be a trainer Or not?

It's as if Scuby took the words right out of my mouth.

 

to me, training isn't about driving the truck. It's about dealing with the stuff that happens between the road times.

Trip planning, dealing w/ consignee's, lumpers, shippers, truck maintenance, PTI and post-trips, sending in the paperwork, chaining up for bad weather etc.

only a small portion of it is actually driving and navigating the highways.

 

from the op in the first post

"for exemple: i get a load from sams club Weight: 44500lbs . first i forgot they had a scale. and i am thinking : ok imma scale at the next fuel stop witch is 90 miles aways ( no weight station on the road )

i scale and i see on my driving axle: 45000 lbs ! i put my rear axle all the way to the back but still not good enought."


That right there is a good enough reason NOT to share your lack of knowledge with others that may know even less!
Your way over on your drives so you slide your tandems farther back?? That put even more weight on the drives! Add that to the fact you "forgot" to scale at the shipper and then didn't even bother to stop at a nearby T/S! You had to wait till you got to your next fuel stop?
Do you know how chain up? Have you driven in heavy snow? Any snow? How about fog? What about fog and icy roads? How about MT. passes? What about heavey traffic NYC., LA, Dallas??What do you do when your following your directions and you come up to a 10ton bridge? You have NO IDEA what you don't know yet! Please make the roads safer and WAIT TO TRAIN FOR ATLEAST ANOTHER YEAR OR TWO!

 

I wouldn't even consider training until I was at the 5 year mark. No matter how nicely they asked me. Every trainer I had had a lot of experience. I know how much I benefitted from that experience while they were training me. I would want every trainee to have that benefit. So I simply refused to inflict my lack of experience on some poor student.

Ultimately, it is your decision. Many drivers do decide to become trainers with very little experience. There are also many who decide to wait. Choice is yours.

 

Do it! Heck you can learn together! lol

 

Yep, your experience will keep growing until the 5 year mark. I can look back and see a pattern on what drivers go through and how they act as they mature into a seasoned driver. You'll understand when you get there.

Besides all that as a trainer you really put yourself at harms way. I can't count the trainers killed while in the sleeper. Is it really worth the few extra bucks? Not to mention reduced sleep and lack of privacy. Fifteen years ago they made killer money. Not anymore.

 

I was a trainer/safety dept. for a big flatbed outfit. Some of the people that you let behind the wheel of a CMV do not belong there. Scary! Can't even keep it on a 2 lane road no less come up on a slow car and don't even react till the last 100 feet while your yelling at them to hit the brakes! No thanks never again.

 

Probably should not train for many years. However I missed the financial part. How do these companies pay the trainers. Just the extra miles from the student. That wouldn't begin to cover the time it would take to train someone.

 

To the OP: Just the fact that you came on here and asked this question, shows that you have a head on your shoulders, and that you care about your job. Those two things alone are more than an awful lot of folks have.

I agree with what most everyone else said on here. No need to be in a hurry to be a trainer. One of the biggest problems with some of these companies, is that they have rookies training rookies. It's no wonder the motoring public is afraid and resentful of big trucks on the road.

 

Gizmo had some good points. Though you may have some experience from your statements you don't seem fully comfortable. Which is understandable. 7 months is really not that long. You will though continuously learn new things all throughout your career. If training is something you may want to get into then start now by pretending to train. Maybe it would help you to learn more of the trade by thinking about what you would do to train someone else.

Training is a good way to make some extra cash. The risk is a little more to though. Besides knowing what you know about the industry you also want to make sure that you are somewhat of a teacher or leader. Some people are naturals at it some are just not teachers. At the very least, when you feel you are ready it probably wouldn't hurt to at least try it once. See how it goes and decide if its for you or not.