A new tanker yanker

Sounds like highly variable. They run all kinds of stuff all kinds of places. I may have a few overnights here and there, but apparently I get hotels in that case. Small company, I heard they have trouble keeping the last few brand new drivers in the last 6months due to the irregular start times. I'm not terribly bothered by it. Sounds like many or most starts will be 3 to 5 am type stuff, long shifts. Off the bat, I want to show I'm willing to work and I want lots of overtime. I'm anxious
learn all I can and get to know my job. I learn quickly, but I hate being new to something and not knowing my job inside and out.

 

Well, I hope the threads not too old, but I'm done with this job. Thats right, I quit.

I drove up from portland tosay, to tacoma, started at 2 in the am. Trying like hell to get adjusted to it. Weird hours came easier in the Marines, but I figure I had enough of a sleep debt before to fall into it. I spent all my off time yesterday trying to get enough sleep. Melatonin has an upper limit, apparently.

I was told I was driving back up from portland today. I'm game, so I was more than ready to give it a shot. Its been three weeks since I drove a freightliner ten speed on the regular in class. Today, it was straight to 13 speed, float gears, split gears, loaded 105k, in a peterbuilt where I have to feel around to find the engine break, and stomp like hell to get it to break. Everything feels different, and well, wrong. A different truck, a weak clutch, a brake thats already on the floor.

I've never driven with a load.
I've never driven at night.
I've never driven a 13 speed
I've never floated gears.
I've never split gears.
I've never driven this truck.
I've never driven a double filled with heavy lubricants.
I've no idea how well this thing will stop, or how badly the surge will push me around.

The whole way up, the trainer is asleep most the time while I'm white knuckled, my jaw set so tight I have several muscle spasms I have to unlock while going over tight bridges and turns,feeling around for the jake brake in the dark,
trying to float and split gears like I've read about extensively. The guy training me says different than everything I have read, or watched, and thats OK. He's the experienced driver, and presumably knows his truck, and says to always shift between 1200 and 1500. I do that, I split every single time znything does anythimg outside that range, and theres lots of what I'll call miscommunication.

The final straw for me is going up by tacoma in full traffic, around and in front. Several of those I-5 specials where you are going from cruising to full on STOP! In seconds as everyone slams on their brakes. I eventuall take on a lengthy stopping distance and drop to 50 or 55 mph out of a possible 60 and go from 8 hi to 8 lo as my rpms eventually and naturally drop.

Trainer asks why the hell I downshifted. I explain, while braking for yet another four wheeler cutting me off near exit for military base where EVERYONE wants to cut over, that I don't feel it is safe going a full sixty. I'm not used to how a tanker surge handles, or how fast I can stop under load.

My trainer gets all huffy, talking about how I have no business driving then if I can't handle sixty. Despite the fact that I have handled a frankly numerous amount of challenges and dangers, safely, keeping my lane while my trainer racked out, I ferl like this was a bridge to far. I angrily recounted my reasons for giving myself room to react, see above for the factors that are NEW TO ME, which I was clear about before hand, and which I dealt with in what I felt was an intelligent and responsible manner.

My trainer started asking me if I've been to driving school, and why then was I not able to drive a truck. Thats when I decided I was done, and told him again the ten new things I was managing auite well for the first fricking time, and three weeks since I had driven a truck at all after my cdl test, save a 5 min "check-ride".

I told him I would park the truck at the first location he directed, and turn it over to his capable hands.

I filled out my paperwork, finished the day, and turned in my gear. I'm off to look for another job.

Was this really so wrong? I know theres a time to step up to the plate, but I really feel I did. I told the trainer I thought he'd forgotten what it was like to be a new driver, and did so respectfully. I might be hard to realize or remember what its like to have everything brand new, I mean everything, on top of just getting a ten speed of different make to do what you want long enough to pass a cdl test.

I'm off to look for something thats a little more sane, and will let me build one thing at a time. I felt like. I handled all that well, and was able to split shift, float, work a 13 with different gear pattern, handle a surging loat, etc well, but even as an experienced driver the one at a time out of nowhere traffic jams come up in an instant, and I don't think I would have done different.

Sure, this is a rant. Tl/Dr, don't bother, but I'm honestly trying to find out if this was reasonable, either way. Insurance and vacation sucked anyway.

 

I still think the company is good, and I can see that the driver is a decent and well liked fellow, despite this incident. I felt it was way out of line though, and on top of 1350 a month for insurance and no vacation first year and a week after that, it kind of completed my disillusionment. These things are the cost of finding yourself a place where you fit into trucking right?

I remain grateful that this doesn't make me unhirable, and while I intend to be a bit more careful in the future to avoid wasting a good companies time and mine, and I have the luxury of a little time to sort through something closer, and hope for similar pay but better benefits.