My wonderful training experience

Oh boy...do I have a lot to say to this rookie...and I am a rookie myself!!!

First off...this is a SOLO career and YOU are responsible for knowing how to do it. If you didn't know something you should have asked him!

Wow!!! 6-7 hours of sleep! I am lucky to get 4 sometimes but hysterical is because I am still learning and have to find a "routine/schedule". I also try to take advantage of dock time for naps or paperwork.

Didn't school teach you not to blindside back unless that is the only option? And if they did didn't they teach you where and how to look? Oh...and I know that school AND your company goes over G.O.A.L!!!

As for OTR...that is not a job where you just sit in the seat and just jump docks! You my friend need to find a cubicle job and stay off my roads!!!

 

You might be justified with some of your complaints. And maybe your trainer/training wasn't the best. But, you gotta learn somehow, Im just getting into the industry too, but theirs one thing ive noticed so far...
That is if you screw up, you learn from it, you move on, NOBODY is going to walk you through it. You have to be willing to admit you screwed up, even if your trainer is being an #######.
The good part is your done with training, use what you know, back as slow as you want, do things the way you want to do them, your a solo driver now, thats a good thing.

 

LOL! Get 'em Mess!

 

Lol well there's not alot to say that hasent been said. You need to man up and just deal with it. Your training is over and no amount of complaining is going to change that (at least here). You might have had a bad trainer but the time to address that was when you were on the truck with him, now it's a little too late in the game for that. Go out there an do the best you can.

A lot of your comments lead me to believe that you think this will just be a cake walk with no work involved. Depending on who your working for yes you will have to hump freight sometimes and a wimpy 6 or 7 hours of sleep is the norm so you will have to adjust and adapt.

You also need to look and learn. You made the comment that after a few weeks you still dont know how to hook up to a trailer right and made a mistake, hope you learned from that mistake. Watch what others are doing and you can learn a lot on what to do and what not to do. That goes for backing, coupling and uncoupling and yes.......UNLOADING FREIGHT. It's probably better that you only drove a couple states because you get more dock/parking/backing/unloading time. What does it matter if you crossed a state line or not? If you missed turns while your driving whose fault is that?

It's normal for all new drivers to get nervous when going out for the first time and for the first few months. You aint gonna go out there knowing everything and the only way your going to get things down is to go out and do them. Watch other people. Use your head and dont go around saying "I suck at backing because I had a bad trainer". It could be you suck at backing because you suck at backing, which is not a big deal. If you need pull up's take em because it dont matter as long as you get it parked without bending metal.

If I was a trainer you might catch me watching some Combat or Branded. Just go get it done and dont be playing the blame game all the time.

 

You'll get there man! But one thing you should know by now don't ##### to other drivers about it. Most just love to sit around and watch new guys fail. They will spent countless hours talking about you but rarely lift a finger to help you. I never had a trainer. NO ONE WAS IN MY TRUCK. I DID THIS COMPLETLEY ON MY OWN. Maybe this was nit the best route but at least you had some help. He did you a huge favor by introducing you the reality that most people will not help, as a matter of fact its quite the opposite in my opinion.

That said put on your big boy pants and learn to drive. He was never going to be able to tell you anything as helpful as YOU DOING IT YOUSELF

And six hours.......wow go to the oil patch and you'll learn real quick that the only time you get six hours is when the well has aproblem other than that you better run and run and run and run and run and run...........or just never come back.

Trucking is tough and some drivers are and some are not you just have to learn which YOU ARE!

GOOD LUCK MAN

 

I will never unload freight if there is breakdown involved hell no. I will do it if no breakdown is involved and if pallet jacking the truck needs to be parked correct I will not pull pallets against the grain.

 

As a student driver I agree with what has been said. Instructors (at least the one I have) don't teach, they tell. If you don't know how to do what they just told you to do, then you have to ask them to teach you. And don't do something just hoping for the best because you are going to cause expensive damage or even hurt someone.

When it comes to the coupling (and backing in general) then I really don't know what to say. You are responsible for anything you hit with your rig so if you aren't 100% sure what it is doing then set the brakes and get out and look. There is no excuse for backing into an obstacle because you didn't know better. Your instructor was wrong to tell you to just back until you can't anymore, so that's on him. But you had to know when you were going to school that you would have to couple eventually and you should have taken the initiative and learned the steps. If the school won't show you then pick up a textbook or get on the internet or find another driver somewhere to tell you how its done. If there is one thing about the trucking industry I've found out it is that other drivers love to tell you how to drive. LOL

I think you need to re-evaluate your career choice. Truck driving can be long days in stressful conditions with the bare-minimum of rest. You will have to hump freight, you will have to fight with tie-downs and restraints, you will have make minor repairs on your rig on the side of the road, you will have to put on chains in the dark in a blizzard (also on the side of the road), and you will have to put up with A-holes on the roads with you. If you want to keep going after this, then you need to get a new trainer or make your trainer understand that you are not ready and that you need to learn to do some of the things he takes for granted that you should know because you don't. But learn them ASAP, don't you dare get in that truck solo not knowing how to couple, or how to back, or how to park. I think that is much more important than trying to find a trainer that will show you the different states right now.

That's my 2-cents, good luck!

 

The trainer/student relationship:
Mr/Ms trainer, your company is entrusting you to train the new driver as to not tear up equipment, cause accidents, and pick up and deliver freight on time. To be an asset to the company, not a liability. In turn, the company compensates you for your efforts.

I despise lazy trainers.
Remember, a newbies first experiences on the road are with you the trainer. Try to make it a positive one to get their career started.

 

Oh, and BTW, the trainer was at fault for the trailer accident for numerous reasons.

 

I find it a bit scary that the op just.. without thinking, blindly follows his instructors poor advice. He even admits to knowing his trainer isn't giving good advice. I don't know about you, but if someone told me that to couple the truck and trailer, you just back till you hit something.. I'd think "uhhhh, I donno about that one, buddy." I mean, I had looked at the parts that connect.. before ever trying to couple.. and its quite obvious that things have to be aligned. This is just interacting with your environment common sense.

I feel like the op is the type who, if working on a fryer and drops some tongs in the oil, then sticks his hand in to retrieve it. And then while recoving in ER, complains that know one told him hot oil hurts a little bit.