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Frustrated with new job-what to do?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Shrekker, Dec 26, 2021.

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Chinatown Road Train Member

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Chinatown, Dec 26, 2021

#31
Redtwin Road Train Member

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I would stick with it, but continue to do what you know is correct such as GOAL and using both mirrors (feels silly to even have to say that).

If the trainer wants to call you a bad driver because you are careful, don't hit anything yet are only 10 mins slower at a stop on your second day than the experienced drivers, let him. Would love to hear how he puts it to the boss that you need extra training to get you out of that nasty passenger mirror dependency.

Redtwin, Dec 26, 2021

#32

Val_Caldera, Lonesome, Pamela1990 and 1 other person Thank this.
Chinatown Road Train Member

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Chinatown, Dec 26, 2021

#33
Chinatown Road Train Member

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Chinatown, Dec 27, 2021

#34
TNSquire Medium Load Member

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My first company I drove for was like the one the op described.
Rough equipment, suspect training, and small company.
Smartest thing i did was walk away.
Being a new driver, you have enough to worry about learning the game and how to run safely.
Shoddy equipment makes that harder.
Bad trainer makes that worse on top of all the other things.
I lucked out getting on with the company I'm with now.
Excellent equipment, excellent pay, great people, great dispatch, and a terminal manager that truly cares about us drivers.

TNSquire, Dec 27, 2021

#35

nredfor88 Thanks this.
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My first company I drove for was like the one the op described.
Rough equipment, suspect training, and small company.
Smartest thing i did was walk away.
Being a new driver, you have enough to worry about learning the game and how to run safely.
Shoddy equipment makes that harder.
Bad trainer makes that worse on top of all the other things.
I lucked out getting on with the company I'm with now.
Excellent equipment, excellent pay, great people, great dispatch, and a terminal manager that truly cares about us drivers.

TNSquire, Dec 27, 2021

#36
Magoo1968 Road Train Member

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Chinatown said: ↑

That's one area and reason I won't work for small companies. The other employees need a whipping boy to make them feel good about themselves.
One way for payback and I know this from experience; is to do a good pre-trip and post-trip every day. Someone will have to answer for all the discrepancies you write up and it won't be you.
Click to expand...

From what he posted it appears no one needs to answer for discrepancies if defects were already in elog . He needs to talk with a boss or leave .

Magoo1968, Dec 27, 2021

#37
Moose1958 Road Train Member

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Moose1958, Dec 27, 2021

#38

Lonesome Thanks this.
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I would submit that......life is amazingly short.

It's much too short to put up with what you are facing there.

Earlier posts here offer some fantastic opportunities elsewhere that will put you back on track.

--Lual

lual, Dec 27, 2021

#39
Rumblestrip1970 Bobtail Member

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Shrekker said: ↑

Hello all. I apologize for the length of this post, but am hoping to get an outside perspective on my situation. I recently graduated from school, and got what appeared to be a dream job: small company (4 drivers), good pay, good benefits, and a schedule that works for my family, hauling local/driving daycab shuttles. The company prided itself on hiring recent grads, stating how they are happy to be able to offer them a chance. 2 weeks of training, it seemed great.

First day: I ride with my trainer, getting to know the routes. He seems like a good guy. I got there after he had already made two runs (my scheduled time to go), and so didn't get to see the beginning process. We talked, and decided I would be there at his start time, so I get an idea on what is expected from the beginning. He tells me this is his first time training a new grad, but with the holidays the added pay will be nice. This is a key point to hang on to. He also says he likes to get off at a certain time. We finish the day at his set time, with plenty of legal hours (both driving and on duty) left.

Second day: We arrive at the same time. He has me get into a different truck from what he drove the day before. We have no pre-trip, but I figure that will happen once we go on duty. We go on duty, and as we are going through the pre-trip part of the elog, up pops 5 warnings stating the truck is "unsafe for duty". I point it out to him, he says it has been fixed, but the elog shows the report for "unsafe for duty" was posted an hour ago. Deep down I know these issues aren't fixed, but we continue. I'm an idiot for this I admit. Should have refused on the spot. I run hard, after the 1st trip of 4, the trainer goes to sleep. I continue driving, and hit the dock for the 2nd drop. I had already told him I'm not the best at backing, and that's something I need to work for. With the 4 deliveries, I have 8 back ups each day. I figure go safe, do it right, GOAL when needed, and the speed will come.

I start backing, and decide to GOAL, and am told to stay in the truck. The trainer gets out, and is trying to direct me. I do what he tells me, but to try to put this politically correctly- his training style and my learning style are different. I want to get out and see where I am, but am told to stay in the "f----ing" truck. I keep checking both sides of mirrors and am told to quit looking at the d--n passenger mirror, I should be able to do this with just the driver mirror. It's very frustrating, but within 5 minutes I'm backed in. We continue on.

Well it turns out the "unsafe for duty" is right, and we are spraying coolant. We get it to the shop, and switch out trucks. Again, no pretrip, and the windshield is cracked/broken. Kind of a warning sign, but I want to do what I'm told, as wrong of me as it was. So we drive. He falls asleep again, and I finish the day. I am about an hour past the time he wants to be off. Plenty of legal time left, but am told I need to hurry the hell up. For the four stops, this equals out to less than 15 minutes slower than what he normally does. On my second day, I think this is decent.

Third day: Get in the truck, no pretrip. I complain about this and am told that this truck is fine since we had just picked it up from the shop the day before, it's good to go. I know this is wrong, as the windshield being broken is still on the record sheet on the log. I drive. He sleeps. It goes good until the 3rd stop of the day, backing up. I get a bit nervous as I have someone waiting for me to back. I go slow, and get about halfway in the spot but am angled. A quick pull up, straightline back and I'll be good to go. Well, the trainer hops out. I am close to the passenger side trailer. The trainer tells me to turn the steering wheel left and keep going. I didn't type that wrong. I tell him I am already close to that trailer. He says if I bump it it's no big deal. It is to me! He is yelling to keep backing up and "stop looking at that ####### passenger mirror!" He is screaming for me to keep backing up, I am just a few inches off the trailer at this point, and stop. I say I have to pull forward. He is getting furious at this point for it taking so long.

I pull up, straightline back and get it in. "I don't get how you're not comprehending what to do!" The driver who was waiting, was one of the four from our hub. He is nice enough about waiting and says it will come with more practice. My trainer tells me how lucky I am it was this guy waiting for me as the other two would have been freaking out.

We complete the day, and my trainer tells me how I am 9 minutes over the time I should be for each load. There are no set delivery times, and no real way of running out of hours. This is just 9 minutes off his goal to be done at the time when he wants. I am told I better work on this. He then goes into a driver meeting, and tells me to go home.

Day 4: last day before holiday shut down. Walk into the "office" to get with my trainer, to hear one of the drivers talking about how he heard how bad my driving is. Lovely, already making friends. Never even met this guy talking crap. I brush it off, I figure if it was as bad as he was saying, my trainer wouldn't be asleep while I was driving. We finish out the day early due to low loads. I am told my trainer has requested that my training time be doubled to four weeks.

I want to learn. I want to be a good driver. This is the only trainer they have. He is the head driver, and there is no one local I can talk to about my concerns. I am not trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill, just this doesn't feel right. I'm not going to sacrifice pre trips and safe backing to save time. I know I am slower than these guys, it doesn't really bother me right now as I figure the speed will come. I know I shouldn't have taken those trucks. That was stupid of me, even if that is "how we do things here". I just don't know where to go from here, and would like an outside perspective. I know the "by the book" and practicality are different, but I don't want to screw myself fighting through this. Part of me says it will be better when I go solo. But if this is how they do things, do I really want to be with them? Being four days in I really don't want to screw up my CSA score by quitting. Is this just how it is in training and I am being too sensitive? I know my backing skills need practice and will take as much advice/help as I can get to be a better driver, but being rushed and ridiculed isn't how I learn. I feel the trainer is in such a rush to get done by his personally set time that my training is lacking, but then again I am new and maybe this is just how it is. Sorry for the long post, I am just very frustrated and wanted the whole story shared so I can get an accurate outside view. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Guy first of all your just fresh out of school for petes sake... Dont let that ####### make you burn your CDL. No Job is worth your clean driving record PERIOD. Drivers are in such demand now, there isn't one reason to put up with any crap from anyone.. Even your boss.

Rumblestrip1970, Dec 27, 2021

#40

austinmike and nredfor88 Thank this.

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