Any Questions for a Driver Trainer for Maverick?

Crackerman · Sep 6, 2011

I'm going to jump in here before the question gets too old. I think Sarge is busy with a new student. FYI, I'm not a trainer and not 100% satisfied with Maverick. With that said, you would make it to the house most weekends. BUT, even if they could get you home every week, they will make sure you get hung out at least a few times a year. They do this to everyone to make things fair. Also, home time is short: laundry,shopping,lawn, then time to get back in the truck, and that's on a full 34hr reset.

GoalieDon · Sep 15, 2011

Sarge great info! You sound a lot like my instructor at England, he was a sgt. in the Marine Corps and me being a former Army Ranger, we got along really well for our training time on the road.

I've been off the road for the past 18 months, but have the itch to get back. Based on some great posts by Jim The Hut I decided to call Maverick yesterday (9/14/2011). I spoke with a recruiter named Courtney, filled out my online application and I guess I am just waiting on a call back. I am really hoping to join the team it truly sounds like the perfect home for me!

BTW, did I read that Maverick runs an atoushift fleet?

sarge26044 · Sep 18, 2011

conservative5 said: ↑

Wanted to ask a question to maverick drivers. I am contemplating trying to get in the trucking industry. Ive been reading posts on every forumm that i can trying to get a feel for the lifestyle , problems ,good things etc. about trucking. seems that some are happy and some not so pleased. Basically lke most professions. you get out of it what you put in it. Im 54 yr.old contractor. this last year the economy has been pretty rough on everybody, but it really put a dent on construction. Im currently thinking of trying to go to crowder college in mo. Its close and seems to have a good reputation. I was wondering since i live close to clinton mo, and see maverick trucks going by would this mean that home time would not be a problem
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The closer you live to a major freight lane, the better off your chances are for getting home. At last check, the percentage of drivers that get home every week was 85%. This is not to be confused with what i hear quite often from drivers that say recruiting lied to them saying "you will be home 85% of the weekends." Getting home is based on freight. If they have a load that takes you through the house. . . you go home. If you deliver somewhere that freight is not available that takes you through the house, they may dispatch you on something else and try to find you a swap with another driver to get you through the house which adds in another variable to the equation. Maverick will not tell you that you have to swap with another driver. In other words that other driver may have a load that gets you home but for whatever reason, He/She DOES NOT want to swap. Guess what. . . you're hung out.

Catching up on this thread after not even logging on for a few weeks, home has been fairly busy and what i thought was my daughter who's almost 3 having PMS, turned out to be her molars coming in. lol

sarge26044 · Sep 18, 2011

GoalieDon said: ↑

Sarge great info! You sound a lot like my instructor at England, he was a sgt. in the Marine Corps and me being a former Army Ranger, we got along really well for our training time on the road.

I've been off the road for the past 18 months, but have the itch to get back. Based on some great posts by Jim The Hut I decided to call Maverick yesterday (9/14/2011). I spoke with a recruiter named Courtney, filled out my online application and I guess I am just waiting on a call back. I am really hoping to join the team it truly sounds like the perfect home for me!

BTW, did I read that Maverick runs an atoushift fleet?
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Coutney's really nice. Good luck and keep us posted on your application. And yes, other than Maverick's sand division, our trucks are automatics but you do have a switch on the shifter which allows you to drive in manual. (better MPG that way)

esanders79 · Sep 19, 2011

Sarge, i live off 95 in NC around the 106 exit, would that get me home most weekends??

GoalieDon · Sep 19, 2011

sarge26044 said: ↑

Coutney's really nice. Good luck and keep us posted on your application. And yes, other than Maverick's sand division, our trucks are automatics but you do have a switch on the shifter which allows you to drive in manual. (better MPG that way)
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Courtney does sound nice -- we have chatted a few times this past week. I should know something by this Friday. I am really excited and ready to get started!

I, for one, love the fact that Maverick runs automatics. I have driven a 9, 10, 13-speed and a Cascadia automatic (I also used the manual mode. I did like the 13 -- especially out in the Rockies with some of those 8% grades. However, there's something to be said for an automatic in rush hour traffic!

GoalieDon · Sep 23, 2011

sarge26044 said: ↑

Hey everyone, its Sarge

Since Jim the Hut's thread (excellent description of Maverick's Orientation, Securement Training, experience with his driver trainer, and daily travels once assigned to his own truck) is used quite frequently by drivers with questions about Maverick Transportation's driver trainers and what is required by the students once assigned to a driver trainer, i thought i'd start a thread specifically for such questions. Ask away and i will do my best to answer. Of course anyone is free to ask/answer any and all questions in this thread and please do.

If the response comes from me, i assure you, it is based on my requirements of my students with Mavericks requirements of me as one of their driving instructors. If you ask my "opinion" on something, that is what you will get, my opinion. Some questions that will probably be asked in this thread could probably be better answered by a Maverick Recruiter. In that case, i'll tell you to ask recruiting.

This is what i expect of my students once i'm assigned to them as their driver trainer. Each one of my students gets a hard copy of the following. I call it "Great Expectations"
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Great Expectations

Welcome to truck 11812. My name is J.W. There are too many Johns in this world and most people p in them, so i prefer to be called by my cb handle which is "Sarge". You've probably heard horror stories about other students Driver "Trainers". First of all, i didn't train or teach them. i don't train people, i teach them. i've trained cats to sit-up, speak, rollover, and dance. and i've trained dogs to sit, speak, rollover, dance, stay, and fetch. Animals get "trained", humans get "taught or instructed". With that in mind, i'd prefer to be referred to as your "Driving Instructor" rather than your "driver trainer".

For the next two or three days, you will not drive the truck, but may be asked to back it into parking spaces, loading bays, docks, etc. There is a reason why i do everything the way i do. You not driving for the first couple of days is to get you familiar with the sights and sounds of the truck as well as to retrain (re-instruct) your brain to recognize things going by at a slower rate. My cruising speed, empty or loaded is 57 mph. Most people are not used to driving that slow and will fall asleep if asked to do. i'd rather you fall asleep in the passenger seat than while driving.

Hopefully, You noticed the company name on the door. It reads "Maverick". I am a company driver assigned to this truck, however, i drive it as if it were my own and take care of the equipment assigned to it, and manage the fuel i put in it as if i paid for it myself. i drive it as efficiently as possible and will teach you to do the same if you are willing to learn.

When i first found out you were assigned to me, i contacted You and asked You to make a list of expectations as to what You expect from me. the following is a list of expectations for you to follow while You are assigned to me:

1. Watch and Learn
2. Do as i ask
3. Ask alot of questions other than "Why?"
4. Don't call me "sir" (or maam for that matter)
5. Take pride in your job and be professional
6. Dont use racial slurs
7. Keep phone use to a minimum when You are driving
8. Take out the trash whenever necessary
9. Don't eat my last can of soup or package of crackers
10. Dont drink my last powerade or drop of water
11. Brush your teeth and use deodorant daily (more often if necessary)
12. Don't pleasure yourself when i'm in the bunk below You
13. Don't wet the bed when i'm in the bunk below You
14. Use the F.R.D. (Flatulance Removal Device), crack the window, when necessary
15. Be safe
16. Have Fun

i know a little about alot of things and will talk about alot of things but there are two things i really don't care to discuss; Politics and Religion. Why? There has been more bloodshed over those two subjects than about anything in history, and discussions about both tend to get heated with some people which causes most people to forget about their primary responsibility when driving a big truck. . . .DRIVING!!!

i'm not a racist or sexist person. To me, it doesn't matter if you're male, female, homosexual, black, white, oriental, latino, WHATEVER!!! You are my student. i will try to teach you to be safe, have fun, and be successfull here at Maverick.

Lock the door, buckle up, and Enjoy the ride
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Alot of drivers that are interested in Maverick ask what they should bring with them to orientation. To Orientation, ask a recruiter. On truck 11812 i will tell you All P.P.E., a pair of comfortable shoes other than steel toed boots, and at least one weeks worth of clothes, a laundry bag (non mesh style), shower shoes, sleeping bag, pillow, blanket, thermal top and thermal bottoms and a clipboard for your logs and student evaluations.

For those of you who have never been OTR (over the road) in a truck but may have camped out before, imagine the floor space of a 3 man dome tent, add six inches to it, put in a dashboard, drivers seat, passenger seat, cabinets, and a set of bunk beds. That is how much space you have inside one of these trucks. Long story short, if you are not going to use it everyday, don't bring it. Leave it back at little rock and you can put it in your truck once you evaluate out.

Truck 11812 is a Cascadia model Freightliner truck complete with the new DEF (deisel exhaust fluid) tank, and APU heat and air conditioning. THEY ARE HEAVY. My empty weight with my stuff, minimum equipment and boards with a 102 inch trailer and full of fuel is close to 32,000 lbs. So leave what you are not going to use almost daily behind.

The APU air conditioning works well but the APU heater has not worked properly since i was assigned to it. On two seperate occasions, i have sat for one day each time trying to get the APU heater fixed, and am not going to waste any more time (which in my book is money) in a shop to get it fixed. I DO NOT IDLE and am a firm believer in Maverick's Fuel Bonus Program. In 2010, i netted (not grossed) over $3100.00 in fuel bonus alone. If you want to spend your money on candy and potato chips, whatever when you dont own any proper cold weather gear, don't complain to me about it or as i say bring some cheese to go with your whine.

I also bring almost all of the food and drink for myself for the week on the truck with me. If i do eat a sit down meal, it will be during my 10 hour break. Same goes for showers. If you are the type of person that requires a shower every time they break a sweat, let it be known that my showers are taken for the most part during my 10 hour break. Some drivers will shower after they deliver then after they pick up, and possibly in the morning or evening at the beginning or end of each day for a total of 2 or 3 showers a day. Not me. If You have a problem with that, simply ask Maverick to assign you to someone else. I would not be offended in the slightest.
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Sarge, I have a question: do Maverick drivers pay for DEF fuel on their ComData cards or fuleing cards as one transaction, or do the drivers have to pay for it out of their own pocket and submit a receipt for reimbursement?

Thanks

cheeseburger · Sep 24, 2011

drivers get DEF as their fueling, it's all authorized together in the same process, at the pump if they have it, or as an additive if not.

sarge26044 · Sep 24, 2011

esanders79 said: ↑

Sarge, i live off 95 in NC around the 106 exit, would that get me home most weekends??
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If hired you'd be in the Regional Atlantic Division or RAT for short. Alot of freight running up and down the east coast and i would say yes but you typed it best when you typed "most weekends"

sarge26044 · Sep 24, 2011

GoalieDon said: ↑

Sarge, I have a question: do Maverick drivers pay for DEF fuel on their ComData cards or fuleing cards as one transaction, or do the drivers have to pay for it out of their own pocket and submit a receipt for reimbursement?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Maverick pays for it from the get go and the new def at the pump option is great!!!!! keeps you from having to fuel and then go inside the store to get the 2.5 gallon totes usually after standing behind a line of patrons at least 4 deep. lol

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