Currently a Company Driver looking to Become a Driver Trainer ...

I say stay where you are at and don't bother. The only reason I can see becoming a trainer is if you got suckered into a lease at one of the companies you mentioned and you have no other alternative to pay the bills.

 

I trained students that came to me fresh out of truck school back in the 90's for 5 years, both male and female students. Similar to you, I had around a decade of driving under my belt before I started doing the training gig. I finally got burnt out dealing with all the little issues that would come up. It's not an easy job if you do it the way you should. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that view training as just another log book, so they can get in more miles. Sadly, that is going to happen in this industry. It can be fun, if you draw the right student. I usually got along better with those students that had a bit of "prankster" in their DNA. Amazing the pranks you can pull off better with two people instead of just one!

But, those students are rare. Does Heartland have a training program you can get on? It is better if you can start training people with the carrier you are already on with. Otherwise, you will be having to undergo a lot of learning about a new carrier while you are trying to show someone else what to do. Not exactly the ideal way of going about things. A student will have a lot of questions and want answers on how to deal with the company he is now going to be with. If you are not well versed in the ins and outs of the company, you are not going to be much help to a new student, except for the driving portion. But we all know, there is a lot more to doing this job than just herding a truck down the road. If you already are familiar with the customer base, company policies, and the "go to' people at the company, you will be a more effective trainer and help a new person fit in to the profession easier.

Whatever you decide, Good Luck!

 

I am at Heartland also, and have some of the same home issues. I am regional out of Columbus though, so I get home 2-3 times a month. Just not real weekends.
They may bring back the refresher program later this year as there shortage of drivers continues.
We need them bad, and keep loosing the longer term ones.

 

When I was OTR, I trained for 6 months until I was "fired" and put back on the solo driver's board.
The problem wasn't so much the training...which I enjoyed...it was the company's dispatch.
As noted by a previous poster, dispatch saw the trainee as a second logbook and so we would be given runs more suitable to a team.
Now...how much training can you do on a tight team run?
And how safe would you feel sleeping behind a guy/gal with sand still in his/her boots from the driving range?
After awhile, I put my foot down and said no more team runs...I want single dispatch runs and I'll be in the passenger seat monitoring the trainee and helping him/her back into docks, etc.
And that was when they pulled the plug on my illustrious career as an OTR trainer.

These OTR companies are all the same...nothing but WORTHLESS low-life outfits. All they want is meat in the seat for .25 cpm, nothing more.

 

Go to a company where the company policy is that training is done with solo runs only. Most of them see a trainer truck as a team and thats wrong. May trucking has it's problems but they do get this right. Give they a call.

 

Yea, the first 2 weeks at least the trainer needs to be in the jump seat all the time.
After the 2 weeks it should be the trainers call as to if they team from then on out. Not the company's call.
And if by 3 weeks the trainee is not ready to get some solo time, then they do not need to be driving a truck. It is time to move on to a job they are more suited too.