A Thread for the Trainer

Learn what you can from him even if it is from a "how not to do it" standpoint (you already are) and when you get your own rig, do it right. Later on, you may want to become the trainer and you can lead in a better, more honorable direction.

Who knows, you may well be suffering this today to make you better tomorrow.

 

I like the old way we used to train and in so many ways it was superior. I miss it. You didn't train drivers you built truckers from the ground up! But there was something to build with and you did it hauling freight. It worked.

I still think truck driver training would make an excellent reality series for television. Might cause four wheelers see what a bunch of idiots they have been around trucks all their lives. And that is one area I used to rub it in hard and drive the point right into their hearts!

 

I am going to admit: I know nothing about being a truck driver, I don't think I will get rich and by no means do I think this job is going to be easy. I do know that I am going to have to work hard to learn how to be a Driver. I have to say I admire the trainers out there who take time to teach their students and have the paitence to stand in there. I have a lot to learn and only hope I get a trainer who Wants to Train. I would like a trainer like you!!!!! Thanks for being a stand up guyThe trucking industry need more like you!

 

Hubcap, if you don't mind a rookie asking , Who do you train for out of Ft.Worth? Me being in close to Ft.Worth I would be very interested in looking into working for the company you train with, shoot who knows you might be the one to show this old man how it's done.......

 

When it comes to being trained, You never know what your going to get. There are 2 types, 1. For the money. He throws you the keys and says "goodnight, wake me up when your hours are up." Or 2. someone who likes to turn newbies into truckdrivers. When there are companys letting newbies train newbies, thats when something needs to be done. I waited untill i had 5 years over the road before i thought of training. Iam no expert, but at least i have some experince at the job and lifestyle. Trust me, i learn everyday, and still ask the old hands for advise.

 

Well, that is the trouble is that you can't keep these idiot school owners from making the same mistakes the last ones did. So right now, I am not training anyone. Weatherford College was my last effort but they didn't want me even after they encouraged me to apply!

So I am driving a pneumatic tanker for a local concrete company.

The training thing is one strange animal wrapped up in a fable accompanied by a rumor and surrounded by the faint smell of a school owner who wouldn't know blinker fluid from air brake gas. It is a long, long story starting in 1983.

 

I attend the school at Grayson County College in Denison TX. I received my CDL yesterday, took my test in the rain. I would like to have a chance to say Thanks to BJ and Jimmy for with out their paitence I would have never made it. It was hard for an old hot rodder to learn to double clutch and shift at low RPMs and speed. I was able to perform this with much coaching and support from them. BJ says he has done the first part of my training, but I am not a true driver at this point. He showed me the basics to help me land a job and finish my training on the real road of life for a trucker. My hat goes off to them.

 

Well, the training of students has been pretty bad the last month for me. The first student did great, only had 40 hours left of training to do. He was a great driver and listen very well. He was off the truck in only a week and tested out and is on his own.

Now for the goodtimes. Next student was a muslim guy, no problem, i have had 2 before. This guy told me he had to stop and let him pray 5 times a day at different times, and it had to be within 10 min. of that time. I asked him if he wrote the company a letter to let them know this would get in the way of his job, he said "no". So i droped him off in Atlanta at our terminal, sorry not on my truck.

Next guy was an ex-rock cocain smoker from Dallas TX, Great, i gave him a chance, hey people have to change, right. Well he was scared to death to drive. He also smelled worse than a goat. We hear about smelly trainers, well how about the smelly trainee. this guy was horiable, not just the smell either. I had to always tell him to keep the truck above 55mph on th interstrate. He liked to go 50mph, white knucled, sweating like a ##### in church. I finaly told him after a week, this is just not for you, your going to kill someone. So off the truck in L.A.

Next guy was a young kid, great driver, picked it up very fast. Learned my 13 speed quick. I thought, ok, finaly a guy who wants to drive and learn. Well after talking to him he said he almost walked out first day because he had missed his wife and new baby. I told him you knew you would be gone, why did you do it, my favirote comment in training, "It looked easy,and i can make alot of money" After 3 days he told me, " This is waaaaay more then i thought it would be. This is stressful and hard, i miss my family." As you can tell, he thought this thru real well. After picking up a trailer that had metal to metal brakes, he said to me, "How can you find that stuff all the time." i told him thats why you pre-trip. He said after," this is just to much" We get to Kansas city and he said, "drop me off at a truckstop, my uncle is going to pick me up." So i did, sucked, he was a good driver, just had no clue what to he was getting into.

So heres my thanks to the goverment, thank you for dumping people into trucking that should have never even givin it a chance. To the truck schools, thanks for the B.S you give these people.

So newbies, think about it, i mean think very long and hard about it. After that you still will have no idea what your getting into.

I still will train people, i like when i get someone who wants to be a trucker and does not just need a job, because this not a job, its a life changeing experince.

 

I had one student quit the first day when he found out he would be sleeping in the truck. He was under the impression the company would be pay for a motel room.

Ha ha ha.