I HATE Training. Need Advice

If you were taught how to pretrip, you then should already know how to check the brakes, I realize most or alot of trainers are horrible, its kind what the industry has made, you too can be a trainer within the next 6 months, and that is most of the problem.
Cannot teach what you do not know.

 

it is usually 30 days, suck it up, make him feel like a trucking god (he actually sounds pretty ignorant) and get through the time until you are on your own. Also, do some serious self-analysis and make sure it is him and not you - not everyone is right for this job.

 

I'm sorry it's going like this for you but I think the best thing you can do now is stroke his ego like @flightconn said and just try to get thru it. You don't learn #### with that kind of training anyways from the way I see it so just watch and try to learn trip planning from what you can with the info he will give up. Just start counting days and remember it's only x days until you get a truck and don't have to deal with this super trucker ever again. Don't doubt yourself, you suck at backing and you will for a while because we all did. Just remember when you get out on your own to goal like ten times per back to stay safe.

Hang in there bud, it sounds like you want to do things the right way and you can and will when you get your own truck.

 

You have probably figured out that you check brakes (And a walk around hunting tire and wheel issues etc) before you descend a hill.

You are not being trained the way you describe your trainer. You also seem to be a spare wheel with the company you are with. Change companies. Most companies view you as a cost item and will put you into the truck on your own as soon you get the training.

What is this training? For me school teaches just enough to not crash or kill anyone on driving test for CDL. Your real learning begins when dispatcher gives you a load somewhere and tells you are running late already. I had very little to no training in my time. Out of school a month or two later in my first truck and then ride with a company trainer who taught me everything I needed to run a bulk tanker. And her training was only two weeks, but intense and immersive enough that when it was time for me to run a bulk tanker here in Arkansas I did not need a refresher 20+ years later. And the plant got their product in 40 minutes.

You are going to have to think about the things you don't yet know and will learn, and at the same time consider what you have gotten yourself into. Training in this industry is a varied story book, some good, some bad and there is the ugly which I do not wish on any student.

The other part is to go into your Company's DM and tell him or her that you are not being taught anything new by trainer and you want your own truck and trailer to run solo for better or worse. You will get a answer that will define your future or not with this company.

Anyone who rolls eyes at you for asking a good question is no longer a trainer. A real trainer will patiently answer the question then go over it with you on the next downgrade wherever it's at. Usually companies give trainers (On a salary anyway) loads that have a little time built in so your trainer can take you places to well.. train.

You are going to find hills much steeper than 7% and with the coming of winter (Already?) your time to learn how is slipping fast before you do it on the land of ice and snow. And that truck is going to sort of turn on you bad when you are on the stuff in winter.

From what you wrote, you are well on your way to leaving this industry in less than a year if you stayed with it that long. Why? You have not been trained yet. Thats why I asked about a basic question about checking truck after you run a mountain... that's backwards. You check it prior to coming down. Many places provide a area for you to pull into and check your rig walking around etc. I was afraid of mountains, but my teachers made me a mountain god, no longer afraid of it but it made me into a monster of sorts. IF a mountain be cookies I would have my fill of it a long time.

The second issue you bring up.. Oh it's a automatic you don't need to do anything. This is really dangerous assumption. Some automatic transmissions do not have a manual mode for mountain work or docking etc and others require satellites in space to tell them to down shift and so on. Still more have been overengineered and cannot function on a bit of snow showers or rain.

You will want to have a manual transmission tractor trailer. It is a very immersive form of driving and really good when you know how to do it correctly. It's not that hard. (Thankfully) but saying its just a auto dismisses alot of knowledge about it and ultimately tells me that trainer does not care anymore about shifting. Hes got a automatic now. No need for that shifting.

I tend to get upset when 100 years worth of trucking know how is distilled by Mr Eyeroll to "Just a automatic" blah. That is really dangerous thinking.

 

Dont give up, I myself almost got off the trainers truck 13 years ago but I somehow made it through, got my own truck, and the rest is history. If you quit you will regret it.

 

Buy a tractor trailer toy and lay down two books wide enough to fit trailer in. Pretend to drive a TT past the dock, set up the hook and then back into the dock between the two books. Repeat until you understand what the tractor has to do and what the trailer will do.

A trainer never says "We don't have time for that" The company usually builds in time for a student to take their time to learn things by practicing on the road. There will be a future where it's important to run across the USA to arrive by Appt time later. But right now you are learning. Your trainer should be training you taking the time to do it just like in driving school.

Anything else would tell me to repeat myself. Im not going to do that. You are in a poor situation and it is a disservice to you and to your company who probably will not have you as a driver. (Or a good driver for that matter...) and you might be choosing to do something else in life./