Trainer for US Xpress

Still on the Wally World dedicated, but we are heading to Alabama. We are taking one empty reefer down there and bringing a different one back. Sometimes logistics doesn't seem all that logical to me. I like that we aren't delivering to stores, but would rather be paid by the mile. This account pays by the day. That generally works in my favor on the store runs, but not something like a 1500 mile run.

Student had a little over 45 hrs in at the start of today. He got too tired at the end of the day so I had to take over for the last hour of driving last night. I have very little time left on my 70.

So far so good. Neither one of us has any complaints about the other. You guys would have gotten an "earfull" about my last student...lol. This one seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders and he is getting over that initial nervousness.

 

I'm being fought over...LOL

I'm still on this Walmart thing, but Operations has tried to pull me off it twice. Apparently this office has the final say and they will not let me go. I don't mind this account but it is getting boring. We usually run out to three stores then back to the DC. Tonight we will be doing a double run. I was told I would be getting a daily rate, but I'm actually being paid for miles and stops.

My student has 99 hours in right now. I'll have to work out getting him to Springfield for upgrade. They quit doing upgrades in Markham.

My student is getting plenty of backing practice in with bumping at least 3 docks a day. We don't use the Circle of Service on this account though. He also hasn't done any mountain driving. I've gone over all this stuff with him, but I know it's not the same as actually doing it. He will be teaming with his wife after they both upgrade so I'm sure they'll be able to figure it out between the two of them. She is in a lease truck so he will have to teach her how to shift.

Not much else to report. This dedicated account is easy, but boring.

 

Time to play catch up.

My last student finished his 120 hours in 16 days. I had him doing all the driving on the Walmart account. I ended up losing about 500 bucks on that deal.

Walmart couldn't get me near Springfield so they cut me loose and we got a load to Hagerstown. Dropped him at Sprinfield and was supposed to pick up another in Shippensburg. He had some sort of problem so that fell through. I did pick up a guy who only needed another 5 hours. He drove the load from Hagerstown to Utica. After that he got on a bus headed to Springfield for upgrade. They threw me a hundred bucks for that.

While at the TSC store in Utica I ran into an old trainee of mine. Glad to see he was still doing good.

OK, now we are at Memorial Day weekend and I'm solo. They had me got to Tunkhannock, PA. Anyone who has been there knows it's a hurry up and wait deal. It turned out my load wasn't even scheduled yet. I hate when shippers pull that.

I hate it even more when I have to go into New Jersey, especially Hackansack where they sent me next. That placewas not built for 53 footers...at all. I managed to get it in there though. That load paid for two extra stops even though they were actually at the same location. Delivered in Pittstown PA.

Next was a short run from Lock Haven to Pottsville Pa. Then picked up in Mechanicburg heading to Kings Mtn, NC.

In the meantime my original next student finally cleared so I pulled into Shippensburg with about five minutes left on my clock. Spent the night there and headed to NC the next day. After delivery we ended up repowering a load in Charlotte to Smithton PA. Then off to Meadow Lands, Pa to Gaffney, Sc. Then picked up in Anderson and heading up to Gouldsboro, PA.

So far student has 27 hours. I've had to drive a little twice in order to make PU on time.

This new student is going to be a challenge. 52 years old and has never touched a computer. I also have to explain everything to him at least five times. His shifting and backing aren't horrible though so that's a plus. He is a 150 hour student and he'll need every second of that.

Until next time, be safe out there...

 

Sorry I missed this. I really have been busy.

Trainers get paid an extra 20 bucks a day plus all miles. We get $350 if the student passes the upgrade. If the student is good and you can run some team loads the miles (and pay) add up quickly. I also run a load in if the student runs out of hours and we are close. That gets us closer to the next run. We also get a penny per mile for what the student runs for 6 months as long as they have no accidents. that is paid monthly.

I enjoy it but it can be frustrating if the student isn't getting it. I've had a few from work rehab that picked trucking as a last resort. They don't really put their heart into it. The best students are the ones who really want to be truckers.

I did run teams here for six months. The miles were more consistent because you run team all the time. I do have a week of slightly less pay as a trainer than I would if I was team.

My checks usually run about 800-1500, net. A couple weeks ago my check was over 2000.

 

It's been a while since I posted to this thread. My last student took up every bit of free time that I had. His driving was perfectly safe and fine, but the rest was a bit hard for him to comprehend. It's a bit difficult to teach a DT to someone who has no concept of what a submit button is, much less email or anything else.

Due to a miscommunication he ended up being on the truck for 180 hours instead of 150. I'm not sure he benefited from that extra time. I know I sure didn't.

After finally getting him on the truck in Springfield I waited for my next student. I sort of wanted a break but I was going to be out for another week so they talked me into it. She is doing much better than my previous one. She shows initiative which is a good sign.

Right now I'm on my last day of home time. I ended up staying out 8 weeks. They bribed me with a bonus to stay out until July 2nd. I ran my butt off for those 8 weeks too. No sitting around. They even got me home on time, no thanks to a certain grocery warehouse that took their sweet time (6 hours) to get me unloaded and counted. I about had a meltdown there as my 14 was ticking away. Made it to my parking spot with 4 min left on the clock.

Soon the fun begins all over again. Can't wait to see how long it takes to hook back up with this student. They sent her home during my HT. She is up in Maryland and I am down in Florida. I'm betting they send me to Texas...

 

Well I came back from home time and finished up with that student. I'm not sure she is cut out for this. She took Northeast Regional thinking she would get home a lot. I told he that was probably not happening but she wouldn't listen.

We ended up in Tunnel Hill to drop her off and pick up the next one. I also needed a PM. So I am sitting in the terminal and hear the terminal manager calling my name. He tells me to follow him and I'm like what did I do...lol. turns out they decided to swap trucks on me. The truck he tried to assign to me ended already being seated so now it's a waiting game. In the meantime the shop is taking their time on the old one since it's not going anywhere anyway. At least got to spend the night in the hotel. I even popped for the extra
for a room all to myself.

My new trainee appreciated being able to stay in the hotel as well. They had shipped her home while waiting on me to get to Tunnel Hill.

So the next afternoon they finally find me a truck at the terminal so I don't have to drag all my stuff and a student to wherever. I am now back in a 2012 Cascadia. After moving all my stuff too the new truck I had to wait for them to transfer the inverter..that finally happened the next day. Meanwhile I helped out with road tests.