Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Thanks for answering. Maybe I am just a stupid rookie. But how is team driving right off the bat conductive to training? Much less considered safe? And is fighting sleep deprivation with energy drinks considered safe? I mean, we are not talking about working long shifts in a restaurant. We are talking about driving a tractor trailer. If you nod off, and make a mistake, people can die. Maybe I'm missing something here due to my lack of experience. I just can't see how team driving in a training situation benefits anything other than the company's bottom line at the expense of common sense and safety. But what do I know?

 

That's one of the reasons why I said no when they asked me to train. In theory, it's supposed to progress to team driving, but, as we say, it's trucking, so anything is possible. If you are fresh out of school, you should NOT be team driving straight out of the gate.

Besides, I like my current fm and don't want to lose him!

 

No, IMO, you are correct. However, we all fight those very things quite a lot. You (sort of) get used to the ever changing routine of starting at 0400 one day and noon the next. Or having to go from day driving to pulling all nighters. Some folks go the energy drink route (very very unhealthy) or caffeine. I don't do either, so it's difficult. Trying to eat healthy is harder as well, but can be done. You've heard of the freshman 15? Same thing applies here as you try to balance your "life" while on the road. It can be done, it's just a little harder.

 

I ran into this issue my first day out, which was two days ago. I just told him I could not safely drive the vehicle once I got too sleepy, and he took over. And now we're working on making my sleep cycle more flexible.

 

Not all of us trainers will start a trainee off into team driving straight away. I WILL not do it. I can not, in all good conscience, do so. I run as super solo with new trainees until both of us feel comfortable with the trainee's driving skill, and only then progress to team operations. If you feel uncomfortable with a situation, trainees are encouraged (by most of us trainers) to let us know in a constructive manner. If a trainer were to have a problem with this, my opinion is that the trainer and trainer may not be a good dit, and another trainer could possibly be requested that the trainee could work better with. That said, a trainer's job is to help get a trainee to open up his/her comfort zone, working through isssues so that the trainee can become competent in all aspects of trucking.

 

oh, and I am sitting on the yard for a bit today, if anyone is interested.

 

@Hudson_MacBeth

With me coming in for orientation Wednesday, I'm hoping my trainer follows your opinion regarding training. I know that I won't be ready for team driving right out of the yard. I will need a day or two to get comfortable and get in the swing of things so to speak.

 

If you don't feel it is safe then don't do it. Only you can know your limits.

Teaming is something I never want to do again and there were times I questioned whether I made a mistake or not. Now that I have been through it and considering how well I am doing financially as 3 month solo newbie I am glad I came here and stuck with their training program.

There are other companies with training programs that don't involve team driving. One of those might be a better choice for you if you are concerned about the safety aspect.