I will say a prayer for you that this will be your last week. I know how you feel from talking to you last week. Hang in there. You can make it. I know it is hard to try and not take it personal. I know you have gotten mixed messages from you trainer so it is confusing. Only thing I can think of is maybe they want to be absolutely positive you are ready to go.
They may be just covering their bases as far making sure you know as much as possible before going solo. God forbid we turn one of these trailers over. Million dollar disaster right there between clean up costs, lost equipment, fines, etc. You have made it this far so DON'T quit and DON'T let your trainer get under your skin.
Talk to you soon.
My new career with Superior Carriers begins!
Discussion in 'Superior Carriers' started by rubberducky68, Jun 18, 2012.
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crazw, Plane Driver and Twicebit Thank this.
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How is he impatient? Regardless, if you feel you are being rushed by the trainer, don't be afraid to let him know. He might not realize it. The most important thing in this job is safety. It doesn't matter if something takes you 5 seconds, or 5 hours, as long as it is done safely.
Twicebit Thanks this. -
It could be that they simply don't have a truck for you yet. It wouldn't be the first time someone spent an extra week with a trainer waiting on a truck. Thats a tough situation for everyone involved. The trainer is just as ready as you are to get back to solo.
Twicebit Thanks this. -
Thank you RD, obviously I won't quit. I'm just frustrated is all. I shouldn't have aired here on a public forum. My Trainer is not all bad. He has been fair and kind in certain instances. Part of it is my deal - my personality as a people pleaser kind of means I do take criticism personally. Thats totally my deal. I need to work on not taking stuff personally. And you're correct, maybe they're wanting to be sure... I'm fine with that. The mixed messages are confusing, that's all.
I will say this, and praise God for it! Yesterday I went and worked out with my brother. As we were leaving, I pondered out loud if I should go back upstairs and retrieve my phone to take with me. My brother said "no, I've got my phone with me." So I get to my phone 2.5 hours later and there's a voice mail from my Dispatcher saying they re-dispatched us and need my Trainer and i to leave for Morenci this afternoon (Sat). I've also got a text from my Trainer saying we're leaving out at 15:00 and I need to contact him asap. Its now 15:32. I immediately call the Dispatcher and texted my Trainer stating why I didn't get the messages. He'd already left the Terminal and texted back "No problem" that I missed the messages. I believe not being available to go on this changed trip was part of God's ongoing provision! Tomorrow, I will go in early early and talk to the Ops Supr before he gets busy and ask to go with another Trainer if one is available this week. I will be so pleased to get another person's perspective... I don't want to rush things if they think I'm not quite ready. I just believe that after three weeks and what we've experienced, this Trainer and I have reached the end of our course together. We'll be friends as fellow drivers.
Thanks RD for all of your help and encouragement!!!Last edited: Nov 10, 2013
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Fortunately, I don't take much longer to get to destinations, and once I am solo, I believe I'll be able to make up bits of time I've lost during the day by spending less time at stops. And you're right, he may not have realized how he was coming off. I should have voiced my concerns and tried to reason with him rather than feeling pressured into changing my driving style. Again, that's on me!Last edited: Nov 10, 2013
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Last edited: Nov 10, 2013
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Twicebit Thanks this.
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Well I think I had my first true oh sh...t what do I do now experience Thursday afternoon. Had to make a Friday morning delivery in Alabama just outside of Birmingham. Got there early Thursday afternoon so I figured I would case the place out and see if they had any parking so I could just park there for the night.
Found the place easy enough as it was only two miles off the main highway. They had 3 gates and only one labeled saying visitors and employees. I figured I was a visitor so I passed up the first two gates and went on down to the last gate. Turns out you aren't getting a big truck through that entrance. I figured no big deal. I will just go down the road a few hundred yards and there should be some place to turn around. After all it is a huge plant with rail cars and all. I figured there were big trucks all over the place in the area.
Boy was I wrong.....Once you pass that last gate (I could have backed up to the second gate at this point), you are pretty well done finding a place big enough to get turned around. I should have know as I have been to Alabama several times through back country two lane roads. Anyway, I kept going thinking eventually I would find some place to turn around. After pulling some pretty big hills and going around sharp blind curves for about 3-4 miles I just stopped right there and put my 4 ways on.
I thought, what in the heck am I going to do??? I was beginning to panic pretty good at this point but I kept my head on straight and made sure I did not do anything stupid that would get the truck stuck or turned over. Keep in mind this was a narrow two lane road out in the middle of no where so there were no cars coming or going. After sitting there trying to figure out what was the best thing to do, a pickup truck came along with two guys in it. They started to stop behind me but I waved them on around the truck and got them to stop. I asked them if there was a place anywhere down the road I could turn my truck around. They said yes there was a big strip mine about two more miles up the road that had a big place to turn around.
They were headed there so they said I could follow them. So I proceed to follow them up and down more big hills, around sharp curves. I had to keep the tractor in the middle of the road so the trailer would not track off the edge of the road. The guys were nice enough to wait on me as I could only go about 15 mph. I finally reach the turn around point and had to make my way back. It took me forever but there was a huge sense of relief. Got back to the main highway and parked it at the Loves just down the road for the night. Needless to say I slept well due to being mentally wore out.
Few lessons learned on this one for sure. -
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