"CDL Mill" and "Bottom Feeders": Definitions, please?

Yes...but the so-called bottom feeders won't hire you with those credentials.

 

I don't think what, like I said.

 

He said what I don't like I think .

 

I bought my own truck and stepdeck, and drove arround for a few days with a trainer who couldn't speak English or drive a truck...When we got to the dealership to pick it up he could't get it in gear.. When he did he almost drove it into a ditch.

I kindly ask him to let me try.. he did.. and I never gave him another chance. I passed the driving test the first time and a week later I was OTR chaining tarping and driving in winter conditions

I did have previous experience driving a pickup with a trailer and just so you know I would not recommend any one doing it the way I did

But it is possible

 

I went to one of the "CDL Mills".

However, I think the instructor I had was pretty good and he did not have the attitude of "I'm just here to get you your CDL".

He'd was an old school driver who believed in training his students as best he could given the time he was given. He would crawl up your butt if you did something stupid and didn't listen to what he was trying to teach you. He certainly was not the type who had the attitude of "I don't care what you do as long as you don't crash".

One issue I did have was only being given 12 hours of "Road Time" total.. Yet having 34 hours of "Skills" (backing......)

I always figured that it would be more prudent to give students more time in the "Road Portion".. As I feel that skills like backing really get refined when you start driving in the real world- as opposed to backing between the same set of cones for hours on end. It's easy to get comfortable in an enclosed yard. However it can take some quite some time to get to where they are safe to be out on public roads..... (some never do.....)

So, with that I think personal attitude also goes a long way. Does the student REALLY want to be a truck driver, and are they going to take the initiative to learn everything they can during their career?

Personally, given that I work for a company that automatically guarantees I'll be given crap (Swift)- I strive (not always succeed) to NOT do all of the things that give the company a bad name. I'm not afraid to ask questions nor do I get upset if I make a rookie mistake and get heckled over the CB. The one time I really got ripped into- I deserved every ounce of it. I made a gross miscalculation in the space I needed to get into a parking spot (Stopped before I hit something though so I suppose I get some credit for that).

Tangent aside.. My assessment of the Swift Academy is that it taught me enough to be dangerous. No where near enough time on the "Road" before being allowed to test for a Class A. I'm glad that when it came time for my six weeks of apprenticeship that I got a mentor who actually trained me... Rather than use me as a second log book.. Which yeah.. after spending some time at the home terminal in Phoenix.. It's obvious there are guys at that "level" that don't give a rats butt about training safe, competent drivers.. Rather they use students to team drive at solo pay.....

 

Why do people think it's a bad thing when a bottom feeder won't hire you ? Paying $6,000 for school to be accepted by a bottom feeder is a good thing ?

 

Because some of us object to the term "bottom feeder". It implies that I'm some sort of scum to have been hired by them. I wasn't hired by a bottom feeder, I was hired by a training company.

 

"Bottom Feeder" are not always big companys. There alot more small carriers that do things to there drivers that make the big carriers look like Saints.

Iam not sticking up for big carriers, or any company at that matter. There are some small carriers around where i live that have been around for 30 years or more that should be shutdown with there acts and how they treat drivers.

My Dads friend just retired from a "Bottom Feeder." He just like most on this fourm, he bad mouths his company and all other big companys and "Bottom Feeders" But yet he stayed ther for over 30 years, now he has a brand new motorhome and Harley and owns his own home in Cali of all places where the cost of living is sky high. I guess it was not as bad as he says it was.

Everone should work for a company they like, some i guess find the "Bottom Feeders" not such a bad place. To each there own.