TransAm Trucking, Inc. - Olathe, Ks.?

I have been out on the road with my TransAm trainer. He has been working at TransAm as a lease driver for 7 months. I am disapointed, the guy is an idiot. Kicked out of the Army on a dishonorable discharge, he also did a stint in civilan jail. He has anger issues and has already chalanged me to a fight in a customer parking lot over a minor disagreement. I called the head of the driver training department twice about it, no anwser both times, left messages, no call back.

Anyway, I have been dealing with the screwball and kept things moving along, I should be finished up in two days and back in Olathe to get my own truck. I will ask at that time why no call back about my messages.

Other than driving cross-country with a violent ex-con with anger issues, I am enjoying the job . The truck is nice, easy to drive, I like the load assignments and seeing the countryside. This job will be real work, but I think I will enjoy it.

 

I worked for a flatbed company onetime & I think I was the only driver there not an ex-con, except for a stint in a Navy brig, but that doesn't count; I was defending my country in a Hong Kong brothel. With the flatbed company, I got all the Canada runs, that I really didn't want.

 

Hi passport~ Sorry to hear about your experience with the trainer ....but it is not that unusual. Hang in there you are almost to the finish line. Sometimes I think TransAm purposely picks the lowest people possible as trainers. It gives you first hand experience with the bad side of trucking and lets them know if you are going to be able to deal with it. There are good people there but for the most part a driver is just a number and a machine, there is no empathy or human compassion and most of them have never been inside of a truck. Personally I think all of the office personnel should have to go through orientation and ride with a trainer for 11 days. I think they would have a much better understanding of the situation ....while they are sitting in their office getting paid by the hour. Since you only have a couple of days left, my advise is to let it go.....I know, it's not right.....consider it part of the job, because believe me you will deal with worse! I hope the next two days fly by for you and that you are soon in your own truck. HTQ

 

^Thanks Chinatown and HTQ. I am not so thin skinned and I am fine. This guy is a real Jerry Springer idiot, but I can and will ride it out, get back to TransAm HQ and get my own truck.

The good news is that I will take from this "training" period is that I do like the basic job of trucking and I have confidence that I can handle it to get started, gain experience and get better at it. Excited to get started with my own set-up!

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

 

LMAO

 

Passport, when you get back to the terminal, talk to Darren in person about your trainer. He will do something about it. I talked to him the other day and he is swamped this week, but he does take these things seriously.

Pete, Im just telling it how it was regarding flights, at least with our group. None of us paid up front for flights. TransAmtook care of it and gave me a confirmation number and flight info. I have yet to pay for anything except personal needs, food, and truck expenses associated with leasing.

 

well maybe they changed it after i came in
wasnt calling you a liar

hey i am on 5 meat loads in a row ready when i show up
must be a transam record
this one has an extra day to get there but i will be spending it in fla
so what is to hate

 

Winner of the Truckers Report Forum quote of the week.

 

I was all excited about this run from Auburndale to Denver which included a 450 mile deadhead from coming off hometime... But right now I'm sitting at the Love's in Auburndale and am being T-called to Olathe by my request. Im sick as a dog and now my APU isnt working. It was 84 degrees earlier and I was roasting in here, certainly not able to sleep. Ive barely been able t drive this truck since I got it because of various issues out of my control. So Im giving up my good run to get to the yard and get out of this truck. I dont care what they put me in as long as I can actually DRIVE it until my 680 comes in. I made this payday. I want the chance to do it again. But I cant not have AC when its 84 degrees out and I was told it hit 15 below in CO today. I drfinitely cant drive into that with a nonworking APU and idle-cutoff. Im sick as a dog. Yet I still love this trucking thing, even with all the crap. I'll get it all ironed out in Olathe on Monday. Sucks too because this was perfect. Dropped my empty like a pro, my load at Coca Cola was ready when I got there and practically next to where I parked my tractor by the shipping office and got down to the truck stop and parked like a pro. Load is HEAVY. Grossing 79k and change. 12440 on the steers and 33k and change on each dual axle (full fuel tanks, ready for a long run).

 

Hey honeybadger, hope you get well and feel better soon!

Yeah, Darren acts as the newbie's DM while they are out on the road during training. He is who I left two messages with. He never called me back.

My trainer is just bad for business. He is a fairly big guy but I can see he is not really as tough as his words. He has been cussing a lot of people out, showing some signs of road rage, verbal altercation with a truck stop employee, asking the employee for a fight, all as a TransAm representative. Plus I think if someone does take him up on a fight like he is asking for, he will likely end up getting smoked.

I have learned a long time ago, there are AT LEAST 100 million a-holes in this world, it is not my job to fix them all. If ask about my experience when we start the last part of orientation on Monday, I will tell the truth about this goofball, but in the end, I am not going to try to track down someone at TransAm to find out if they care.

I will just wash my hands of the experience and move forward with my own agenda.

We had some delays, rescued and delivered a load from a broke down TransAm truck, snow storm in PA, but I am now back at the Hotel in Olathe, KS. I am looking forward to getting and setting up my own truck and start trucking.