Great Trainers

good to know, while not scared by the horror stories, im just a little apprehensive...

 

There are indeed some great trainers out here, and I was fortunate to have one. (a fifteen year veteran driver). He too got out of the warmth of the cab in January to illustrate and explain /answer every question I asked. That said, I've also heard some nightmare stories of unbelievably bad ones.

 

Glad you got a chance to see it. There are still quite a few people in this industry that get a true pleasure out of passing along their knowledge and really helping people.

 

And I should add that I can still call this guy anytime day or night with a question or a problem and he is there for me. I'm very fortunate. How do you repay someone like that?

 

Give him a call and treat him to a nice dinner just to show him how much you appreciated him for a trainer.Good trainers are few and far between and they should be noticed for there dedication to training.

 

Good idea there, patty. I do not let him get away without telling him what a wonderful trainer he is. And right in front of him I tell his students when I occasionally run into them at a fuel stop or drop yard just how lucky they are to have gotten him as a trainer. He told me when he dropped me for upgrade to call him whenever I needed him, and he has more than once proved his sincerity. "But call me BEFORE you get into trouble or do something illegal," he said. A rare breed, these good driver trainers. I couldn't do it, training . I wish I could, but I ain't made of that!

 

I had/have a great trainer too. He calls me once a week just to see how im doing. I call him with any questions. When he was training me and we were on a long easy stretch of interstate, he would call his past trainees to check on them.
He never got angry at me or pissy. When I did something he wasnt happy with or stupid...he would talk it through with me. We practiced backing in the back of a truck stop too. He always got out when parking or docking somewhere.
There is no team training for the company we work for. He spent almost all time in the jumpseat. on one trip, he drove 45 minutes to get us to a delivery so we would need to do it in the early am. My clock was expired.
He shared the food he brought out on the road with him. He urged me to get a GPS and downloaded all of his bookmarks onto it. All the recievers and shippers he had been to in 4 years.... that was very helpful cause he made notes about onsite parking or street parking or onsite scale or how to check in at certian places. Now when i go to a place ive never been and isnt in the gps, i add it in the same manner....he also showed trip planning with altas and gps together..not one or the other........All around a nice dude.
We broke down in San AntoniO on a Thursday. Peterbuilt said they couldnt get it into the shop till monday. He rented a car and we went to Corpus Christi for the weekend. He said the company is paying for the room...might as well be at the beach. We just stayed at a place the same price as the one we were in the first night in SA. He paid for all the gas and rental. he offered to pay for every meal since I was on trainee pay...but I didnt let him. when I did my paperwork to transition from training to solo...I couldnt think of one negative for the training survey.

With the horror stories ive read here...I really lucked out.

 

Every one know good drivers are born not trained!!!!!