How brutal is the 4-6 week training period?

I have seen a few times when a trainee was teamed up with a local driver, but this is not the norm. Every new driver has the same anxiety about the training period. Best I can advise is to talk to your new company and inquire about different training scenarios they might offer. Good Luck.

 

Depends on the trainer and company you hire on to. A good trainer will become a good friend one that will answer any questions weather it be during your training period or after your upgrade.
Ask questions lots of them.
Get out of the truck and observe what there doing.
Get evolved.
Show the trainer your there for the long haul.
Stay off your cell phone your there to learn.
When in doubt get out and look it's your cdl that's on the line.

 

Forgot to answer your questions
A truck doesn't need to run more then 18 hrs a day.
Yes you get breaks trucks dont always run back to back loads.
Remember you only are with a trainer for6 to 8 weeks after that you upgrade and run solo that's when you get the time to yourself.

 

If you have a good trainer you get along with it’s not bad at all. If you have a good trainer you don’t get along with at all it’s probably going to suck. If you have a bad trainer get a new one. Rinse and repeat.

 

After this “brutal” training period comes the “brutal” reality of trucking, where you’re gone from home 4-6 weeks and if you’re team driving you get to live in a truck with someone while the truck is always moving. It’s best either to adapt to the challenges or find a different line of work. JMO

 

It is what it is, just finish it and move on. Depending where you go you might get a weekend or two at home or in a hotel . If it’s really unbearable i’m sure you can just tell them you have a family emergency or something and finish later

 

It varies by company. But if you hire on to do OTR you generally will be in the truck 24/7 for at least 5 to 7 days. If your trainer/company keeps you out 2-4 weeks that's how long before you get away from the truck. The compaies I've worked for generally got me home for "weekends". That meant leave early Sun to make a Mon am delivery. Run loads with trainer all week. And Fri am load a trl that comes by yard for a Mon delivery next week. Once we got back to yard Fri night - Sat morning we each went home after agreeing on what time to be back at yard Sun.

Many mega companies just have you load, drive, deliver, drive, load, drive deliver over and over until your training period is finished or your trainer gets home time or time off. That is when you might get a hotel. I never had time.with trainer when I could go do something like watch a movie, hike. If you are out over the weekend it can be less rushed as traffic is lighter & truckstops are less full many places. You do what your company does for training. You adapt to them.

It gets easier once you get your own truck, but then you are held responsible for meeting appointments. At least you get to sleep in a stopped truck. I never slept in the moving truck more than 2 hours even though I was ready to confess to the Lincoln assassination due to sleep deprivation. You probably won't know if you can sleep in moving truck until you try. Don't pre-judge it. Our rule when I trained was if you are tired behind the wheel, we switch drivers NO MATTER WHAT. If that means you drive 1 hour, then it's 1 hour. You needvto pull your weight so don't use it as excuse to avoid city driving or backing. Your trainer will recommend you to go solo or more training so try your best and TAKE SUGGESTIONS & FOLLOW THEM. It's not a democracy. The trainer already has a job & a truck. You are auditioning for your own job & truck.

 

I would not reccomend newbies start trucking at companies that keep drivers out that long. Newbies are actually deciding how longbthey will work without a day off when they choose a starter company.

"All trucking companies are alike" is one of the biggest lies in this industry. Rookies that are tired of researching believe the lie because it allows them to roll the dice and not feel responsible when the pick the wrong company for them.

 

I got my training with a mega, my trainer was awesome and we teamed since day 1, i ran my 11 and he did too. But i know not everyone gets along so the best thing i could advise is not to bring in political, religious or social issues because if someone is sensitive and gets their feelings hurt it will be a PITA to be together for the remaining weeks. Even if the trainer tries to bait you, just don't, because he or she could slow your training down. As for sleep, with the truck constantly moving trying to sleep was a real *****. The only time i got sleep was when we were unloading/loading, he was talking his 30, or we shut off early. No hotel for us and it wasn't that bad since we'd come home once a week for the first two weeks then started the other 2 out. Good luck!