be a trainer Or not?

Ex-Con brought up a very good point......when you are training you really need to take a break between students. I hardly got any breaks because USX had so few female trainers (I think 10 at that time) and I have a bad problem with saying "NO" when someone asks me to do something.......but I did take my 4 days at home while I had a student so I did get some breaks.

 

Different companies do things differently. USX was the trainer was in the jump seat for the first 75hrs (and you were both on the same 14hr clock) and only driving if needed....then you could go Super Solo which meant your days started anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours apart and you could run more miles OR you could go Team.

My Swift student told me about a time that her trainer made her go across a bridge that they were too heavy for and HE got the ticket.

Personally, the pay wasn't worth it......I actually got more satisfaction out of my students getting the hang of things and learning what to do.

 

My "trainer" bought an Iphone, a GPS, and some other things that he thanked me for. Apparently he made good money but he didn't do much training. We teamed right from the start and he kept telling me we'd do the other stuff (trip planning, paperwork, etc.) later. As soon as I reached my miles, I was off the truck. I had to learn a lot on my own and that cost me miles. Other drivers at truck stops and terminals ended up helping me, they did the job he got paid for. (Thank you drivers for helping all us noobs.)

So yeah, trainers can make money especially if they don't bother training.

Sorry, I think trainers should have at least two years experience and be evaluated to see if they can actually teach.

 

after i got put of driving school, i went to work for shaffer.the first day the trainer drove half the shift, i drove the other. for the next month, i did all the driving, except for one night in the second week i had an extreme migraine and asked my trainer to drive the shift and he totally understood. i never asked him to drive again after that but he said if i needed him, he was there.

the second phase, which is week 5 to 8, crete gives them the option to run super solo if the trainer feels the student is ready. most students stayed on the truck 8 weeks, but a few of them got good enough to solo out in 6.

there is no way i could be a trainer. i learned really fast when i was in training that i could not sleep in a moving truck. thank god we did not do too many super solo runs. the miles at that time were lucky to be 2000 a week, and that was a truck with 2 drivers. pathetic. i dont think i could deal with having to give up any more space. i am in an international 9400 and it is a mid roof with 2 beds. talk about cramped when the better half and the kid ride along. its a far cry from the full size condo volvo i had. oh well......

 

My suggestion is wait at least another year. Like a few said already you don't have enough experince yet. I'm not saying you ara a bad driver, you just lack the experince. I won't train simply because I don't have the personality for it,but I don't mind helping out when I can.

 

My co-driver asked me the other day if I thought I could train someone. I told him I think I could teach someone how to drive a truck at the basic level. At the same time, I said I don't think I could make a good driver out of just anyone, especially someone who wasn't already ahead of the curve compared to most. So no, I wouldn't train someone at a bit over a year in for me.

It really becomes obvious teaming with someone with 12-13 years experience over me. He teaches me things constantly still at this point. The small things that most of the time have little to do with the driving itself, but more of the job in general that make everything easier and to be better prepared for the day. To me, a trainer needs to know these things and be able to teach them as there's a lot more to this job than driving.

At the same time, teaming with an experienced driver really has made me realize no one is going to properly train anyone in the time period most companies give a trainer. It's just not possible. I think I've been pretty lucky to get an endless training session.

 

IMO there is one more key element to training. People learn in different ways, and at different paces. You have to evaluate that early on so you know how to teach in the "language" they can absorb info.
And I agree with everyone else that 7 months is not enough experience.

@musicgal. I tried that student after student without a break because I knew what it felt like to sit and wait for a trainer. I only did it once. Problem was I didn't feel like the second student got my best effort.