How do mentors treat retirees

Most trainers/mentors at the big McMega fleets will barely have more experience than you. I think 6 months is industry standard, although I've heard of even less wheel time at some outfits like Werner, England etc. And most of these places will dispatch you as a team, meaning there's not much actual training....you're basically a cheap 2nd seat driver to rack up more miles to the truck.

 

No doubt this is the case. In a positive light though, you and the mentor will be making more money teamed up so hopefully everyone is motivated to be on their best behavior. Some advice given to me recently as a soon to be driver was to actually request a "Rookie" mentor and never train with someone leasing the truck. I guess it makes them paranoid because they are more liable for any damage to the truck and are less likely to let you practice backing and blindsiding skills? Plus a relative newbie will not be talking down to you, and calling you "son" every 5 minutes. Maybe.

 

If I had a truck that needed a driver, and you have a CDL, I would more than likely hire you on the spot. I'm just a few years younger than you, and if you clean up nice, you are in! LOL!

 

A trainer (“mentor”) is just to show you how things work and how to do all the basics. You will learn much more out in your own. They aren’t really mentors in a normal sense. They aren’t there to help shape your life. Thank god.

 

Unlike Cats....

 

That's the problem with us Curmudgeons. ... Doh!

 

Not accurate, I'm 71 and make all I want to. After you turn 65 or 66 that is how it works. Teamster pension, Social Security and I run two weeks and park two weeks I do well. Might want to consider a program similar to that?

 

Well...

You and I will take a ride and have a drive together. You will be asked to do certain places with that tractor trailer. I will examine you closely to see where you are with that truck.

If you show experience and are stable, you have nothing to worry about from me. In fact I might have me a nap if you are really on the ball with that shifting, power and tires etc.

Dont let that go to your head Sir. I just require two things, no politics and no drama in that cab. Everything else goes while we are in there.

Old or young don't matter to me really, Ive had some that were good at driving and it's more for learning the current changes in today's Laws versus what it was in their time. If you read enough of my posts, you will find many here on TTR correcting or refining my knowledge on HOS for example. It's changed (And not for the better...) after 2003.

IF anyone saw you as a potential threat? Boy they have Issues or malfunctions and should NOT be in that cab with you.

 

Is that just your opinion or a fact you can substantiate? I realize there are trucking companies that promote what many experienced drivers would consider rookies to be driver trainers. Companies with a high driver turnover rate are known to offer drivers with less than a year's experience a responsibility they often aren't qualified to undertake, especially considering they themselves may have had a trainer with limited time and experience who taught their trainees everything they (think) they know and not enough experience to realize how much they don't know, yet.

Some companies promote drivers based on seniority. That might seem logical, ..... until it's discovered that a two-year driver for a company with a few thousand drivers is nearer to the top of the seniority list than the bottom. Not to discredit those trainers, but how does a trainer pass on knowledge they have yet to learn? It's my opinion that practice greatly contributes to the industry's high driver turn-over rate. They struggle and burn out early, frustrated and disillusioned, making room for the next wannabee in line to fill the vacated seat, anxious to learn from a trainer who hasn't yet learned what they're trying to teach.

Fact: Not everyone who wants to be, -- is cut out to be, -- a Big truck truck driver. Fact: Not everyone who wants to be, or tries to be,-- is cut out to be, -- an effective driver trainer. Folks are drawn to the position for different reasons, not always for the right reasons. The main objective should be to produce a quality product capable, confident, and ready to git-er-dun, --- able to think through unexpected, unfamiliar situations that will arise from time to time. Not every possible event can be covered during training, but the thought processes necessary for successfully solving issues will create a foundation on which to build independence and an ability to find solutions for situations that arise without constantly bombarding a dispatcher with phone calls seeking advice.

Don't shoot the messenger and ignore the message.
No two instructors will conduct their training exactly the same way is a given. There are, however, similarities, particularly pertaining to methods.
In the controlled atmosphere of a classroom, an instructor can, and very often does, develop a method that is repetitious, an order to how and what they present, and the emphasis deemed necessary to get the point across. In a classroom with 10, 20, or more students, of those students, it's possible that not all will appreciate and/or agree with the methods and/or manner in which an instructor presents and/or demonstrates the necessary, correct information.
That all changes in the real-time, in action, in a constantly changing, reality packed atmosphere contained within the confines of a classroom on wheels while rolling on roads shared with other vehicles, --- with a real trainee behind the steering wheel trying to learn how to do all that safely and legally.

Y'all can please all of the students
some of the time
And y'all can please some of the students
all of the time.
But y'all can't just give up and call-in sick
at any time.
*(Or sumthin' like that)

In my opinion, driver trainers need to be somewhat more flexible in their methods, able and willing to make subtle changes if and when doing so will improve the end results. That being producing a quality product in the form of a Big truck truck driver trainee advancing to rookie status, capable and confident enough in their abilities once on their own, --- as they continue to learn and improve their skills, --- based on the foundation formed with materials provided by a driver trainer, --- to be successful.

In My opinion, requesting a different driver trainer should only be done in extreme cases. It's not uncommon to read of a driver in training who has issues with their trainer and requesting a replacement. But the replacement trainer is said to be no better, or worse. Third time the charm?
Not likely.
By then the companies offer two choices,
ride with their present trainer or walk out the door they came in.

Moving on because, they say, that was a bad company to begin with, ---
but it seems a good company to end with, ---andt they manage to land another gig at a better company.
Assigned to a qualified trainer, who turns out to have multiple split personalities, so a replacement is requested, and provided.
And the beat goes on.

For every bad trainer who shouldn't be training
There are more bad wannabees in training who shouldn't be,
but won't admit it. Or believe the trainers they've driven crazy.