Mentor/Trainer shortage?

What do you haul?

 

That is what I wish I had right now, you are right on. I have finally had my feel with my mentor because he only cares about the money. I have not had a meal in two days or shower, he has food for him so feels I should eat whatever he has, I do not eat Tuna, sardines, whole wheat bread and flour tortillas. He turns off Jake brake when I am using it and fog lights too. He has made so many rude comments and gets mad if I did not throw a cup away in the time he thought I should( I had just got another drink and was on my way to get old cup to throw away but it was not fast enough for him. I keep my area clean and have been dealing with sleeping in the hot because he is cold, being left at the terminal on a Saturday without have eaten all day and the food truck does not come on Sunday, not being able to take a shower, but, when it comes to you messing with the Jake brakes or anything else I need then it is time for me to get off. He also does not know how to back, thankfully I got my schooling done with FFE/KLLM and they had very good instructors.

 

You need to get on the phone RIGHT NOW and tell your training manager about this guy. If he can't treat his students with basic respect, he has no business being a mentor. Not allowing you to get food is inexcusable. Offering you his food is not sufficient; it doesn't matter why you don't eat fish and whole wheat bread (though both are very good for you), he should stop at a Walmart/Target/Aldi/grocery store and let you stock up on the canned food YOU will eat.

Jake brakes: I had to run my first week without using them. You need to learn to control the truck without them, because they won't always be available. Hit a slick spot on the road with your Jakes on max and you'll be in the ditch before you know what's happening.

Fog lights: Don't run them unless it's REALLY foggy, then use them only to get to a safe place to pull over. They are probably not adjusted properly and will blind oncoming drivers. Also, the bulbs are generally not your cheap H1 halogens; some trucks run rather expensive projector bulbs with a relatively short life span.

As for climate controls... it's his truck. Most good mentors will, however, say that whoever is behind the wheel is in charge of the heat/air/radio during their shift, and the non-driver will have to adjust. Fortunately, sleepers generally have their own temperature controls.

 

Still sounds like this trainer needs a good ### whupping.
Just to focus his mind.

 

You can use fog lamps anytime you want. They aren't as bright as headlamps therefore they will not blind anyone......

 

Yeah, I understand about the fog lights, and I do not use Jake brake all the time, he did not want me using it but I could understand if he told me it was for training purposes. I would be in the back trying to sleep while he was in the front and he would put heat on back or turn a/c off in back and that is okay if it is off but I could not breathe with the heat.

 

I just got approved as a mentor specifically because one of my oldest friends is in the training program and I wanted to be sure he got the correct training. I honestly have no intention of ever taking another student but my mentor was bad enough as he was indifferent with a side of anger management issues.

 

That is good you will be able to Mentor your friend, I wish my uncle worked for Swift to Mentor me but he works for TEAM.

 

I'm not sure where you got that idea. Most fog lamps use a 55W Halogen bulb, same as headlights. The beam is shaped differently, and if pointed even slightly upward, will blind oncoming drivers.

 

In the trucks I've been in, about the only thing that can be done to change the temperature in the sleeper was to turn off the A/C. That will make it warm in the sleeper in a hurry. After yelling at my mentor a few times, the A/C stayed on all the time.