A Thread for the Trainer

just an update. i'm home for a day or so from training. i've been out for 5 and a half weeks with the same guy. he's been great, not a wacko lol. we've had our moments where each of us had wanted to strangle one another but that will happen when you live in a box with someone. i've learned a lot from him so far. i'm hoping to get back out in the next day or so with the same guy to finish my 8 weeks. all of a sudden last week, after not having shifting issues, i started to struggle in some of the lower gears. 5th in particular. i usually have a problem after going from an empty for a few hundred miles to having 40000 lbs, but overall i think i'm doing good. my trainer has been giving me good evaluations so far. hope to be in my own truck after the 1st week in november. talk to y'all later

 

My husband is currently attending school here at the above stated school.
Unemployment is paying for same, along with many others.
_Shortage of Instructors
_Verbal Abuse from Instructors
_one day owners wife instucts on the road.
_Instructors don't show up.
They were advised 50 percent will pass on 1st try with MA State Police.
Everyone has had their turn except my husband (his is Friday of this week). So far all have failed on first try except 1. Apparently our state is the only state that you must parelle park a truck in a space to pass out of many other moves. I feel the owners is just feeding off the unemployed workers who are trying to become truck drivers. IE.....take the money with little results. The school is 4 weeks long. They are now on there 5th week with little results! How long is a good trucking school in time?

Does anyone anywhere know about this school. Please any responses would be most helpful. I'm ready to call Martha Coakley's office the AG for the state on this firm. I call it scam artists.

And yes since he has been in the school he gives truck drivers a lot more empthay than ever before!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sincerely yours,
NYSE
Melody

 

Sounds like a case for the Better Business Bureau,to me!

I'm really learning from this thread - I've been wondering what the training period might be like after I'm out of school. I'm hoping to get on with Wiley Sanders and their training pay is above average.10 weeks total,out 2-3 weeks first trip at 14 cpm.
I can see where compatibility could be a big issue,but I have worked in close quarters for extended periods before and I'm not real concerned about that. I am a Christian,non-smoker - if I can get a trainer who is the same,I'll be a happy camper!

 

how long is traing at werner?

 

Man i don't blame you for kicking him off! Way too dangerous and you know what they say... "U can't fix stupid!" haha

 

Who say's ya don't learn much by reading posts here at this forum! ...This is a great thread in a great topic for me as i'll be going to a major (mid size?) carrier next week. Anyway....

Things I've come to realize from the forum, not taught in school:

1) The truck I'll be in will be HIS truck, his home. I am a visitor, a guest, and will respect that fact the entire 8 wks of training (4wks, break, 4wks. don't know if same trainer both 4 week periods).
2) He has become a successful driver with the company so my job is to listen.
3) I will pack as light as I can while still being able to take good personal
care of myself, or at least as much as possible while on the road.
4) What I learned in school, even though it was a very good one, is only the basics, see number 2 above.
5) I have researched the company and met a few people there, and toured the home terminal, and they expect the trainers to remain as a solo operation and to log legally and operate legally/safely thereby hopefully preventing me from having to 'blow the whistle'. (hehehe, he said 'blow', hehehe, says Bevis)
6) See number 1 above.

What'd I miss?

 

i train,ive had some good ones and some bad ones.my last one not so good.the guy bhad a sleep disorder or something,we would sleep all night,at least he would,i had to fall asleep arond his train wreck of snoring,then we would wake up in the morning,he usually drove in the morning,(ill explain why here)because i couldnt trust him to stay awake.if i drove first,id look over about 15 minutes after we took off and he would be asleep in the jump seat,not good.kept having to tell him you cant do that and drive a truck,your training your body to sleep sitting up,not good.it didnt matter what time of day it was,all he did was sleep.a very uneasy feeling when you let somebody like this get behind the wheel of your truck.i finally told the guy look,somethings wrong w/you,you need to get it fixed or your gonna kill yourself or someone else.against my better judgement i didnt inform anybody about his problem.hopefully he took my advice and got some help.im not a doctor,so its not for me to make that diagnosis.same thing on the signs w/this guy.we were on i/20 heading east out of texas,i jumped in back to change clothes and grab a bite told him to stay on i/20.feel the truck slowing down,turning,fiqure,oh a rest area,no truck doesnt come to a stop,step out,ask him where you at,im on i/20 he says.im reading the signs.state highway sign.thats my first question to him.thats a state highway sign.second question was,see that crossover,ever seen one of those on an interstate.he says whats a crossover.really!!!!!so id start asking him when we passed a sign what did that sign say,even after 5 weeks he rarely knew.i had patience w,the guy,should have pulled the plug,but i didnt,dont think this one is gonna make it spanky.

 

Has any other trainer decided to simply drive on the students logs when they got a "bad one". I see and hear a lot of saints in this forum (god bless your souls) but the reality I have seen and heard (not read in the forum) is much different. I can go to any england yard, ( I am certain the same applies to swift werner crst ets. ets). and I garentee you I would hear a conversation about how things are "really" done. By this I mean a trainer (phaseI) who simply pays the $250.oo a week to run on two sets of logs. Basically says screw the student, go in the back and play nintendo watch DVDs ets while they drive both there logs and the students logs. Its much easier to drive two shifts letting the student drive here and there on really easy stretches to give the trainer a break, than it is to drive a full shift and then after driving,stay up and teach a new person to drive for a full shift.

I will admit that I have "done it" with all the students that have gotten on my truck ( both men and women), since I became a phase I trainer. The bad ones I did it with them all the time. I only let them drive on a long straight dry interstate other than that I am running on there logs. CRengland makes the phaseI trainers run as a team, as in 4k to 6k miles a week right off the bat (sometimes they give a long solo run to break the ice with the new guy but not always).

I am a trainer at crengland and I will be the first to admit I aint a saint. I have done just about everything bad that one can do. I spent a whole 7 weeks driving with zero previous experience, got an early lease and immediately started training as a phase II. Looking back on it, its kinda funny. I didn't have a clue what I was doing and was trying my best to act like I did know what I was doing. My first few students didnt buy one bit of it. A couple of my students knew more than I did and taught me quite a bit. My carreer kinda goes downhill from then to the present time, from a moral perspective. Be nice to hear from some reall people, like I see in the company yards or truck stops or my old trainers. We could have some conversations on here about how things "really work" that would make the devils ears bleed, and quite passably put a few of us under investigation from numerous government agencies.

 

You still don't know what you are doing.

 

I was a trainer for us ( Flatbedders and vans ) I had a 93 Peterbilt 379exhd. and a 2003 Transcraft Eagle Flatbed at the time. I told him when he got in the truck " Sorry for the old truck , we only had this one left over " He points at my truck ( 2000 Peterbilt 379exhd ) " Why can't I drive that one ?" I told him " Thats my truck and I rather it not be driven by every guy that comes threw here nothing against you " So I tell him Turn left out of the yard go to the secound stop light turn right , go to the first road not a service road on your right and go to the T and turn right and turn right again. Okay , he does great shifting and we talk he grew up on a farm and his dad tought him years ago to drive a manual ( I think oh good , a student that knows something ) . So he makes it to the customer , I tell him pull on the scale turn the CB to channel 5 and hollar for Tommy , Brenda or Karen , Just say " Any body on the scale " He grabs the mic and says "Any one of you ##### on this #### scale duty ?" I already am about to nock this guy out of the seat , plus he was on channel 19 any how. I told him you can't say that you have to be polite and if I hear it from your mouth or a customer again your ### is gone ! So he does that and I show him where to go and he backs in no problem ( YA ! ) ( Im likeing this guy kinda ) so we were on the dock and they come out with the first to souls ( Alu's ) I told him get a boomer and a chain for it he gives it to me and say well what do I do with this ####
? I told him chain down this front soul and then the last one that comes on. He said okay , later I found out okay should have been I need to quit this job. I told him not to fool with it right yet till we get the whole trailer loaded but we'll do the straps as they go one . " okay ( OH #### )" So the next two souls go one and he throw the strap accross and it hit the guys next to us truck ( im upset ) I tell him make shure theres no damage and I explain to the driver and he said , no problem I was there once , I told him thanks for understanding. so I show him how to easyily do these straps for these and we go threw the rest of the trailer no problems. I drive back to the shop told him Ill see you monday ( Pre loaded on a friday ) . So i tell him be here at 6:00 AM Monday. I get to the shop at 5:30 am not expecting him till 6 okay 6:00am rolls around no sight of him I think he just got stuck in traffic , no big deal. 6:15 I call his cell phone no answer . 7:00am ( I am pissed beyond believe I told him 6 and were gonna be late unless I get out and drive hard. ) 7: 15 he comes rollingin as I am rolling out.called me all pissed I told him to meet me at the next exit I get off and we can run this the rest of the way. I let him get in and drive for about 2 hours. We start in the hills and he can't downshift to save his life and apperently can't use a jake brake because he's not . I reach over and flick it on and flick it off at the bottom of the hill and tell him to pull over. I told him Ill drive threw these hill just whatch how I do his . "okay" we get there and back and he learns and then about 3 weeks after he's out of my truck were on the farm and driving and I was behind him and he slung his truck into a ditch. ( Damaging fender bumper hood tanks stacks brethers sleeper all axles tanks ) and he said well you tryed to pass and you startled me . ( I was like WTF ) so the police show up and ladadadada Were in the office and I told him here's your load . the he goes "okay" and he goes out in te parking lot and hits MY TRUCK !!! and go out and yank him out of his truck and fire him then and there and he tryed to say that I fired him because I was using descrimination. Judge threw the book at him 2 days later he's in jail drunk driving , now he's in the pen - drug use.