Help ???

Geez, it ain't that bad.

Btw, I didn't want to sleep with you either.

 

Daycab companies often pair you with a trainer during his normal work shifts and you both go back home daily/nightly. My last company had newbie ride shotgun with trainer for 1 day. Then trainer rode shotgun with newbie for a few weeks. The newbie got his own daycab.

OTR companies don't typically let you train and return home daily because they dispatch the trainers truck like he's OTR.

 

CDL schools have trucking companies come to school and recruit. The school puts companies before the students so they can pick a company, if the student doesn't know of other companies. Typically, you can find a better place to work than the companies that recruit at school IF YOU PUT IN ENOUGH EFFORT. Many students think doing an internet search is like climbing My Everest so they try it and quickly sign on with one of the 3 companies that are on the first page of search results. That's not a good way to work at a good company.

 

Schneider and TransAm only spend 10 or 11 days with a trainer.
TransAm pushes new drivers to lease a truck and Schneider doesn't.

 

I was worried about this too. Hubby and I trained together with a trainer - 3 to the truck. This guy was awesome. Clean, caring, and a great teacher. We are still friends and chat often. It was great to have such an awesome trainer teach us the ropes. A lot of companies let you talk to your trainer first, but we just got lucky. Not to mention it's only a month or so, and you're mostly sleeping or driving. Dont be worried! Get on to living the dream! We are having a blast seeing the country!

 

The obvious answer is to get a local job. They won't make you sleep in a daycab.

If you really want to go OTR, you could just start reaching out to recruiters at companies you're interested in and be honest with them. I did that when I first got my CDL and I was given different possible ways to get around the whole sleeping in a truck with a stranger. One place had a trainer with a home daily run, so I'd just go home after each trip. Another place had a female trainer available, which meant they would put me up in a hotel every night. Then there's Schneider, where the OTR training is only about a week long, which sounded pretty tolerable to me.

 

From what I've heard it's not like it used to be. When I came into the industry 12 years ago there were companies that would take the risk of ramming solo drivers out as fast as they could, but not any more. when I started driving I spent 2 and a half weeks at school to get my CDL, then I went straight to my company. Spent 3 days in orientation then headed straight out after that with my trainer and only spent 2 weeks with him before I got my own truck.

 

T companies were not taking near as much risk turning drivers loose as you think. Back when I started there was just a fraction of the trucks on the road, that there is now. This meant they just needed a fraction of the drivers. anybody I was associated with back then would not have even thought about using an extremely high percentage of the drivers that are hired today, The old trucks back then could be melted down in just a mile or two by a bad driver, the rears and trannys could be shelled in just one bad job coming off of the clutch or shift. The trucks would last a long time with a decent driver, but a bad driver could tear one up pretty easy getting out of the yard, so they were extremely picky on who they turned loose with a truck.
The guys they turned loose with minimal training, They thought could handle it, they had common sense, were generally pretty mechanical, and were usually raised around trucks and or equipment.
I have known 13 year old kids in days gone by, that I would rather see turned loose with a truck than much of what I see these days. lol

 

I heard this week that TransAm has done away completely with trainers/mentors and will be doing all training on-site. Reminds me of the way Watkins Shepard used to train new drivers.

 

I know it’s an old post, but I just had to mention this thought that popped in my head...
When training, I am going to have to keep my head focused where it needs to be when my trainer wakes up with morning breath. Might need a new career aspiration.