After you have gotten your CDL and you get a job with a company it seems they want to send you out with a trainer for 4-6 weeks. Is this correct? Does this mean you share the truck day and night with this individual? That is EXACTLY what I would be trying to get away from by going on the road. I don't know if I could stand being with anyone for that extended period of time.

Oh for heaven's sake, you are only talking for a very short period of time, when you look at the overall length of your possible career. If you can't handle it for a few short weeks of training, go flip hamburgers or something.

The time spent with your trainer will be very much worth your while. I know, I spent the total of ONE RUN with a trainer. It took me years to learn what you will learn in just a few short weeks.

I know you have probably heard horror stories about how certain trainers operate, but remember that the majority of them are just like you are. All they want to do is get the job done, make some money, and get you trained.

Good luck to you!

Are we talking 24 hours a day with a trainer? 7 days a week? 4-6 weeks straight? That cannot be right. When I just got married (20 years ago) I would not have wanted to spend that much time with my wife.!

hey denis in se pa you need to either be taking this serious, you need to to think of a career choice of somthing different, i mean come on man! 4-6 weeks!!! not 4-6 months/year. you need to take everything the traniner says to you and store up in the old nogen of yours, cause as he said, it will take you years to learn the ropes of trucking, and what better way then with someone who has been doing if to however many years he/she has been doing this, seriously i would take advise from him if he was only driving for 4-6 weeks cause he knows more about it then i do, why? cause he has been on the rd. yeah your tranniner might run illegel, but that dont mean you have too. and why not take advantege of this oppertunity and lean it better, rather then gettin in a truck, sitting there, scracthing your head, saying " i wonder what this big round thing in front of me is for?" ( being the steering wheel ) so either take what your givin, or ill see ya at McDonalds.

Yes, you are with your trainer 24-7. That doesn't mean you can't go do your own thing at a truck stop on a slow afternoon. Heck, I have a buddy that needed some alone time so he caught a cab to a movie theater/mall for a few hours one day when there wasn't anything to load (it was a sunday).

As was previously stated, it really is just a drop in the bucket compared to a potentially long career out here. It's just another hoop to jump through. After 5 years on the road, that month I spent with a trainer (a bad one at that!) back in 2003 seems like the blink of an eye. It's unfortunately the only way to pick up the finer points. There are a million details to know which would take you years to figure out on your own. Riding along with someone who already knows at least most of it allows you to cram that multi-year learning curve into a few weeks.

Just tough it out, man. It's soooooooo worth it.

Where did you choose to go to school?
I currently have a good job, just looking for a change, so I can afford to be fussy about what path I take.
And it is not about the money for me, it is about the open road. I should have done this 30 years ago.
respects,
Dennis in SE PA

That's the accurate info I was looking for. The gaining of info I appreciate. The 4 weeks or so I can live with. The 24/7 will be a problem. I am real friendly. Just never had to be THAT friendly in my whole life!!
respects,
Dennis in SE PA

A driving school teaches you how to drive the truck, and the minimum skills of parking it and getting it up to the dock. What they don't teach you is how to do your companies paperwork, show you all the little tricks of the trade that make things easier, and how to actually do the job. Whan I was in the Navy, we used to get guys that came in fresh from the service school that had taught them their trade. and we would smile and tell that that it was very nice that they had attended the school, but this was the fleet, and here's how it was done out on the water.

When I attended my companies school for hauling bulk plastics, I went through the formal class work and instruction. Then I spent some time with someone else who hauled plastics daily, and my first words were "I went through the school, now show me what works out here". And he did, and showed me some tricks that weren't listed in the book, but that could save me a bunch of time and effort when loading plastics.

Same thing applies to a trainer. He is going to teach you all the little things that you will never learn in the school, and show you many things that you would only stumble over in the course of making a mistake.

it would be nice if the schools were three times as long and an experienced driver could show you things one on one for that entire time. But there is no way for that to happen, so instead, companies pair up an experienced driver with their new ones and do an on the job training. as do police when they pair a rookie and a vet, or when you work at Mc'd's and they have the guy whose been working on the french fryer break you in.

If you can't survive that time, then you have bigger issues, and trucking may well not be for you.

Well......you won't be spending 24/7 with him ALL the time. After he (or she) is comfortable with your driving skill, one of you will drive while the other is in the sleeper berth. You'll basically be running team at that point.

One tip for you though.......if ya'll decide to shower at the same time, try not to play too much grabass with each other or the other truckers might think ill of you.

RE: "If you can't survive that time, then you have bigger issues"

I guess I do. I never spent that much time with anyone in my life!
I understand there is alot to learn after formal cdl school, just as in life. That goes without saying.
Does this happen if you change carriers also? Or is that just a short orientation?