Starting 18 Day Orientation In Atlanta Next Week

Finally an update. I'm in week two but, hanging in limbo. I started out last Sunday with my TE. No intro's, just get in the truck and lets go. He was over an hour late to pick me up at the OC, and he even slept there overnight. No problem for me but he was in a hurry to get to Lebanon to do a drop & hook. New trailer had no paperwork, so we had to wait for that to get straightened out. He had me do a few back-ins and that was the first time he went ballistic! He's yelling at me that "he has told them #### training instructors they are teaching backing wrong. They should be teaching how to back a Cascadia, not a Century, and he is sick of it". After a few tries I got his method pretty good. Off to Nashville, listening the whole way about what a-holes all the "brown shirts" are.
We get there around 1600 and have a live unload at 0100. While we were waiting the setting sun out, we sat outside and talked. He told me about his sons' upcoming child custody battle with a no-good girlfriend, and other family stuff. I told him about my family and other personal stuff. A good rap with him. He put the tv on and was watching a country music show. He asked something about the guy singing, I told him I really didn't know much about new country artists. I was (am) an old country music (Merle, Johnny, George, Willie, both Hanks) lover. He agreed. He went out to take a leak or smoke or whatever. When he came back in, he put Willie's Roadhouse on the xm and we fell asleep to that. The reciever woke us at 0100, unloaded us and said we could crash right at the dock. I'm thinking, when this is finished, I just might have found a new brother.
WRONG! A different person was in the truck with me. I wasn't too sure if he was testing me for stress, or how I would handle pressure, so I acted like I didn't notice his attitude change. Picked up a load in Springfield Tn. He drove to Chatanooga, and then let me drive back to Atlanta, to the OC. Our delivery was scheduled for Wednesday so we had mucho time. Right away he started critiqeing everything I did. I took it a learning, training lesson. I listened to what he said and either nodded my understanding, or said OK or yes sir. Only when he asked me WHY I did something he thought was wrong, did I honestly give him the only truthful answer I had. That was what I was taught by my instructor in week one. He taught us "this is the Schneider way, this is the way we want you to do it". Be it downshifting, upshifting, backing, and all the rest. That answer made him go NUTS! I truly did not know if he was testing me, to see if I would give the correct answer. But he hated that answer. And to me it was the only one I had. I never meant to piss him off.
And then the inevetable happened. I got to the peak of a hill with a downgrade coming up and I missed 9th gear. He started yelling immediately, instructions, cussing, making me a nervous wreck. Going farther onto the downgrade with me not finding a gear, he grabs the shifter and he can't find a gear, starts screaming I have ruined the transmission and we're gonna be stuck. I panic and have to pull off the road to come to a stop to get the truck in gear. About five miles down the road, he asked me if I pushed the clutch to the floor and I said yes. He told me that was clutch brake, and the truck could never be put in gear after that until the truck came to a complete stop. I've heard the yea and nay's on that since then, but that was one thing we were never taught. Never put the clutch pedal to the floor while driving. A few other things wrong he told me about driving on the way to the OC, like if you cannot move over a lane for an emergency vehicle (cop giving a ticket), don't slow down. He said make the cars in the next lane move out your way when you change lanes. Huh?
We get to the OC gate, and sometimes you have to wait 3 or more minutes. So, I put the truck in neutral and take my foot off the clutch. He goes NUTS again, and asks me why I did that? You guessed it. We were told Schneider property is the only place you are allowed to do that. He snapped. He was yelling so loud, the people at the gate control wanted to know if something was wrong. After we parked, no words were spoken for the rest of the night. What tension. I had to stay in the sleeper or sleep in a chair in the OC. The next morning I tried to make ammends, to talk to him and start out with a clean slate so to speak. He cut me off in mid sentence and said he was sick of hearing about Schneider training and he was not going to talk to me anymore. He said I was to just drive and he wasn't going to train me. I was being as appologetic as I knew how, but I told him if he wasn't going to train me, I have to get off the truck. He just turned away from me and walked to the OC. I got my gear off the truck.
That was Tuesday morning. Since then the OSR has been trying to keep me driving to keep fresh when he or someone else is available to go out with me. Got computer testing finished, as far as I can go for now until I come back with new TE. Waiting for a smoker TE hopefully this weekend. I guess the news about me getting off the truck is all around. I was sitting outside yesterday, and a guy was sitting with his buddy, he asked me who my TE was and I told him. He said to his buddy "see", I told that TE was crazy different from one day to the next. So it couldn't have been all me at fault. He treated that guy badly too. But, when he said he would not train me, I had to find a TE that would train me the Schneider way. Limbo for now.

 

Met my new TE yesterday. What a pleasant guy. We talked for about five minutes, and said we would be leaving Monday morning at 0700am. He said he would drive for the first hour, then give me the truck. Sensing my next question of many more, he said "we're just going to go for a drive". Night & day difference between the two TE's. I am in the process of logging 48 hours of sleep, hoping to stay single in my room for the next two days. More to come when I can. Stay safe & healthy out there.

 

Not team, not solo. Training! $80 per day for orientation.