Can't take it anymore....new drivers you are not slaves

Follow the advice listed here and you will be walking back to the terminal

 

yep. pretty much so. I would consider giving up your freedom for peanuts to be considered as slavery. Got to start somewhere i guess. I can respect the slaves who want to learn and better themselves.
As for the others forever stuck in slave labor wages, they are dumbed down sheeple, and i have a hard time respecting that, especially on the road.

 

that's really cool of you my trainer had a beginner kit he gave all his drivers, it wasn't much but it was a good laminated atlas, a couple of notebooks good qaulit ink pens, a 6 inch ruler, a pair of leather work gloves, and nice metal clip board with thestorage space in it, wasn't much but I still use everything he gave me on a daily basis. and now as I move on to my next choice I will continue to remember wht he has taught me.

 

That's what USXpress does, or did when I was there. You first go out for 120 hours with a trainer and then run team with another trainee for 8 weeks, supposedly to help each other figure out what to do. I got paired with another female who lived in Chicago and I live in VA Beach. But, it wasn't an issue because just as soon as she got on the truck, she hit another trailer and tore the door off ours. Took her right back to the terminal and told them I was not riding with her. Never did get another person, thank goodness, but I never did get over 1600 miles a week either. Didn't stay too long with them.

Almost forgot!!! I did have a kick butt trainer there. She was all about making sure I knew how to trip plan, manage hos, BACK, BACK, BACK, and her truck was so clean you could have eaten off the floor and so was she. She was a complete 180 from the first trainer I had at a different company who taught me nothing, was a total slob, and ran illegal frequently (all the while saying that it was normal, just get the load there).

 

Well I'm not sure if he's a good trainer or not. MY first day he talked to me about allot of stuff for a few hrs. After about three hrs I was driving. After about thirty minutes of driving he was already in the sleeper and I was by myself for about 4 hrs. I didn't really like that because when I got in the truck I had told him that I'm fresh out of school. I knew enough to pass my CDL test and the farthest I had ever driven was about thirty minutes with a school instructor.

We didn't get a shower for about 2 days which is prob normal and he payed for it with his card which I think was a free shower with his points. Sleeping in the truck has been brutal, its hot and we can't idle the truck for AC, so I get like no sleep. I've seen the same routes several times now and honestly I feel like that's not going to help me in the long run. Other than that, my trainer is a good guy. He's a little grumpy at times, he will normally answer my questions if I ask. Before we pick up and drop off a load I usually don't know what we are hauling, where we are going and what time we gotta be there. I really don't have a major complaints other than being stuck in Cali delivering to the same places all of the time. The company does pay for my hotel.

 

Ok, I have to straighten some thing out... new drivers arent slaves, companies are simply too stupid to keep the employees they desperately want to keep...

Literally, that is the problem. Companies are begging.. outright begging for new drivers! And yet the same companies are too #### ignorant and inept to make the driver happy. Like making stupid rules about idling, routes, and small violations...

I went to US Xpress orientation, and it was terrible! I could tell from their body language, and from the situation at the company, that they were desperate to keep drivers... and yet they were COMPLETELY #### BLIND about pissing off drivers.

I got a call from TWO people from US Xpress, who were desperate to find out why I decided not to work for them... I have never seen anything like it.. they wanted to make things right.... but they need to keep it from being WRONG in the first place. You dont chase around your pissed off employees and try to comfort them... fix the rule or policy that costs you drivers.

Like idling... so what if you idle 60% instead of 50%???? It will cost $12000 a year to replace a pair of drivers... and for what? $1000 in additional fuel?

Really... companies seem to completely have no idea that drivers quit after being pissed off... Its like they think its just natural to quit, that we get pissed for no reason, and the solution is to try and chase down upset workers.
We arent on our period, we are away from home for weeks at a time, getting our chain yanked around and having to follow insane rules!

What a company needs to ask itself is "Is it worth it to me to lose drivers over something that saves us nearly no money, and we have to spend thousands to train and recruit new drivers?"

Simple enough. Stop the stupid rules... and admit that making a driver suffer costs more than the savings... THEY DO NOT SAVE MORE MONEY IF YOU ARE LOSING DRIVERS.


..........



And as a trainer, the problem with being a trainer is that their are no standards and you have to make up your own teaching method. They have a list of rules, but that means nothing. It took me a few months, but all of my students turned out great... even if they didnt stay with us, they felt natural operating and backing the truck. I felt totally unprepared when I left my trainers truck, I always wanted students to feel like a real trucker before they got off, to really have a feel and a bond with the truck...

The best tips to being a trainer, are to find the top 3-5 reasons for everything... and to pass them on. Like we have 63 macros for the qualcom, 63 different stupid forms to fill out. I made a list of the 5-6 of them we use daily... and the students felt more confident knowing that they didnt need to know all 63 of them... they needed to know 6 of them really well, another 6 kind of well, and the others they can just find when they need them...

Instead of overloading them with all sorts of useless crap... how many drivers think our training taught too much useless crap and not enough valuable things?

So like, when I train someone to back, I simplify it to as few points as I can. Instead of all these fancy ways to remember the way you turn the wheel, I have three main tips to backing....

First... turn the wheel outward will tighten the turn, turning it inward will loosen the turn. No complicated BS... it does not get more simple than that... you dont have to think about what direction, about steering backwards, about "kicking the trailer", all you have to think about is if you want to turn tighter or more loose... just like driving forward...

Second... the most important step to backing... is to get your trailer wheels lined up with the parking spot/dock. Once you get your wheels in front of the spot, it doesnt matter where your truck is... you can move the truck in line with the trailer... just get those tandems lined up with the spot, and then deal with the truck afterwards... dont try and think about the truck until you figured out the trailer first...

And thirdly... fix your mistakes by pulling forward. The back of the trailer is just that... the back of the trailer, and if you point the front of the trailer in the opposite direction... the back will be pointing in the right direction. So if you need to move your trailer to the right.... pull forward and slightly left... the front will be facing left, and the back will be facing right... so when you start backing, you will be be pointing to the right side...

Too many trainers do not explain even basic things, get upset, or just refuse to do their jobs. I have had several students who were given to me because they hit something with their last trainer who did not do their job...

My students were never my slaves, they were my employees and a little bit family... and so making them happy made me happy, made me MONEY, and made me feel good and... surprise... its nice to have some company!

There is just no reason for trainers or companies to treat people badly... as long as the students treat the trainer the same as he treats them. Its not right to treat a trainer badly when he is buying you food and giving you the good part of the trip... how would you like to have a trainer who didnt do that? So use the golden rule, treat your trainer as you would like to be treated... dont be a spoiled brat if he treats you well.

So, both sides need to learn a little, but companies need to learn the most...

 

I love all the griping about "trainers" I never had one. One doesnt always need someone to hold your hand when your an adult.
But i do understand that the companys are "teaching" the bare minimum just to get you your CDL. I get that.

 

They are slaves in my book. call it what you want, word it how you want. i myself was a slave in the beginning but i was able to take my head out of my butt and see the light of day!

 

It's wage slavery. Most of us are wage slaves. It's really just another sneaky form of oppression and control, but that's a whole different topic for another time.