Awful Driver Trainer!

You're right, Mack. They'd have a hard time proving who it was who stopped. But I bet if they wanted to get dirt on somebody badly enough, they'd dig around in the Q-Comm records to find it. That's where I'm coming from....some companies will do whatever it takes to make a driver miserable enough to quit 'em. Like I said...take away their ability to make that trouble in the first place. Make 'em have to come up with a better excuse for firing somebody.

 

Sorry to hear about the bad trainer, his day will come. I'm a new driver, I drove for 8 weeks w/a great trainer, and then drove 4 months alone. Unfortunately, the accident/safety dept. is another story. They essentially told me I was a liar and would never even record anything I said regarding any alleged accident. I had two incidents in GA both associated at the same time, one I was accused of hitting a car (never did) and then was forced to go onto private property by Sheriff deputy and some damage was done, I was told to either go on property or go to jail, big choice. Then Accident dept told me I damaged a dock at a customer, and I told them I did not.
Well, about 2 weeks later, I was discharged! Too many safety points. They add up fast when you get 10 points per incident. Needless to say, I now cannot even get a truck driving job, because of the alleged accidents I have had, not enough experience and too much on DAC report.

BE REAL CAREFUL OUT THERE WITH SAFETY DEPTS AS A NEW DRIVER!

 

"I'm a new driver". That tells it all. Been there, had those nit-picky incidents. I call 'em 'DACcidents', as companies will bust your DAC for little things that don't matter. I know I had a DACcident once in Montana. I was backing into a dock when a gust of wind blew the rickety door loose (and the baling wire that was holding it in place) and it went part-way closed on me. I didn't see it for a split second, but that is all it took. The door swung half-closed and I bent it about 1/8 of an inch in one small place. That was enough to give me a DAC mark. My problem in that case was I actually was honest and reported it. I should have just dropped the box, hooked up to another, and forgotten about it. I may have been able to get a good job right after quitting Swifty.

If you have only one DACcident, your company benefits, as it will burn your DAC and make you less attractive to a competitor if you decide to go somewhere else. If you have several, they benefit as well. They can fire you and replace you with another newbie, a guy who went through the training school machine. They care not if you just dropped 10K or more on training and can't get a job anywhere because of nit-picky things on your DAC.

I think drivers should be able to sue their companies when they get let go over things like this. Sure, it'd be hard to prove, and those drivers probably wouldn't win, but a company should be called to mat over inferior training. The company ultimately is responsible for your training, and if you get substandard training and have an accident later because of it, the company should send you back for more training instead of showing you the door. If they fire you because of accidents that were caused ultimately by the substandard training, and then you can't get a job because of DAC black marks, you should have recourse. Hell, I think drivers should even be able to sue their high-priced training schools when this happens as well.

I guarantee if a bunch of doctors or scientists were suddenly having this kind of problem, lawsuits would be filed by the tens and even hundreds within days. Those guys would be winning their cases, too. But truck drivers are easy victims, meaning they can be thrown to the wolves on whims. Truck drivers apparently like being the easy victims, or else this wouldn't be going on. This kind of crap doesn't happen to truck drivers in France. If it does, they shut 'em down en-masse right in the middle of the highways. Too bad American truckers don't have this much sense.

 

I hope things work out the way you expect them to. Report back about your journey with MAY and let us know if all is as you expect it to be.

I have heard your story many times, and many times the same people have been back here with horror stories. Hopefully you have the determination and additude to make things work out.

Keep us informed, good or bad.

 

Glad you didn't go with Arrow I worked for them for about 5 months and it was hell the whole time. They are a very pisspoor outfit and treat drivers like crap.

 

This is just the kind of thing that I was afraid of when my boyfriend started his job. Thankfully, I can say that he passed on the job offer from Arrow. He started three weeks ago with KLLM and so far his trainer is awesome. After reading all the horror stories about bad trainers, I was keeping my fingers crossed (and my mouth closed, I didn't want him to worry too). I can say that he is reporting that he is learning tons, his trainer is a good teacher, and the worst thing is the country music (he's a die hard rock n' roller).

 

Glad your boyfriend is doing good with the trainer.
As long as the music is the only thing that is bad.

 

You'll do fine Kap. Glad you took care of your trainer problem.

 

Sounds like you defused a potentially volatile situation, Kap. Don't let the exception to the rule, rule. I'm not advocating taking such an extreme measure without very, very serious consideration. However, if you felt his behavior was intolerable and had no other recourse, distance was the right answer. Moreover, since it appears you weren't disciplined by the company for your decision to "vacate the premises", so to speak, evidently you made the right decision. Sounds to me like you have a pretty good handle on yourself. You'll do well Kap.