First OTR job with Tyson! Need input!

I was a trainee with JB Hunt in 1989 30 days after I left the USN. The training part is the worst and I know what it's like to be cooped up in a truck with some jerk that treats you like crap. Sleeping in the top bunk while he drives, chain-smoking with the a/c set to recirculate. This too shall pass.
It gets way better once you are solo, but the pressure is still there not to screw-up.
As for the OTR life, are you married or have kids?

 

Good for you.

Not too many of us actually liked being on the road, away from home and all of life's little conveniences that we take for granted, but we did what we had to do, so we could advance ourselves later on. It's called "paying your dues".

Just DO IT, and get it over with. That's what THIS experienced driver thinks.

Open a window, or ask him to open his. If he is impatient, that may be YOUR opinion of him. You slow to learn things? If so, I would be impatient with you as well. Ask questions, lest you never know what to do. If he has only been driving 3 years, he may think he knows it all.

If it were me? I'd remind him of his days as a newbie.

 

Can you request a non-smoking trainer there? Most companies allow you to do that.

 

As bad as it may seem sometimes try to think of it as a learning experience. Think of it as what you dont want when it comes time for that next step in your career. Try to stick out with the first job as long as you can. But, it doesnt mean you cant be looking for something local. For every day that you are out there on the road means another day of experience. When I started driving I was with Werner for 4 months but with my mom in laaws healt family was important and have no regret being there for her last months. But what worked for me in those 4 months was that I was always on time, kept open communications with my DM and did what had to be done to get the bills paid. Being that I was OTR 48 states made my employer more comfortable in hiring me. He basically told me that being I was 48 he knew that I could handle myself with out him babysitting me and I did. Hopefully things go well for ya and remember that sometimes you learn twice as much when you make that wrong decision. But try to keep it optimistic.

 

My brother worked at Tyson out of Springdale, AR for 5 years. He really enjoyed his time there. He then got his own truck and became an O/O with Navajo, where he's been for the past 3 years. He didn't want to do the OTR thing that long either, but it but it got in his blood, and now he thinks it's the greatest job ever.