:( Frustrated & ready to QUIT!

hate to say it, but tell him to suck it up, 28 days goes by fast. if a soldier can do iraq or afghanistan for a year , your hubby can do 28 days with a dumb A.

life is tuff, tell him to drink a cup of concrete and harden up, his family is depending on him.

 

Oh, if he already had his CDL, then apply for another job & when hired, leave. Do some online applications for him. Try drive4marten for starters. No company is perfect, but there are some top notch ones out there. artransport & bulkmatic are two good ones. There are good companies in Birmingham, I heard PGT is one. Look at pantherexpedite. He will be OK; just take it step at a time and do it right. Don't badmouth the other company; chances are the new company will know why he wants to leave without asking.
CLICK HERE for a list of trucking companies that hire new drivers.

If you live near Montgomery try Thyssenkrupp Steel for flatbed & tanker.

On applications when asked,"why leaving your present company?" Answer, "for better pay & benefits."

 

Every hour in the trainers truck is "training" and somewhere in that pile of papers he filled out and signed is a contract that saay's he will repay CRST for all the valueble training he's recieving. SUCKS! Don't quit, ask for a new trainer.

 

training is the hardest part of the entire experience starting out. i had 4 trainers only one was any good and another one had finished training himself a wk before me and became a trainer. we were in the same class and were friends so it was all good but neither one of us had much of an idea about anything lol. i got out late because of things that happened but anywho's it training sucks. you go through a lot you are doing something new driving something huge living a new lifestyle and going new places having a crappy trainer doesnt help. so my advice get a new one and tell your husband its just part of the game. suck it up cupcake lol

 

Absolutely incorrect. I used to be a lease op trainer for CRST. What he needs to do is call one of the safety trainers. Head of this department in my time was Bryan. Don't know if its the same crew or not, but Bob, Bryan, and Ken were top notch guys. They are the same people that do orientation in Cedar Rapids. First, he should sack up and call his "trainer" on not doing his job. There is a very specific set of graded standards that are supposed to be met.

 

Run run run as fast as you can from crst

 

he should man up and call his trainer out of the bs that is going on... and then call into who he reports to in the office... and get a new trainer.

this is trucking if you won't do it your self no one is going to do it for you

 

He is probably wise not to say to much to the guy. He is living in his "house" and can get tossed at any point..

Before I say what I would do lets get a few questions answered.

How often is this trainer showering?

Why is he not letting your husband drive in city situations?

Why is the seatbelt important to you.. I mean honestly that is kind of knit picking.. Yeah its the law but I could live with it.. other stuff seems to be more severe stuff?

Can your husband get "play" with the qualcolm himself? by this I mean while the trainer is doing all the driving start annoying the guy and asking him questions?


So here is what I would do.. first I would kill the guy with kindness don't let him know your husband isn't happy with the guy proffesionally, you are living with the guy right now. Some people will tell you to stand up to the guy but you had better be 100% right when you do or you will get so much crap put on your dac when you quit or get fired.

I guess what I am saying is this a delicate situation.. He needs to make 100% sure he is right before he raises a stink. This guy could really screw you over if you aren't. Tell him to call his driver manager on monday morning and tell them what is going on.. He is a grown man he should be able to figure out the trip planning enough to get them an eta when they will be empty.. If crst is worth a crap at all they will then have him routed to a terminal and put with someone else. At this point your husband needs to be cool with the guy while working the company behind the scenes. I see it all the time some poor smuck at a truckstop with his bags trying to hitch a ride home because he got hot headed with a hot headed trainer.

Now if your husband can ride it out he will be home for thanksgiving and have his training over with in a week or 4.. This is probably what I would do just get it over with but I am not everyone else.. I am a smart butt and I give as good as I take.

A lot of people are telling him to sack up.. and that is great advice if you know you aren't going to be left standing in the fuel island with your clothes thrown out while watching everything drive away. If it is as bad as you say then having him man up would be great just got to be sure he knows the guy well enough to not get stranded. I have been stranded at a truckstop for 3 or 4 days before without a truck and it sucks to be a hobo sleeping in the tv room.. Just make sure he knows the worst possible scenerio before he pops off to the guy.

 

Huggibear, if there's no contract(mentioned already had CDL)and the training is a normal requirement for someone with minimal exp, then I'd play it carefully as previous posters stated until he either gets close enough for you to pick him up or he gives CRST a chance to play catchup with another trainer somewheres enroute.Wouldn't worry all that much about abandonment as loads are assigned to the O/O,and the truck is not owned by the company,not much there for CRST to complain about.
I'd say its mandatory he gets another trainer asap, and it looks as if your husband has enough sense to realize he'll need all the drive time,backing,city traffic experiences he can grab before it's all over
Definitely IMHO tell him he's right to get out of there,the distractions are too much for what you and him are sacrificing to make it work

 

Also he needs to know if he is only going out with this trainer as Phase 1 where they only teach you to drive straight down the road and then you go onto Phase 2 where you learn a little more. The company my husband works for I think in theory have tried to set it up that way and I think maybe Swift does, but he teaches everything from day 1. The student, till he is trained for a week or so, is not to be turned loose driving in towns and cities and businesses; and the trainer is supposed to be watching if they even go in a rest area. He has had some students that have not worked out no matter how hard he has tried; he has gotten some that have been through several trainers for one reason or another, that have worked out great and finished the training,it is a two way street. So he needs to check and see if perhaps he could get a new trainer, sometimes you hear of a trainer kicking a person off the truck and leaving them stranded. I imagine all companies are different, so it is better to play it safe like others have suggested. My husband would never just dump someone in the middle of nowhere, it has been close a couple of times because the person was really psychotic. And even if the trainer is going to quit in January, you never know who the bosses will believe.

There maybe times that a schedule maybe so tight on pickup and delivery that it is hard to even figure out when to stop for bathroom breaks and food and don't even plan on figuring a shower time, but this should not be an all the time thing. It would be a good idea for your husband to buy some baby wipes to use, they are great to help out in between times, unless he is the type who gets sweaty a lot, these will help till he gets to hit a shower and maybe he should drop a few on the trainer.

And if he does leave they could report it on his DAC that he left training or would need to be approved for rehire, which sounds bad to a prospective employer.

It won't be long if he can hold on, or find something better in the meantime. Just remember to keep a cool head yourself when talking to him, because I know it takes two hot heads together sometimes to really escalate a problem, it is hard not to do, but...