My trainer at a different company told me of one student who was a foreign national. He was going to make a "left turn" across an interstate rather than take the offramp. I have thought about training (spent 8 years of my naval career as an instructor) but horror stories like this makes one think twice.

That guy would have been off the truck, PERIOD!! You dont listen, you dont belong there. I would have dropped him off at the nearest truck stop or maybe just by the side of the road and the company can get him home. There is no law that says that I have to drop him off anywhere in particular, and there is no law that says that the company has to get him home--those are complete misconceptions. BTW, he would have never got behind the wheel if he argued with me at all! That is a safety issue. Also, a trainee has no business listening to the radio unless he is one heck of a driver(he/she is there to learn, not jam--they can do that on their time, or better yet, go home and do it) and he is in his last 2 or 3 days on the truck and he better be one HECK of a driver in order for me to let him listen since the radio can be the most distracting thing in a truck. BTW, I will allow the cb to be on, but he/she will not be talking on it, because I see that as a must as far as safety goes especially in OTR since you may get a heads up to what is in front of you. And as far as the cell phone--when a trainee is behind the wheel in my truck--he WILL NOT be using the phone, if the company(which I doubt that they will) or he has a problem with that, then he/she can find another trainer. If there is an emergency or something then the company can get a hold of us via qualcomm or phone and we will pull over and he/she can take care of the problem. I refuse to be put in an unsafe situation by anybody, especially someone whose sole purpose for being with me is to learn how to drive something that could essentially become my tomb if in the wrong hands, and that's NOT gonna happen. If he/she wants to be unsafe, then they can find another trainer or they can learn from me, and when they get their own truck they can be as unsafe as they please, but sorry, not in mine they wont. In fact when a trainee is with me, they dont even use the jake break until they learn how to drive the hills without one, since not every truck they drive in their carreer will have one. I learned that from my trainer, he would not let me touch the jake break until my second week in the truck until he was confident that I could control it without one and the 1st week that I was there we basically drove from Richmond, IN to Reno, NV. Imagine driving those mountains now with no jakes, well needless to say it wasnt any joke either--but I learned it and I did it.

Also, rule 1 on my truck--we talk English! I dont care what country you are from, what nationality you are or who you are talking to--In my truck, the only language spoken will be English--you have a problem with that? Better go in and tell them that I'm not the trainer for you!

I heard a story once when I first started driving from one of our veteran drivers that trained for Werner for 5 years. He said that he had this guy and they were out driving through the Desert in New Mexico and he felt confident with this guy and it was like the 4th week of training and so he told the guy that he was gonna catch some winks and wake him up when they got near their exit. He said about 2 hours later the truck came to a screetching halt and basically threw him out of the bunk. When he gets up guess what his trainee was doing? He was trying to light his crack pipe and he dropped it on the floor and it was under his feet so he jammed on the break in order to get it. Well the trainer yanked the guy out of the driver seat, got the truck to the side of the road and threw all that guys belongings and him out on the side of the highway and then called Werner and told them that they might want to come get him, because his days of riding with him were over. Well Werner tried to tell him that he had to bring the guy back to the closest terminal and they would deal with him, and he said "No way". He told Werner if they wanted him to do that, then he was calling the state troopers and have him arrested and then Werner could bail him out, well Werner saw his argument and so he left him at some little grocery store on the side of the road in the middle of no-place. I asked him what ever happened to the guy, and he said that he was proablly still out there for all he knew or cared. True Story, even saw the incident report that he had to write for Werner.

To be honest I am happy when my trainer is in sleeper most of the time. I wake him up if I have a question. Otherwise the less he drives the quicker I finish my required hrs.Good luck to you

hey timtruck,i start w/werner on mon 11/24 in ohio.you're just the kind of trainer i hope i get.

God willing i am hoping the same that i get a trainer that has values like you. After reading most of the posts on the forum i fear that i having a bad trainer will stop me from really learning what i need to learn to be out there driving safely and making money

I drove for 20 years before I decided to try my hand at training.

Sadly there are many, many people in this industry who really should not be training or instructing new drivers.

The company's have added to the problem by only concentrating on the money side of things. Think about it what person in their right mind would be a trainer other than for the extra money? The company comes out ahead because now it is a team truck with the co driver who is only earning a couple of hundred bucks a week. The trainer gets the extra miles.

My question is who is training the trainers? Not one company out here has any type of training program for the trainers to make sure they are on the same page. Nor is there any qualification other than time behind the wheel. No tests or evaluations of any sort are given to ensure that the trainers have the ability to train other drivers.

I don't call myself a trainer, I prefer to be called an observer because that is what I do. A good trainer has the ability to observe what his co-driver is doing and be able to explain clearly what they are doing wrong and how to correct the problem. Not all so called trainers have that ability. They see you doing something wrong, they know it is wrong but cannot put into words what it is or how to fix it.

Example a trainer sees the student is having a shifting problem, the student is moving the stick too fast to hit the next gear. He sits there and yells and cusses because he doesn't have the ability to explain what the problem is or how to correct it, he just knows it's wrong because of that ugly grinding sound.

So the poor co-driver ends up taking the heat and unnecessarily ends up being in a bad situation due to the trainers shortcomings.

I have very few rules on my truck as a trainer but they are not to be broken by me or the student. I never yell or cuss at them. If I raise my voice it is only to get over the sound of the motor usually while they are backing in and I am walking beside the tractor. I never talk down to them in any way. I always try to give confidence. I give them a verbal report card at the end of each week, usually on what results we have achieved and what our problem areas are that still need worked on. The biggest rule of all that can get you thrown off my truck is if I say stop, don't look around, don't ask why, do not pass go, do not wait for the crunching sound, stop the truck immediately.

Not everyone is cut out to be a trainer and not every person who gets a license is cut out to be a driver.

How to find a good trainer? I'm not sure what the answer is but one certainty they should be able to clearly explain any aspect of driving the truck with enough clarity that it's obvious that they know what they are doing.

good luck, and don't give up on driving if that is what you have your heart set on, a bad trainer experience has ruined many potentially good drivers, don't be one of them

BTW my situation is a bit different as I drive and train for a local route. I don't get the money an otr trainer gets, I only get about 50 bucks a week, and after discovering I have a knack for it and enjoy doing it, it's not about money for me, my motivation is that if I can only turn out one driver who goes on to become a safe, happy, competent driver than its worth it. I see so many yayhoos ripping around abusing their trucks and being a danger to themselves and others that I am trying to do my part in helping to make them realize there is another way to drive.

Nobody will ever call you a professional if you present yourself in an unprofessional manner.

A trainer should not be in the sleeper unless you are at least half way through you training on the truck. If you are treating that training truck as a team and your trainer is letting you do that, then he doesnt understand training and you are not getting what you should be getting out of the training program. Also, if your trainer is not awake before you exit the highway, then you need to ask your company for a different trainer because he isnt doing his job. One of the big problems in the industry is (just like Gravy said) is a lot of trainers have no business being so and they are just using it as an excuse to put more money in their pocket. That is the wrong attitude.

There are quite a few bad trainers out there. It really is all about first impressions, too - if the guy/girl doesn't look "right", refuse the trainer and wait it out for the next one.

When I went to Werner, I ended up with a very respectable ex-Marine who taught my green 21-y/o self the ropes and even looked out for me while we were in the truck stops. He never tried anything or said anything offensive or 'off' to me...I guess it's a matter of luck.

However, if there ARE any females out there looking for trainers, come talk to me. My father (NYPD, judge, etc.) is a driver trainer and I have a few male friends that I would trust with my life who are driver trainers.

I can honestly say that some of the female trainers are ten times worse than the worst male trainers, though. Werner has a rule - women have to shower daily, men have to shower at least every other day when in training. But the women? Good grief...They start to smell ripe and don't even realize it. Yuck.

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- Tará



(Will be away until January 2009. Sorry, guys!)

Why is that, I'm wondering. Do women get odorous faster?

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Truth will always be "hate" to those that hate the truth.

My hubby trains for Werner, and let me tell ya, he as had some real weirdos for students.
Had one that refused to shower, brought a case of sardines, with him and 2 jars of peanut butter for food. about one day of that was enough for my dh. so he had him get some money for food.
then nhe guy got behind the wheel and was driving, and decided to kidnap my dh and the truck. that was not a good one at all. He has also had them that can't read or write any thing .HE has had some really bad ones. WHEN he comes home, I make food, and stock the fridge, with great dishes. and send plenty. from homemade chili, to chicken dinners, to meat loaf dinners.
all kinds of good things, plus snacks. for both student, if he wants some and hubby.