Trainers

I am about to have my CDL and go with a company that has a 4 to 8 week training period. What is it like living with a stranger in a truck for a month? Please tell me the good and bad stuff about this time period. Besides the obvious of pay attention and learn how to be proficient in the industry, what am I to expect?

 

It blows...by real quick and you won't realize it ever happened.

 

Why would you want such a long training period? I wanted to get that phase over with ASAP. There are good companies that have you out only 1-2 weeks with a trainer.

 

Oh boy, you'll open up a can of worms with that post. All these "holier than thou's" will concur and tell you that in order to have adequate training, one must spend months with a trainer if not years, and even then they still will be called names and shrugged off as "beneath them".

They don't tend to understand that some people learn quicker than others, or that they themselves probably never had training and joined the trade when there were no requirements of such to be allowed behind the wheel.

But I'm definitely with you on that post. I say get it done as quick as possible, those 5 weeks I had to go through were torture, had the basics of what I didn't already know learnt by the end of the first week. Then it was just repetition.

To the OP, I'd urge you to get down how to deal with the shipper and customer procedures quickly in the first couple days, because those will eat up all your time that could be spent behind the wheel, which is what is put towards your graduation, not the time you sit at shippers and customers. Once you have the system down, tell your trainer that you are done being the one on-duty during those times and just take all the highway and interstate miles you can so that you can get your hours out of the way quicker and go graduate.

You make less than horse sheet during the training period, and will go broke really quickly the longer you're forced to stay out there with him or her. Get it done and gtfo.

 

Good - Depends on if he's any bit intelligent in what he's supposed to be training you, you may gain some helpful tips to make your life easier on the road.

Bad - Can you sleep in a moving vehicle?
Do you mind being a tool used to just make him money?
If he's smart and trying to squeeze all the money he can out of you, do you mind being worked to the point of exhaustion where you have nothing left and can barely go on? To come and find out that all those hours you put in didn't go towards your graduation?
Do you mind being broke?
And doesn't it suck that it's required? Pfft pfft pfft.

 

Jesus Christ man, exaggeration much? That was a fully loaded 80,000 lb truckload of whine i wasn't prepared for.
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OP it is not that bad. Just try to learn as much from him as you can and dont cause unnecessary conflict. If he ever rubs you the wrong way let it slide always keep your eye on the prize.

 

Keep in mind that most companies will let you switch trainers if there's a conflict. Do your best to keep everything copacetic but if you can't then let your employer know the problem.

 

Oh and ask questions. That's rule #2 of training to be a driver (rule #1 is keep it shiny side up).

 

Keep him real busy with a TON of questions, that way he won't have time to bore you to tears with super trucker stories.

Seriously - make a big list of questions.

Confide in him you're an investigative reporter from the FMCSA.

 

It seems to vary a bit by company. Are you willing to say which company you're with? In addition, will you be running OTR or regional?