got left by trainer in truck stop

Three words........."welcome to swift"

 

I believe that both trainer and trainee messed up by not having a clear cut rule of how to deal with stops. I still say you can't train from the sleeper. If you trust someone enough to let them drive while you sleep then they should be in their own truck. The last company I worked for the trainer was in the passenger seat when I was driving. No team operation for that company. That is the way it should be. As long as the companies can get trainees to drive for $300 a week and trainers that are mile hungry there will be this problem. Run like team get paid less than min.wage.

 

One fundamental issue I have with mentor/trainers is that while they may go through classes to become a trainer, they are not really taught how to teach. Teaching itself is a skill. In my own experience with a Swift trainer one of his fundamental issues was attempting to "teach" me to back. His "method" was to get out and do a series of gestures and shouts which had were absolutely useless in terms of telling me what he wanted me to do. I came into the training program with a few years prior experience from decades ago and 3 months recent experience, so I was no newbie. Finally I just told him to shut up and critique me later. He went through the backing school at Memphis, which is a "back by the numbers" method, which was nice, but there were alternate techniques that were much more efficient in certain situations (which he didn't understand). After our little talk he shut up, critiqued later, and grudgingly agreed my methods were "pretty good".

Fundamentally it seems that many trainers I've observed with their students, especially in backing situations, are pretty lost themselves and simply trying to establish authority by belittling. It makes the trainer appear unprofessional and ineffective... at best.

Policy is that a driver cannot answer the phone while driving. The OP likely didn't know whether or not dispatch also left multiple voice messages.

^^^^ THIS.... is what the trainer should have done. I listen to all messages now as I drive. Sounds to me like the trainer perhaps wasn't familiar with this feature?

Trainees do pay a babysitting fee to the trainer. It's called extra income. Whenever you are paid extra then you should be expected to be extra responsible. Right?

 

I would think as I met the trainer the first time exchanging phone numbers would be the thing to do. There are certain things that are part of my attire as in have with me at all times. I know she just went to use restroom and would be only a minute, but separating without actually speaking to one another is never a good idea. If she had no phone the trainers number written down and kept with her would be the next choice. Now I have never been in a team situation but from a never been there point it seems like the thing to do.

 

I always took a backpack with me always assuming the my loser trainer would leave me, but he never did even that he threatened to do it a few times. He was such a scum bag.

 

when i trained at Werner, the keys allways left the ignition, whoever was driving took keys with them, and rule was to make contact with each other prior to moving vehicle, no exceptions, I ran a tight ship..

 

I went through a 2 day course when becoming a trainer, and the company doesn't teach the trainer about how to teach anyone. They just go over company policy, such as all the possible ways to sexually harass someone, fill out report cards, etc. So yeah takes time to learn how to teach/train someone, and some trainers just never learn how to do it right.

Yelling and Hand Gestures never worked for me either. Just confuses me more than anything. I personally like to talk to the student for a minute real quick about the strategy of what we're doing for the current setup, then I let them do what they can. If they are still stuck then I'll try to explain again in a different way.

Sure, some trainers might try to assert authority by belitting their students, but it could also just be frustration and impatience.

Off Topic: Spending 6 weeks with someone in a close environment means you get to talk a lot and learn about the other person. Sometimes you can even learn from the other person. I found it very interesting the stuff I learned, from city people, country people, hunters, ex-military, ex-business owners, music writers, about their home country, stuff about other jobs that they worked at, etc. Just something I wanted to mention, what I liked about being a trainer.

 

I guess this is why they urinate right at the fuel island.

 

When I initially trained while codriving with my brother we had walkie talkies. Fast forward to the modern world and we can use cell phones set to speaker. If the trainer is outside the truck, then make a cell phone connection, put it on speaker, and you can actually talk to each other as the trainee is going through the backing maneuvers.

I like your general idea of talking with the student about the strategy for getting into a backing position before beginning the process. That's the right idea IMHO. The old, "Have a Plan, Work the Plan" mantra is a good one. Help the student see the situation and the options for getting the job done, then let them fire away. Stop them if they are getting out of position or into trouble and help them rethink the situation. Otherwise let them go and critique them later.

 

At that point when the trainer is not watching the student drive is where I have a problem with this, the trainer should be watching the student the entire time. The mega fleets get by with this crap and then preach how safe they are and how many times to you hear of an accident with the trainer in the bunk sleeping......

When I drove entertainer buses, we had a rule, if you got off the bus, you put your laminate in the driver's seat, that way if I went in to pay for fuel and someone got off, I knew not to leave.