MENTOR...why bother?

Mentor....teacher...instructor...guide? Why bother?

Saturday morning, I pull over, about a mile ahead of 90% of all the trucks "waiting out the chain restriction" at the bottom (SB) of Siskyou grade on I-5 and get to work putting on my chains....I don't wait I am here to drive my truck...as i am applying the last bungee cord to the last tire chain I hear the sound of 3 sets of brakes being set...look behind my rig and see the front of a Swift truck. Out steps the driver, he pauses looking at me....and somehow I know what he is thinking to himself...."I wonder if this DHE driver will help me with putting on my chains?"

Sure enough, he walks up and asks that exact question! With an explanation he didn't know how to do it. I told him..."I knew you were going to ask that!" I then asked him...actually more told him..."your Mentor didn't teach you how to do this, right?" He said, "I was called in to get some paperwork cleaned up when they showed the video on chaining"...so I repeated..."your Mentor didn't teach you this did he?"...of course the answer was..."we didn't need to the weather didn't call for chains while I was on his truck." What I didn't hear but expected to was that his Mentor thought that if they require chains it would be unsafe to proceed, just to wait out the control.

So I...after over two years not being part of Swift...proceeded to put my Mentor hat (and shirt...must wear that blue shirt when Mentoring...LOL) back on and did yet another "chain class" on the side of the highway. I ask the driver if he had the chains required and bungee cords? And if he took the time to check his chains before driving off in his "new little toy truck"? He said I looked at them and they looked OK but he didn't have any bungee cords. He showed me on his chain rack two singles...not two bags of singles...just two singles, all rusted and hanging there all wrapped up and interlaced together. Then he opened the passenger door and said there were 3 "doubles" there on the passenger side floor...another mass of chain all rusted with a bunch of short shiny "fixed pieces" mixed in the mass.

I was not a happy camper...I HATE 3 RAILERS! I asked him if they were requiring MAX chain application if he would have what was required? He said "MAX?"...he didn't know there was a "max, a modified max, and a minimum"...but why would he(?) if his Mentor didn't bother to teach him? His saving grace to me was that he was willing and wanted to learn...so here we go. Oh, I almost forgot...He did have 1 chain key!...and I always have extra bungees!

I tell him about the differences in chain configurations, that we will have to apply two of the 3 railers on the drives, and put the singles on the trailer, and I told him they call the trailer chains "drag chains"....of course his standard question...Do we just drag the chains from the back of the trailer? I explain again it is a term not an exact description of use. While he is dropping the trailer and pulling forward (to apply the 3 railers easier) I get back to my truck and get the bungees.

We (he) get lucky and all the chains are easily untangled and actually are in decent shape...no broken cross links or connectors...I demonstrate how to lay out the chain, get any twists or kinks out, and how to drape the first drag chain...then let him do the second drag chain. Now to the 3 railers...again, I demonstrate with the first, and he does the second...he moves the truck so we can connect the 3 railers...same procedure, I do the first he does the second...he backs under his trailer and we finish the job with the drag chains.

When we are all done, he asks how much he owes me! My response:

JUST BE A SAFE, COURTEOUS AND HELPFUL DRIVER IN YOUR CAREER...REMEMBER I HELPED YOU SO YOU HELP ANOTHER AND EVERY TRUCKER THAT NEEDS SOME HELP!

Now for my rant...and not just at Swift, but at all the "training companies" out there! Why bother having a driver "teaching" a new driver anything if you aren't going to teach EVERYTHING? This isn't entirely the trainer/Mentor's fault...it goes back to the company for not "patrolling" their own teachers and instructors. all teachers or Mentors need to have "continuing education" to maintain a high level of instruction. The company needs to ensure that EVERY trainer/Mentor is doing what they are hired or empowered to do. And EVERY trainer/Mentor should have the individual and personal integrity to pass on all of their knowledge and experience to their minions.

Why did I have to teach a basic tool of the trade to this (and other drivers) driver? When I am not even connected with this driver's company! Because I have a "brotherhood" concern and a willingness to pass on my knowledge to any and all "newbies, rookies"...whatever you want to brand them. Did I have a good trainer? Yes as a matter of fact I did...it wasn't with Swift it was with Werner...but I didn't stay with Werner but 2.5 months as I found out that Werner wouldn't get me any home time once I went solo, they would keep me "one full tank" away from my home. So I went to Swift who put me with a "trainer" who actually learned some things from me after I was taught by a good trainer with Werner!

In my many years with Swift...all of my students were required by ME to apply a complete (minimum) chain application to the truck/trailer a minimum of 5 times during their 6 weeks as a student on my truck. This wasn't "Company Policy", it wasn't even in the curriculum for training...only watching the video was in the "curriculum". It didn't matter to me if it was July or August...Phoenix or Bangor, ME....they put on the chains! When my students graduated to solo status...they were prepared to be a truck driver...they still had many, many questions...but these questions would be answered (or discovered) during their time gaining experience in the application of their new trade!

IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE A MENTOR/TRAINER...DO THE JOB AND DO IT RIGHT!

Why bother if all you want is a second log book on your truck? If you require a second driver to make the money you need...find another trade and quit being something you obviously aren't qualified to do!

One more thing...listen to the highway road conditions broadcast on your AM dial when you see the sign advising there is a road advisory ahead. this same day, after getting over Siskyou summit, the advisory for CA was flashing, I tuned in (1610 am) and heard that chains were being required 5 miles ahead, then a description "R1, all single drive vehicles pulling trailers chains required 3 miles south of Hornbrook Junction". At Hornbrook, I took my chains off and proceeded through the "bug station" and up about a mile, the CHP was stopping traffic to check for chains. There were 2 Swift L/O pulled onto the exit putting their chains back on, and several other trucks doing the same. The officer asked me "who is telling you guys to remove your chains?" I turned up the radio so he could hear...again the "R1" broadcast played through...he checked with his dispatch, she confirmed it was R1 at his zone, and he waved me on (without chaining up)...as I passed the trucks re-applying their chains I honked my noisy horn...the first Swift slammed his chains down obviously upset when he saw I wasn't chaining up but he was. the exact same thing after Yreka...R1 was being required after the Weed Airport. Now this is 22 miles after Yreka...why were so many (at least 15) trucks running on wet/dry asphalt, at 20 mph (or less) with their chains on....BECAUSE THEY EITHER DON'T UNDERSTAND ENGLISH OR THEY DON'T LISTEN TO WHAT IS REQUIRED AND WHAT ISN'T!

Thanks for listening!

 

I'll have to check on my schedule....are you making an appointment....that is a different department....dial 1 for English, any other language press any number between 15 and 24...they won't answer either!

 

I watched that video on a different thread...pretty good....but I still say to drop the trailer for the 3 railers....of course the flatbed could offer more access than a van type trailer.