someone is there to answer questions. Yes, at first it should be like a solo operation where the trainee drives and the trainer teaches. There is even some value, at first, for the trainee to ride and observe the trainer. As time progresses, and this is very dependent on the learning curve of the trainee, the trainer should be able to allow the trainee to drive without constant supervision. This is the "practice" portion. Afterall, it does not take someone telling you everything to do as you drive down the interstate for the entire day. If it does, the trainee probably needs to find a new line of work.

The trainer should be up and available at all deliveries/pick ups and when driving in town to those deliveries/pick ups. The trainer should be assisting in all backing situations.

In my training, we drove as extended solo operation for the first couple of days. When my trainer realized I could handle a commercial vehicle on the highway (I had been driving school bus for a couple of years), we went to team. I would drive over to our pick up with him in the jump seat. Once we were loaded and scaled I would drive out of Phoenix and get us to Albuquerque while my trainer slept. We would arrive at our terminal in Albuquerque around 8 or 9 at night. After a stretch break and sometimes a shower, we would trade places. I got in the bunk to sleep for the night while he drove us on to the Denver area. We would arrive early in the morning and I would get up and back us into the dock. He would then finish his drive time by getting us from the dock to the terminal, or our next load, if it had been assigned. I would then drive us from Denver to Albuquerque where he would take over and get us back to Phoenix. (We were on a Costco dedicated fleet hauling reefers.) This went on for 5-1/2 weeks of training.

The trainee has to learn how to operate the truck on their own since someday that will be what they are doing. The sooner the trainee can get to the point the trainer feels comfortable going to team operation, again so the trainee can "practice", the better.

As for the other companies you listed the best thing is to search the threads on here for them and "interview" drivers at your local truck stop. There are some there that I would not drive for. I know Covenant solos do not go west of Texas (except in very rare occasions) as I had looked to hire on with them but they only take teams out west. In fact they were telling me that solos only travel 38 states.

Good luck in your search. Once you get into a training situation with whomever you decide to drive for, I think you will find that you will be ready to go to team sooner than you feel you would right now.

Thanks for the insight. You are one of the first to really tell it like I think it is. I've been riding along with a guy, O/O flatbed, four trips to CA and NV from Phx and have learned alot. Another friend was talking yesterday about off duty time and what is where the questions came from. I've been a corp 'firefighter, fixing and correcting mgmt screw ups for about 15 years, including a corp trainer on site. And when I wnet into a place to 'fix' it, one of the first things I would do was re-train. Evaluate and train until they were doing it as they should ahve been. This included mgmt. So, thinkning the trainer would be training, I had a hard time setting that up in my mind.

Who are you driving for? And would you do it again, knowing what you do?