Just curious about the difference?

I agree. You can't have the blind leading the blind.

 

Wants to be like Dave*
*Sarcasm

 

It would be a lot different if I were King. There isn't a driver shortage. The problem is that there are too many drivers. Drivers know that driving jobs are a dime a dozen. Companies know that drivers are a dime a dozen. This is why rates are low. There are too many drivers.

If I were King, you couldn't just get a CDL and get a driving job. You would really want to drive a truck and not just use your CDL as a fall back. You would have to be in a driving school for two months. After that you would be in an apprenticeship for a year before you would be fully qualified to drive on your own.
The idea would be to weed a lot of people out. It would be a good chance to make good money because of the lack of drivers but you would have to be really committed to wanting to drive a truck.

The goal would be to enable truck drivers to make a good living and return the profession to a noble and RESPECTABLE profession like it was 30-40 years ago.

 

Who? Dave? Dave's not here.

 

Experienced drivers with good record experience a different world in the industry. Like me, I can tell a company this is how I want to run, this is how much I want to make take it or leave it.

Alot of companies start respecting you when they know you dont play no games. I will tell them they need me way worse then I need them. With this method I dictate my pay(with in reason) and I get respected

 

I came off as a dick. I am completely respectful when I do this. I hate to say this but you have to train the companies sometimes to know not to pull no bs with you

 

Well, where to begin.

I have a PhD in Physics from Mizzou and BSNE from the USAFA. You are correct it is not Rocket Science. I was good at Rocket Science. This job takes a skill that is developed with EXPERIENCE. It only takes a split second to make a mistake that can cost lives.

Example. I was coming up on a snow plow in the left hand lane. The Right lane was clear. The snow plow was kicking up so much snow that it was white out conditions. Now I have flown Jets in that stuff often enough but this was my first time in a truck. The snow plow was doing 50 mph. I eased up to where the blinding stuff began and after a bit I decided to punch on through it. I got into it and was completely blinded. I had the wheel lined up straight and pushed on through. I spent the next 24 hours in a ditch waiting for a wrecker to come pull me out. My thought process had left out the fact that when my wheels were straight my truck pulled to the right.

Also there will be times you forget that you are not driving a car. Your trailer will take out a road sign. You will turn to the left too quick and your trailer is going to rollover a curve. You are going to be doing every thing correctly and some idiot is going to pull into your lane and hit the breaks. Some other truck is going to clip you and nothing can be done to avoid an accident.

I have an IQ of 187 plus and I am telling you that that means nothing without experience. Your "Not Rocket Science" remark is an insult to many of hard working drivers out here who are way better at this then a newbie can even hope to be.

 

Not sure how this may relate to trainers and the period of time with them.....but I can guarantee you we have experience (paid claims) that shows a direct correlation between length of CDL and the propensity for small PD (Property Damage) claims....typically caused from "backing incidents".....which seems to decrease dramatically as the months with a CDL increase.....and once they get rid of the White Volvo. Honestly not sure how much impact a trainer for 2 weeks, or 6 weeks would have on backing type claims....it seems to be related to months and therefore miles of experience.