How long does it takes to become a trainer

I think I'd be hiring a lawyer. Even if I wasn't injured in the crash, the fact that they put somebody with 1 month experience in charge of training a new driver shows complete disregard for the safety of BOTH drivers and everybody sharing the road with them. Most of the big box companies require 90 days. Some companies don't have a minimum. Other companies will use the extra training pay as an incentive to pressure a new hire into a lease-purchase scam, allowing them to train immediately upon completing their own training with ZERO first-seat experience.

My personal thoughts? If you had to have 10 years verifiable T/T experience (career driver, not just a seat warmer waiting for another career field to pick back up again), with at least 5 of those years with the carrier you are training for, drivers would be treated better to encourage longevity and these "training" megacompanies that treat drivers like crap would have to reduce turnover or reduce the size of their fleet. Trainers should have a general idea what's going on to be able to actually teach (you can't teach what you don't know), and you wouldn't end up with these cases of the blind leading the blind. Sure, they might say this can't happen because of a "driver shortage"...but even if there was a butt behind the wheel of every truck in the country, there'd STILL be a shortage of COMPETENT DRIVERS.

I'd be pretty upset if I'd spent all that time & money getting a CDL only to be "trained" by somebody with no real seat time. It isn't going to help you get started in this industry, and it could very well end your life all too quickly. Having been in a wreck like that due to the negligence of the company, I'd be hiring the most cut-throat lawyer I could find.

 

It varies from company to company but under no circumstance can I imagine them making anybody a trainer after 1 month. No matter if he had 20 years experience. 1 month isn't enough time to learn all the ins and outs of a company.

 

How long does it take you ask,not long enough far as im concerned.

 

Ouch, how bad were you hurt? I never was in a wreck back when I drove, but I can imagine tumbling around in the sleeper wasn't fun at all. I hope this incident hasn't turned you off to trucking in the future.

 

Were you strapped in?

 

I am guessing that this kind of proves what I've said, you train to get your CDL but when you work for a company, you learn how the company works and get experience behind the wheel, because you've already know how to drive the truck.

To the OP, get a lawyer, ask them about the liability that the company may have but in truth, I don't think much can be done, you are both employees, you were not behind the wheel and it is work related.

 

I have nothing good to say so I will shut up now before I get into trouble .