Home time

Tell the trainer the side effects of withdrawls are wizzing on the bottom bunk....

 

I had a company refuse to get me home when I needed to be home (this was a weekend off planned well in advance...they knew about it 3 months prior when they hired me). They were going to lay be over in Laredo for the weekend before getting me home...and that just wasn't going to work because what I needed to be home for was happening on Saturday and Sunday.

They acted surprised when I asked 'em "Where do you want your truck?"

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said! Where do you want your truck? I quit!"

"What do you mean you quit?"

"Are you hard of hearing? Or just lack comprehension skills? I told you I needed to be home this weekend. I'm going home. Where do you want your truck?"

They directed me to take it to their yard...where I had already arranged for Enterprise to pick me up. Rented the car for a week, so I wouldn't get dinged for excess mileage when I returned it....greyhound was just up the road, so I hopped a bus to my next job after returning the rental.

Of course I had been driving for 4 or 5 years at that point...so my situation was a little different than someone just starting out. I can put up with a lot, but when I tell you I need to be somewhere that means I am GOING to be there. Another job was only a phone call away...with the other company I had been considering 3 months prior. They still had my application on file and were still interested in hiring me. I had been on the phone with Enterprise lining up the rental and this other company lining up my next job (orientation schedule, bus schedule, rental information, etc.) the day before just in case it came down to having to quit.

...If you don't know where you're going, you might end up somewhere else.

 

The problem with doing that at THIS stage of the game for him is that he JUST finished school and got his CDL. Now if he paid for the school, that's one thing...but if he's got any sort of deal with Werner that requires him to remain with them for a year or else he'll owe them for his CDL school, can you afford to fork over that sort of cash right now? They WILL try to collect.

The other problem he'll run into with his lack of experience, he will have to find another company where he can finish his training. He may or may not be able to find a company willing to do that, since they will look at the short period of time he lasted at Werner and may not even give him the opportunity to explain his side of the story. There are a lot of people out of work right now and filling out applications...training companies can afford to be picky, so if you are going to stand out from the crowd to be noticed, it really needs to be for something that will HELP you be hired. Short tenure at your first job in the industry really isn't something companies like to see.

 

+1. Also, to be frank, with a green CDL, 90% of the places that will hire you are all going to have their laundry list of problems and horror stories.

I too started at Werner and stayed for a year. After that first year or two AT ONE COMPANY a lot of doors open up. I will say that my experience with Werner was not nearly as bad as some stories here. I get a decent dispatcher and never complained about loads. I did however run hard and only came home for a week every three months or so. I did it that way because I got put on as a temp on dedicated accounts and stayed as long as I could because it was better work and ALOT better pay.

I am sorry that he is getting treated the way he is, and something doesn't quite add up, but have him try and stick with it. Without the experience, everyplace is going to be just as bad as the last. I know it's difficult, but it's the only way to earn your stripes in trucking.

 

Werner stretched my son's training period to 3.5 months,then fired him for hard braking once he got a truck assigned,his dac says eligble for rehire with review. So if your husband can't wait for the meds,tell them it's a medical emergency and he has to get his meds cause they will keep him out a lot longer than you think possible.

 

It's strange, the things I hear. I heard the same story from someone who worked for a company... then another guy in the same one said he got through quickly, got his PTO and even went solo sooner than expected.

I wonder why that happens to some, but not others?

 

Not saying this is the case here, but a lot of people in this industry have stated that you get out of a company what you put into it for the most part.

As for my training period, I did not take the PTO. I did the ironman straight though for three months, got a truck, and was routed by my dispatcher to the house for a week off.

As for the meds, you can call them in to any wal mart I believe.

 

it seems to personallity or people involved

 

Some of it has to do with the trainer. Some of it has to do with the student. Most of it goes back to the company.

If the trainer isn't very good at training, the student falls behind where he should be, which leads to prolonged time out with the trainer. If the trainer is knowledgeable and can alter his mentoring/teaching style to suit the learning needs of his student, training can be accomplished in less time.

If the student is having a difficult time with certain things....maybe the trainer knows what to do to help...maybe they don't....but if the student isn't up to par, they shouldn't be turned loose. If the student picks up on things quickly, though, there really isn't any need to keep them in training for any additional time once they have met the goals laid out for the training program.

If the company isn't keeping tabs on it's trainers....quality control, so to speak....you'll run into these issues more frequently. 90-day-wonders are still wet behind the ears themselves...they don't have a clue yet what they are doing yet, but carriers make 'em into trainers anyway. So, you end up with a case of the blind leading the blind and it takes a while to get anywhere like that.

Personally, I don't think anyone should be allowed to train a new driver until they've been driving trucks for at least 7-10 years...with the most recent 3 years driving for the carrier they are training for. You've got to have enough time in so that you can answer ANY & EVERY question that might come up and know WTF you are talking about when you give an answer.