I'm going with Swift!!!

LOL Wedge
OMG it was COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!! 18 degrees windy-made it to the end of the 3 Quarter and went to the car to warm up! Still was a blast despite the Bill's getting kicked.....

 

One of these days, I would love for the Bills to upset one of the "high and mighty" teams. That would make my day.

 

You missed ORG and Chris,

they were both there.......................




jus kidding !!!!!!

 

well been gone 27 days have over my 240hrs. this mentor was nice to run with even as teams didn't push push push. my first day with her going up I5 by ashland or pass i blew up the transmisson. so was held up in a motel in medford or for two days. which i had to pay for my mentor had no money so i took care of everything. we got picked up thursday to head to troutdale to pick up a truck. once we got there they had gave the truck to someone else. so needless to say i was stuck there till sat. so off to another motel i went and had to pay for. once on the road things went pretty good. got stuck in two storms back east. that was a little nerve racking. then off to memphis tn. was fun there for one day i got to go see elvis presley place. finally made it home the 24 her dm was being a you know what he is from pv. glad hes not mine. this truck freightliner broke down only once at memphis. lights heater and need a fuel fliter. but it made it back to or all that counts. now waiting to do my drive test and get my truck heard from a friend took them week and half. over all this experience with this mentor was much better. except texting while she is driving and talking on the phone and i had to pay for scale tickets and food for her and parking. so for xmas i bought her a wirelss head set to make the next student feel a little safer. so now i will have my computer with me on my new journey as a swift driver. hopefully will be back out there this week. everyone have a safe new years

 

TY for the update Sandy. Make sure to make copies of the reciepts for hotel and scales and get reimbursed. And be honest on your eval of your trainer. Your trainer was lucky you could cover the hotel bill, the next student may not be able to. And the thought of texting while driving scares the crude outta me. She may be a good trainer but definatly needs some improvement. Most of all GRATS!

 

Did you let the company know she's doing this while driving? Turn her sorry ### into driver services, they certainly don't need trainers like her. Here's another shining example of what's wrong in the industry. Sheesh, and she's "MENTORING"? Un-freaking-believable, as well as UNPROFESSIONAL. I guess she's not heard of that saying about leading by example. And people wonder why Swift has the reputation it does? LOL

Boy, I hope you saved all your receipts, because without them the company won't reimburse you, and there's no guarantee they will anyway unless they authorized it.

 

Thanx TW.
Your post just saved me a lot of time
and got me outta typin' practice.

Although your thoughts on the subject contained no pictures,
they vividly illustrate the crying need for some sort of
standardization and minimum requirements that must be
demonstrated prior to assuming any duties as a trainer of newBees.

Until such time, perhaps it would be prudent to prominently display a disclaimer of some sort in each and every Big truck a company uses in the course of training newBees.

I'm thinkin' something like, ..............................

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WARNING ADVISORY FOR TRAINEES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BE HEREBY ADVISED:
THE ADVICE AND/OR INSTRUCTIONS DISPENSED BY DRIVER TRAINERS IS NOT GUARANTEED TO BE ACCURATE OR FACTUAL. THEREFOR, INCORPORATING THE ACTIVITIES OF YOUR ASSIGNED TRAINER INTO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE COULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO YOUR LONGEVITY IN THE BIG TRUCK TRUCKIN' INDUSTRY.

SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO IGNORE THIS WARNING AND CONTINUE YOUR TRAINING, BE ADVISED THAT YOUR SANITY WILL BE IN DOUBT.
FURTHERMORE, SHOULD YOU BE INVOLVED IN ANY MISHAP WHATSOEVER DURING TRAINING, THE MANAGEMENT OF THIS COMPANY WILL DENY ANY KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR EXISTENCE.
HOWEVER, SHOULD YOU MANAGE TO SURVIVE SUCH AN ORDEAL, THIS COMPANY WILL PROVIDE A REPLACEMENT TRAINER TO SATISFY OUR OBLIGATION AS PER CONTRACT.

IN MORE SIMPLE TERMS, ONCE YOU DEPART THE COMPANY FACILITY UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF A COMPANY AUTHORIZED DRIVER TRAINER, -- YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN. NO ADDITIONAL SUPPORT WILL BE FORTHCOMING. IF ANY EMERGENCY SHOULD ARISE, LOCATE THE ENVELOPE LABELED "OPEN ONLY IN CASE OF EMERGENCY", AND FIND THEREIN A VOUCHER FOR ONE TELEPHONE CALL. THE MANAGEMENT OF THIS COMPANY SUGGESTS THAT YOU USE SAID VOUCHER TO CALL SOMEONE WHO MIGHT ACTUALLY CARE.

GOOD LUCK.
THIS COMPANY THANKS YOU FOR CHOOSING THEM TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THE TRAINING NECESSARY TO APPEAR TO BE QUALIFIED TO OPERATE A BIG TRUCK, AND WELCOMES YOU TO A POTENTIAL CAREER IN THE WONDERFUL AND REWARDING WORLD WE LIKE TO CALL THE BIG TRUCK TRUCKIN' INDUSTRY.

REMEMBER, AT THIS COMPANY,
YOU'RE NOT JUST A NAME, ---
YOU'RE ONLY A NUMBER.
YOU CAN COUNT ON THAT.

Whaddaya think? :smt112

 

Paid for your own motel for a breakdown? Smells fishy to me. I never had to pay for a motel for breakdowns while I was a company driver and the truck was in the shop. Was this your trainer's idea? Kinda sounds to me like she took advantage of you a little bit.

Maybe she did show you the ropes and get you through that 240 hours, but you were making money for her in the process...and then you're paying for scales and motel rooms? Sorry, but that's just wrong.

Phone use has already been discussed. No further input from me is required.

As said before, be honest in your assessment of your mentoring experience.

 

I commend you for your forthrightness, but will warn you that the truth comes with repercussions.
For you to know this much about their machinations, I feel compelled to ask, did you work for them?

I loved that advisory. I know you're only half joking, but...........spot on. I agree, it should be posted in every trainer truck. I'm surprised that Swift hasn't already thought of this being it would lessen their liability in the event of an "incident". If you submit this recommendation to Swift, I'm sure their lawyers will get right on that. //

 

Repercussions?
You mean above and beyond settin' me free ---
all the way to hurtin'?

To tell you the truth, no, I have not. But I don't believe everything
I read either.

Ahhhh, I see you read it the way I wrote it, ......... half jokin' with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek. Shoddy training is a pet peeve of mine. Judging by the number of posters who describe their training experience(s) and company policies pertaining to training, it appears that driver training has gone downhill since I was a driver trainer for Schneider, --- the same company that trained me after I attended an independent school. Both of the trainers I was assigned to were top notch and my time with them was memorable. When I became a driver trainer I patterned my training style after them. Apparently that was the right thing to do because it caught the attention of the front office, in a positive way. Seems that my trainees remained with the company quite a bit longer after graduating and out on their own than trainees who had other trainers, --- who, by the way, bragged about all the money they made with their trainees (runnin' 'em like a team operation) at the trainees expense. That just doesn't set well with me. I judge a trainer's worth by the quality of trainee they graduate, not by how much they gain monetarily. Although training paid more, it wasn't the paycheck that made me smile, it was a capable trainee who knew enough to figure out what they didn't know and git-er-dun. The learning process doesn't end upon release from a trainer.
I figured I can't teach 'em everything, so the next best thing I could do is encourage 'em to think their way through unfamiliar situations and remember how they did it. Actually, truth be told, I probably learned as much from my trainees as they learned from me.
It's twue!
It's twue!

Trainees may be similar, but no two trainees are alike. That they all will respond to the same, regimented training method is unlikely. The trick is to figure out how a trainee will best receive instruction(s).

I'd give 'em a phone call a couple of days prior to meeting face to face, for several reasons, but mostly to let us get a feel for each other. I think it kinda lessens the tensions of jumpin' in a Big truck with a complete stranger you've just met mere minutes ago. (I should mention that around 80% of my students were women, and I'm not)
My dispatcher knew I preferred to leave out hours early and she set it up that way for us, pre-loaded, ready to go.
I drive first, trainee is instructed to observe. That's what I was doin', observin' them observin'.

Usually headed to Oregon out of Fontana via I-5. Those familiar with that run realize that usually includes goin' over the Grapevine. Now-a-daze it sounds like the trainer climbs in the sleeper for sweet dreams while the trainee remains awake with a nightmare, --- fending for themselves on 5 or 6% declines, wonderin' what Jake would do.

From what I gather, apparently I was goin' the extra mile with my trainees. Funny thing is,
I always wondered if I'd done enough.
Have things changed that much?

Would that entitle me to royalties?
Maybe I should patent my ideas,
ya reckon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DISCLAIMER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I, Shakey AfterShock, do not suggest or imply that Swift is the only company utilizing
sub-standard trainers and/or methods.
I acknowledge there are good trainers out there as well.
I question whether or not the good trainers are able to be the best they can be.
Or are they bound by company policy?

**************************** END DISCLAIMER ****************************

Now I'm ready for another cup-0-coffee. :smt107:smt047