Talk to me about why...

I have only slung chains to get out, I refuse to do it to go in.

 

I have to get out of shp/recv docks and parking lots,but not only no but fook no I'm not throwing them to drive into a storm. I just park and send message "not safe to drive"

 

My thoughts exactly. If I need chains, it ain't safe for me to drive. Nothing in this truck worth risking my very precious hide for!

Eddy, you are asking some really good questions...MHO is that you will be fine. I over-think things, and am super critical of myself - constantly second-guessing. The guys on here are an excellent support system, whether they intend to be or not.

I will be in Green Bay on Saturday (I think my number came up...), so will have wifi & can offer my 2 cents.

 

Training at Schneider is short - but we still have one of the best inexperienced driver training programs in the industry. TE's that don't do their jobs tend not to be TE's very long - despite the fact we're short TE's. Guys who come thru my truck can be categorized into one of three groups - those who I force feed, those who get invited to the buffet, and those who devour everything like a locust. Some guys I have to force the information on. I will hammer them over and over on the basics of safe driving and SNI policy. This leaves little time or patience (on both sides) for learning the finer points of trip planning, QC, living on the road, etc. Most guys will take what I say and not ask any questions. They'll listen but not internalize so when they are on their own they don't remember half of what was covered in training. I had a former trainee call me in a tizzy complaining about the navigation not working. After a little digging I found out he was on I-80 near Elkhart, IN. Navigo wasn't pulling a route because he was an unauthorized toll road. I know we'd covered toll policy on a couple of times while he was with me and it's on the curriculum for week three, and they get a handout with SNI's toll policy. Then there are the rare guys who squeeze me for every little piece of information I have. They step up and take initiative in trying to do things on their own, I don't have to focus on the knucklehead stuff like reminding them to get their logs up to date, leading them by the nose through tasks during the later parts of the week, etc. Because they've stepped up I have to ability to go into greater detail on the QC, trip planning, etc. I've had a couple guys that by Friday the only thing I needed to do was stay awake. They had everything under control and I just watched them do their thing. I love those weeks. It's really up to the trainee how much he gets out of the time he has at the OC's and with his trainer. In another thread someone advised to "be a sponge" and soak up all the knowledge you can in those three weeks. I'd change that to be an industrial shop vac. I've never put on chains - but Schneider doesn't let me get farther west than Omaha. I got to Denver once - when I called my DBL Monday morning over a missing drop number his exact words were "What in the hell are you doing in Denver?!". Seeing as you'll be going to SLC for orientation they will make sure you know how to chain up. It's not all that difficult (in theory) once you've done it a time or two. Until your DBL says otherwise you'll be dispatched off of a average speed of 46 MPH. All of your loads should be easily do able. If you have questions on trip planning, reach out to your TE, your STA, your DBL. We're all here to help. I'd give you Chris Lofgren's number if I thought he knew how to use a motor carrier atlas.

 

STA=SNI Training Academy

 

SNI = Schneider National, Inc

 

CYA=Big Baggy Sweatpants, oh wait, thats not right