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

Our KW will only pick up AM, FM & XM west bound. Dead air east bound. It sucks.

 

Yeah the Cascadia radio sucks. I could only pull a station if I am within 5 miles of the station itself. Picked up a XM but am not happy with that either. Put the little receiver on the passenger mirror and had clear sky's and open area in TX and the signal still would not stay strong.

 

I'm home. Dropped my trailer at the Publix on Melbourne Beach on my way home yesterday instead of going home, then turning around and driving back 115 miles just to go back home. These Publix stores are getting harder and harder to deliver too. I bobtailed home and sent a message into Tim that when I come back out Thursday, i'll need a trailer to go along with my reload.

 

I pick up a new trainee on Friday in Richmond when I get back in. Actually, he's a stage 2. He was trained by TMC, drove solo for 9 months, then got off the road for about a year. He lives 18 miles from me so this ought to work out pretty good. He's flying up Tuesday evening, going through orientation Wednesday and Thursday, then will get on my truck Friday when I get in. He's been in all 48, parts of Canada and has Ice & snow experience. Hopefully this will be a positive experience this time. I'm about done with this insanity called training a newbie, it kind of reminds me of the mouse in the wheel. We shall see how this turns out. I figure by the time my vacation is here at the end of November, he should be well on his way to solo stardom, I just hope he can get started without hitting something. My trainee record of 1 for 8 needs improving.

 

you didnt train the one that didnt know how to adjust the axles on another thread did you
or the one said had an air pressure problem on the trailer
but admitted she had a flat

 

JB..been silently following your thread a from the beginning and I've appreciated the honest read all the way through and have put Abiliene on top of the list if things ever go south where I'm at now.

Guess I wanted to chime in because I think your track record points out a very real problem in the industry. We absolutely need guys like you training. You insist on making the trainees do it the right way and you actually coach instead of using them for a paycheck.

Obviously the problem isn't you it's the guys coming into this industry that either aren't ready to commit to the lifestyle or just plain think they already know everything..and that discourages the vets like yourself from continuing to train and allows the mega's to use the excuse of lack of trainers to have rookies training rookies.

I sure wish you would continue to train but I certainly understand why you wouldn't.

 

Wasn't me Pete, we don't have male/female training, which is a shame, the next one that comes through looking like and acting like Jenna Jamison would fit nicely in my truck.

 

Thanks for the kind words. What I have seen and heard from every new trainee I've had is the same, they are told by the school they go to that it isn't the schools job to teach them, it's their job to see they pass the state test and get their CDL, the company that hires you will train you. Really? Maybe the Federal government needs to put a little more focus on these schools and put into place a little more stringent requirements in order to get a CDL.

This is the time of year I worry about, that new trainee that's just about finished with his/her summer training that will be cut loose in another few weeks to travel across Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and the rest of those wonderful majestic states that requires hands on training, to deal with the harsh realities of this job. I don't begrudge anyone that wants to enter this profession that has provided me and my family a wonderful life, but at the same time, what's being cut loose out here has me terrified. I can write a book about my experiences with the trainees I've had, and the excuses as to why they have done things the wrong way. Anyway, that's enough of my rant. I'll see how this turns out between now and the end of November.

 

Interview with Sally on Wednesday. Nervous is an understatement.

 

Best of luck massparanoia. I'm fairly new as well and know how you feel.