Awww thanks i hope to meet you guys too. When I am able to team up I will have my dog Meatball a grey/white baby looks like a Boston Terrier mix an my team mate who is large big boned man. . I am not afraid of driving but a thing I would like to have down pat is the ABS brakes and judging distance when parking. About Prime itself, with all the research I have done and drivers I spoke to. No matter who u work for there is always issues that happen within the company. Prime takes care of their drivers.
YOU sound like you have given up already.WE are not quitters. Yeah, it is not easy but we also need to let the public know we deserve more respect than the public gives us. With your analytical mind you can help this industry but you need to pay your dues so to speak. I am a newly divorced short petite woman who left everything behind to start fresh. It has been a test beyond all tests. I have no apartment now because i gave it up to come here to Prime and dedicate myself to trucking. My 16 yr old son needs me financially and i will do everything it takes to help him acquire his dream.He has a disease called Mar fans Hypermobility Disease.We have had help with getting him some safety equipment and pay for his entrance fees but his heart doctor has not seen him yet to allow him to drive his gokart. This upcoming yr is perfect to show off what he can do. I just pray I can get enough money in time for him. I must do this..I am his mother. .. if i can do this ...anyone can..and not give up..
You are still going to deal with weather. I hit solid Ice down on I10 last winter, 20 was shut down from Ice, watched a Swift truck jackknife off the road around abeline for driving like the road was dry, saw numerous cars spin out after passing me simply trying to move back into the right lane. Saw Ranger Hill become a parking lot with trucks that couldn't climb it through the Ice. Down south, when the weather hits it is even worse because most don't know how to drive in it and below DFW the snow and ice removal plan seems to he God put it there, God can take it away too. Learn to drive in the weather, plan on driving in it, and you will he much more prepared. Whenth
I don't, it's just a charade. Their "training" program past PSD is not training. It's team driving. The only thing I learned in "training" was the how much caffeine I could take before I started to get really bad anxiety. I wouldn't be surprised if they already know they're going to can the guy and want him to run teams for a few more weeks so they can get some of their money back. Honestly I'd quit too if they asked me to team again (actually, if I was getting my usual pay I'd probably stick around and then quit, 6000 miles a week at 40cpm would be nice.). I don't know what other job would expect you to learn when you're sleep deprived (a byproduct of their training program) and the trainer is absent for your entire shift.
Take your time in those tight spaces. Sliding that 5th wheel all the way back will help you turn tighter when you need to. Get that truck gps soon as you can. And again take your time.
I watched a grizzled old truck driver tie up a very tight alley in a truck stop while he was backing his rig into a spot that was very tight, with precious little room on either side of the trailer and just barely enough in front to maneuver his tractor. He would move a bit, set the brakes, get out and look, get back in, move a bit, set the brakes, get out...and on and on until he was satisfied. And he did this while a long line of trucks were trying to get by. It didn't phase him; he just kept at it. When he finally got straightened in and those truckers passed him, there were nasty fingers pointed in his direction and plenty of angry words on the CB. But he just smiled, knowing that he got in without touching a thing but pavement. And they were still looking for an easy parking spot. It's what you have to do. It is a learned skill; nobody is born knowing how to do it, no matter what Super Truckers might want you to believe. They, too, were beginners once.
Then you had a crappy trainer. Scratch that. A total crap bag of a worthless turd crappy trainer. That could very well be why the OP has had so many problems. If it's done PROPERLY, TnT can be the experience that turns another wheel holder into a driver with a serious skill set. For all the hard time that I gave Frankie, I gained a lot from the time with him.
I actually think I had a pretty decent trainer, I was exaggerating a bit there. We took it slow the first few weeks and I learned a good bit. I still don't think team driving is the way to go for training. I may be biased though, I could not sleep while the truck was moving and that made everything else difficult. It definitely isn't just luck that I'm accident/incident free so far, so yeah.
You can download applications on your cell phone to help you thru until you get a trucking gps. Maybe someone could suggest one for you.
Then just how do you provide instruction and supervision? Mind meld perhaps? Or perhaps 10 days of orientation before being thrown in the deep end?
