Would you get off the truck?

Been driving since 2004, and I'm with Schneider...
Sometimes a mega can offer things other carriers can't. Such as me only working a few days a week, and taking a week off whenever I want to.

 

Well, yard jockeying is different.

 

I'm OTR/Regional. I just take a turnaround run and then go home till the following Monday. This week was Dallas to Jackson MO, reloaded in Mt. Vernon IL, will deliver in Dallas tomorrow, then go home till Monday. If I want more miles I can stay out as long as I want, but I'm only required to work mon-weds.

@RedRover Didnt mean to hijack your thread. My advice? Request a new trainer, Swift will find you one. Only benefit I see now is that you're getting a lot of backing experience. But I would also slow down to burn up more drive hours... Seriously, only run 55mph the rest of the time you are on his truck.

 

What a mess..but seems to be the norm at certain mega companies. Op, Don't assault him in any way, if your seriously near that point get your stuff and get out of the truck ASAP.

 

In another thread you said he's making 1.12 a mile. Just how is a driver going to gross 5-6k a week at that rate? Even if you had three 1000 mile runs with 10 stops at each, which would be quite a stretch to do legally, considering how you've described it, that's still under 4500 a week gross.

BTW, you've posted enough that anyone in Swift management could easily identify you. You've also threatened violence against your mentor. Good luck if they are monitoring these threads, which they may be doing.

 

You have issues.

First red flag. Considering the cost of potential assault either in attack of defense. Frankly that's beyond the pale, you do NOT as a trainee have to go that far mentally. GET out of that truck and GET AWAY from that Trainer. I don't care if you have to change companies. GET OUT of the situation.

Second Flag. Your trainer committed fraud by logging in as you to refuse a load while you sleep. Do you need to be hit upside the head before you understand you need to GET OUT?

Third Flag. NEVER tell a Dispatcher what he or she will do with you in the future. They cannot stand that in fact will fire you or set you up badly to wear down and gone. Telling Dispatchers what their own job will be doing later really riles them.

4th, you have been doing this long enough to need to get out. If you keep in, you are going to get set up badly and suddenly you are OUT not on your terms.

By the way if you did assault it's a felony and DAC will be sure to destroy your future in trucking once that happens. Not to mention loss of freedom etc. Trying to live in a 7 foot shoebox with Bubba for 50 years is not a life you want.

I have had bad trainers in the past. How do I deal with them? I do not. One word out of them is enough for me to throw the stuff into my car and down the road I go. Find me another company.

 

When I started at Swift, I went through three mentors. First one was a complete waste of oxygen. Continually talking on his handheld phone, no Bluetooth, never wore a seatbelt, had me swipe HIS card for the rewards points when I fueled, made me sleep on the top bunk while he drove, and then after I got off his truck by sending emails to my DM (because I didn't dare make a phone call where he could hear me), he later sent death threats to me via the mail because I "cost him his job".
Now, that being said, he did do a good job of teaching me time management, trip planning, backing, and general driving tips.
Second mentor was a lease operator on the Dollar Tree dedicated account, pulling out of OK. He was a whacko bible thumper without a lick of business sense, and he flat out told me he only trains to make the truck payment. He was worlds better than the first trainer, and backing into the different DT stores got me way better at backing.
Third trainer was just for a week, because the 2nd trainer had a personal issue come up at home.

 

Apply with some more flatbed companies and set up an orientation date, then give your notice. Notice doesn't have to be for 2 weeks either; just quit at the next terminal.

 

When I went through Swift Flatbed Cargo Tie Down Course in Phoenix, two years ago, they were short flatbed mentors. There were about six of us in the course and at the end of it, they were giving new drivers bus tickets to places to meet up with their mentors.

When I was there, there were only about 400 flatbed trucks at Swift and 200 of them were on dedicated accounts. Of course this info is just word of mouth from other drivers who ran flatbed, so it's scuttlebutt.

My opinion is that there is always a shortage of flatbed mentors just because of the amount of trucks that do flatbed. Also, it's a lot of work for the money you will make. So if there is a trace of laziness in your bones, you will not like it for long.

 

If you can stomach it keep going, seems like you'd have the required time in 2 weeks. However it does sound like a dreadful situation you're in. Hope everything works for you in whatever choice you make.