Mentors/trainers

A lot of these guys go in for the mentoring for the 'extra' money. Another bunch of them go into it so they can 'boss' around a new driver for a few weeks as well.

A smart and savvy mentor will look at it from a business standpoint. The better he trains the student driver, the better and more productive and safe that new driver will be when they go solo. Yes there can be 'more' money while the student is on the training truck, but the reality is that it is $0.05 cents less per mile for the mentor not to mention extra wear and tear.

So a short sighted mentor will try to bring the student up to team status very quickly, skipping the actual training stuff like backing and qualcomm, having students quit his truck left and right after only a week or so and eventually Swift will pull their mentor credentials.

The savvy mentor will slow down and train every little detail along the way knowing that though he loses $0.05 cents a mile for 6 weeks, will realize $0.01 cents per mile for 6 months from that student. If he has 5 successful students in a year's time, he's done gotten his $0.05 cents back and then some.

 

you need to communicate with mentor about him yelling at you and how its affecting you. he might just talk that way normally. its hard dealing with people you dont know, but its only 3-4 weeks then you,re on your own. only advice i can give is if you think its unsafe, dont do it. its your license that,ll be affected or a life. as far as driving over railroad tracks... shifting is not allowed in any states that i'm aware of.

 

and I hit two curbs

If you ain't clipping a curb , you ain't driving !

Seriously thou , it happens as not all roads are designed with trucks
in mind.
Heck just getting in and out of the Atlanta terminal without hitting
one is a feat in itself.

 

Not really ...

 

If that's the only problems you've had with your mentor, I feel even worse about mine. She's a sweet lady and all, but everything is done without me in mind. To start off, she wont drive at night. I've been the one dealing with the ice, high winds, getting tired from strained eyes and having no radio stations in Wyoming, no cell service, etc. A couple of times, we would get a load that delivered in the mid-afternoon and the next load had a wide delivery window, so we wouldn't drive that night. That means, I was logged sleeper for the day she drove, that night, and then again the next day because driving during the day is "her" thing. I taught myself to back up, because she couldn't explain how to do it, but would tell me when I need to get back under it (straighten it out). I don't know how to plan (well, kind of), I don't know how to write com-checks, I don't know a lot of things.

Half the time we're not using the enforcer lock kit because "we're gonna be moving the whole time, we don't have to worry about it." I went 6 days without doing a backing maneuver because we were switching out at the fuel pumps. A few times we even pulled in the pumps just to go inside the store and hang out for a little bit because the walk from the parking spots to the store was "too far"

I had to resort to pee bottles because there was always an excuse for not being able to stop; not enough time, off ramp will be icy, etc. We've never scaled a load either... just estimated how many holes. Pretty much a "set it and forget it"

Oh and not to mention that I've been on the truck 23 days and I JUST hit 120 hours. She has more than 120 hours by herself in the last three weeks.

We haven't shut the truck off in 8 days because it didn't like to start after being shut down. Wouldn't crank. Instead of putting it in the shop, we ended up waiting until today when we got stuck at the exit gate of the terminal and had to call a tow truck to pull start us. Even then, I didn't learn what I have to do other than "Tell the guy over the intercom it'll take about a half hour" and "All you do is call the number and they take care of it." I figured I'd be the one on the phone telling on-road what happened so I get the experience.

When I wake up from the sleeper, I have no idea where we're going or what our time line is, etc. I have to ask specifics every time, and most of the time we go a different route than what the GPS says. I can see doing it to save miles or avoid weather/hazards, but come on!

Final thing, I promise. I ended up pulling the truck over one day because we were driving through my hometown going to the Petro. I know that area like the back of my hand; what lane I have to be in, how slow to take the ramp, etc. After saying 3 times "I live here, I know what I'm doing and where I'm going" she still kept telling me what to do. So I pulled over before the exit and we sat there in the rest area. Her 10-hr reset wasn't up yet, but by me doing that, it would have forced her to drive when the sun was down at least for an hour or two so we can make it on time. Know what she ended up doing? Sending a Macro 22. I'm supposed to be having my midterm, but every time we get to a terminal, it's conveniently after hours or a weekend when the training admins are not in to do it. I'm learning more from my boyfriend who is a trainer for another company, than I am learning from my current mentor. It's quite sad.

 

Raydar keep getting on your company for a new trainer.You should'nt have to put up with that.Some ppl should'nt even be training.

 

Yeah you're right , I guess all the boulders on the street corners were put there for looks
and NOT because drivers kept jumping the curbs and the stack of bent rims at the yard
were shipped in from Canada....

 

OMG -
Not sticking up for her in particular but a lot of people won't drive at night
due to vision issues ( as people age their night vision decreases or she just doesn't feel
comfortable doing it , either way she has made the correct decision from a safety
point of view.

Now , lets put all the bad aside and look at things from the good side -
You can now drive at night in the ice and snow , so you shouldn't have
any problems during the Summer when the sun is shining.
You can now back up and you learned how without help , which
would mean that you are capable of solving problems ON YOUR OWN.
You can pee in a bottle while a truck is moving , which means that when
on your own and if necessary you can do it while it's standing still .
Enforcer lock - as long as you know how to put it on then what else is there
to know ?
Scaling a load - it's like ordering a burger at a drive thru : pull up and shout
truck number then go inside give trl #and get ticket.
The important part is knowing what the limits are and how to adjust truck /trl.
to make it legal. If you have trouble help is just a phone call away , or can come
from most any driver in the lot. ( drivers are good about helping others in need ).
Waking up lost - Seems to me the cure for that would knowing where you're headed
before you crawl into the sleeper.
Not parking when going into truck stop - few do , the object is to get in and out
in the shortest time possible.
Midterm test - find your current location on a map . Congrats you just passed !
Hr.s driving -
As long as you driving all you can when you can it's all you can do as the
pick up / delivery times dictate who what & when. Example - if the load is
only going 20 feet and the drop time is 3 days away...
Planning - a map and some simple math are all that is required :
Can you ( legally ) get from point A to point B within this time frame ?
If yes click " accept " if no , then when can you get there ? or provide reason .
Mac 22s and any other " issues " She is what she is , you are what you are
and it's not a perfect world so make the best of it and it'll be over before you know it : )