Time out on the road while training

In my experience it’s company and trainer dependent. If it says something like 4-6 weeks, that’s about how long they’ll be out. If they need more work after that, well, they either go out a little longer or leave. The trainee really has no say as far as length goes.

 

I drive for a flatbed company in the oilfield now, but I didn’t train here. I went to a CDL school, went to a reefer mega carrier, went out with a trainer for 3 or 4 weeks then worked for my father for a year or so. Had to go out with their trainer since I was new driver before I could work with him being leased.

While the trainee doesn’t have any say in the length of training normally they can have a say in their trainer to an extent. If they aren’t doing their job she needs to get a new one, that simple. Training is what they do but unfortunately there are a lot out there who use students as nothing but an extra time clock to make more money. If that ends up being the case the company needs to be notified.

 

I was out 6 weeks with two different trainers and never made it home

 

Trainee is bottom man on totem pole. The needs of the truck comes first and there is usually a prescribed (At least when I trained spouse in FFE I was given 12 weeks to break her in proper against a formal company test that will be administered to her to discover if she is trained or not in terms of what is necessary. She was accepted for team with me in 9 weeks ending my pay as a trainer and beginning our Team running. We both were pretty much gone 306 service days of the year 2001 out of 365 total. Meaning we were in the truck at least 125 miles from the house which was itself put to sleep.

Edit: Spouse showed me she could run and we were a full reefer team in two weeks operating as such, which would have been and was the exact same work we were doing the rest of that year.

Some trainees are horrible and are put back on the bus home within the hour. Anything can happen at any time until the training period is finished and the trainee is accepted formally into the Fleet for pending truck assignment. (Which in my time is the most wore out disposable tractor there is so that when and if newbie solo driver screws it up and causes damage it's not much of a loss)

Unfortunately some trainers in the industry today mule trainees to run while trainer sleeps. The best way to train I think these days is to be riding that right seat with trainee doing everything under supervision. The truck does not go very far and if Trainer is on salary then it's not a problem. Trainees do not know yet very much of anything and they will do what they are told, even if they are being exploited.

I can go on further, but at some point the training must succeed or fail. And then the newly minted extrainee will begin to try and spend the first year learning so much more on his or her own. Many are eliminated within that time.

The worst thing about trainees? Very low pay. I think spouse was seeing a couple hundred net weekly. My salary covered everything else to the house and then some at a rate of about 6000 net monthly. And then it became about .75 to the truck for the two of us. Generated a gross of about 34K each for the year 2001. (Below minimum wage actually for the 306 days times 24 hours out.)

 

He stated he was out a total of 6 weeks. Whatever the days he was with one trainer and then another was just part of that 6 weeks as laid out.

That's about average. Sometimes more.

Most of my trainers in my lifetime had me in my own assigned truck within two weeks at most. They only cared about a few things, first off being able to move 48000 pounds physically off the trailer floor to small wood on the dock in a few hours.

There has been maybe three trainers in that entire time I did trucking that were really good in their way and I was much better off for it. Some of that training has stayed with me to this day in certain aspects of the industry. I can go out right now and unload say a bulk tanker within the hour without any trouble or refreshing. That is how good training can be more than 30 years ago. The other part is mountain work with a 18 wheeler. I live for it. It might terrify some, but frankly it's FUN to me when done right.