Schneider driving training only 7 days, really??

Let me put it this way. The only people I've met at Schneider that weren't happy (or worried about) with the short training were the students before their week with the TE.

I'm yet to run into anyone that has driven here for a month+ and feels that way. Sure, that first load on your own is a little terrifying. But then, when it clicks that you have been taught everything you need to know and you did it, yeah. That worry goes away. But you know what? I'd bet that the ones that have 8+ weeks of training and then go out on their very own for the first time... They feel the same exact way.

I mean, I guess you could throw some numbers our way. Perhaps Schneider's csa score is way too high because our drivers aren't trained properly? Oh wait, that's not the case. Perhaps we get in huge accidents all the time and were the laughing stock of the industry? Hmm, wait, that's Swift and they do a month+ with a mentor. Or CRE. Or CRST. Don't all of them do the same? I rarely hear "oh look at that stupid pumpkin driver, he doesn't know what he's doing". To be fair I do get a lot of "move out of the hammer lane you slow ####".

Yeah. It works. Somehow. And we're not stuck with a dinky training pay for months. And we don't have the nagging suspicion that our trainer is out here to make money and not train. Or that the company is actually just taking advantage of an almost free team driver.

Just sayin. It's not broke. And I'm sure as hell happy about it. So yeah, disagree all you want. I'll just be out here making money and wondering why in the world anyone would put up with the BS of "training" somewhere else.

 

Hm well you got me thinking again. Freymiller you say has bad pay and reefer is crazy hours? Could you help me out by giving me some details on why pulling reefer would suck? I'd prefer dry van. Do you think SNI would transfer me if I wanted to move to another state? That's why I was going Freymiller to check out the midwest again but maybe you're right. I forgot about the sleeping while the truck is moving thing. That would be tough..not sure if you have to eat as well why the trainer is driving? I can't relax and eat if the wheels are turning.

 

Reefer is a lot of 4 am drops , out in traffic in rush hour after delivery , live load and unload always , washouts , 20-30 hour three day produce picks , van is easy to clean , a lot of drop and hook , more miles

 

And reefer loads are #### near always 79999k

 

You can transfer pretty much anywhere I believe with SNI. If you don't live within 50 miles of an OC you can either take your truck home or park at a close truck stop to your house. They do have to get permission and approve that though.

Like the other guy posted, reefer has its drawbacks. Mostly live load and unload. Almost all heavy loads. It's loud when you're trying to sleep or moving with team when trying to sleep. You have to monitor it regularly. Just more responsibility. If the pay equates to the responsibility, do it. If not dry van is much less to deal with. I'm completely guessing here but I'd say my average load is under 30k. I only have to weigh 25% or less of my loads. Point being, the less you have to do the more you can be rolling. Live loads/unloads are 75% never on time. Being mostly drop and hook is where it's at. There are some places where drop and hooks even take more than 2 hours but that is rare. At least for me. CSA score is huge too. Being able to bypass most weigh stations is awesome. I've done the math and it takes at least an hour to make up the time to go through a scale house. I had 3 trucks pass me at about 70mph. All hauling the same. They went through the weigh station. I went straight. First truck past me at 49 miles second at 62 miles and third at 70 miles. Slowing down, stopping or going real slow and getting back up to speed is huge. When I noticed that I really began to limit my stops as much as possible. It doesn't seem like it would affect you that much. But it does. You can easily pass 3 weigh stations or more a day. It adds up and so does the fuel economy in it. Sorry for the off topic rant lol.

 

Only reason to ever pull an ice box is if you're an owner operator with your own numbers and good brokers

 

That will get you sent home.

Trailers will turn if you even have like 1 degree from true straight. And driving violent backwards at speed only adds to your damage.

 

I work for myself no ones sending me home

 

There variety in loading a reefer verus just a plain old dry van.

As far as 378z is concerned, his response a borderline trollish. I settled any future conflicts with a list that eliminates any more posting between so we can stay on topic.

Being able to sleep with a trainer is pretty wild to show a old 70's term. I've been able to do it but not always very well.When there is a blantket load of snow on new drivers who sometimes te tp heaven sent also jacobs reaisd

 

That's because you haven't talked to the drivers who get let go after 6-8 weeks. Or the ones that are really struggling thru their first month. I think Waggledaddy mentioned that some of the guys in his class are struggling with low miles - that's a sign of incomplete training.

Fleet wide over 40% of new drivers will have AT LEAST one preventable accident in their first 6 months. They tend to be small things - hitting fixed objects. If all of these accidents needed to be reported to DOT our CSA across would be atrocious. 2/3 of the fleet have been with the company more than 5 years yet we have over 100% turnover rate.

It works, but working doesn't mean good. Our problem is not length of instruction. The problem is order of.instructions and soft skill assement. Imagine how much better your time with a TE would have been if instead of talking about benefits and sliding tandems you'd spent those two hours going thru a rough outline of WF and trip planning. Think how.much easier your first load would have been if you had done the trip planning for EVERY load you hauled with the TE.

I firmly believe SNI has one of the best new driver orientation programs in the industry. That is less a statement of how great we are and more a reflection of how poorly this industry prepares new drivers.