Better Hope You Don't Get This Trainer

They work at weeding out the bad ones. Part of the process getting into training at Prime (I understand) is a course that one has to pass before being assigned a trainee, and the training management does make it clear what is expected.

Now mind ya, a trainee in Prime's system already has a CDL either through the CDL instructional program, or a third-party school. So this is the finishing phase of the training program, and it's up to the trainer to determine how much time he needs to spend in the jump seat before allowing the trainee to operate the truck on his own - supervising and instructing the trainee as necessary.

The post you referred to is rather lacking in detail. The trainee doesn't say whether he's still on a permit- in which case we're talking about an instructor. In that case the guy needs to be terminated. If this is the later phase, it could be that the trainer feels confident in the trainees skills, but that doesn't sound right either in this case. You'd think he'd communicate that fact to the trainee so he'd understand where he was at. You are wrong about the "pickiness" of Prime concerning CDL instructors and trainers. The problem is that there is no way any carrier can closely supervise people in these positions, so the only way management finds out that they have a bad apple in the mix is feedback from the student drivers or trainees. Apparently, it hasn't reached that stage with this guy yet. Each new driver, whether in the student driving phase or trainee phase has the opportunity to provide that feedback to management, and is encouraged to report how things went. They're also supposed to be in contact with their fleet managers as training progresses, and certainly have he opportunity to request new instructors or trainers be assigned to them if things aren't working out.

 

He's a student. He's got a permit only. He followed advice by notifying management and got a new instructor.

We may never know what happens to the instructor punishment wise but the complaint is now on file and we can hope he's either no longer an instructor or one more complaint from losing instructor status.

 

Wasn't sure which way that situation was.