SET UP TO FAIL

That is what I was I was told by a 30 plus year Tanker driver who I told my story about being hired and fired by PTL Trucking located in Murray , Kentucky.
The training was horrible. A very nasty vile driver who I was told was their “Top Mentor”.
He constantly yelled and cursed at me when I was driving even for anything minor like leaving a piece of paper on the dash or hanging a bag on my seat.
He had unbelievable road rage. He would pull in front of cars he was angry at and slam on the brakes.
He might bath every four or five days. His truck was filthy.
When I called my wife he gave me no privacy and would tell dirty jokes to offend her and thought “it was funny”.
All my driving was forward. I was never allowed to backup at the terminals.
The last day of training he took me to a parking lot full of trailers and had me back up a few times between empty trailers.
When I was put in my own truck I found out quickly that my training was inadequate. Moving around and backing up at terminals was impossible
I called in and requested more training backing up and was denied.
The GPS and clock training was way inadequate.
The “instructor” ran through the training and got angry at simple questions.
On the road the GPS would glitch and start directing me in large circles. I would have to pull over and call in to have the GPS reset which would make me late. I don’t remember the term but it’s when you drive the truck off duty. Twice they had me drive the truck off duty to get my load to the terminal.
I was terminated for hitting an overpass and I take full responsibility for that but the Company contributed to the situation.
I was supposed to pickup an empty trailer and take it in for repair. The pickup and drop off addresses were backwards so I showed up at the repair facility first. When I called in they told me I was at the wrong place reset the addresses and told me to hightail it to the company where the trailer was supposed to be located.
When I arrived the office told me no such trailer was there but they had a second yard that it might be located. On the way to the second yard a fleet manager called me and told me that the trailer had already been picked up and I was sent there by mistake. It was about 10:30 at night.
I had like 15 minutes left to drive and the closest truck stop was 25 miles away so I called the yard I just left and they said I could park there for the night. I reset the GPS to take me back to the first yard. It took me through town down a hill with a railroad overpass.
It had a sign 12.5 feet. I was told at orientation that my truck was 11.5.
I stopped and got out and looked and it appeared I would fit. I couldn’t back up it was up hill into an intersection with a traffic light so I eased up to the bridge and it hit. I freaked out and called in and told the fleet manager what had happened and the situation I was in. He stated that other drivers had done far worse and I would be reprimanded but it would be ok. I told him I wanted to call the local police to help me back out and he agreed. They helped me back up the hill and escorted safely to the yard.
like I said I take responsibility but I was dog tired and panicky because I had run out of driving time.
Two days later I was driving a load and was called to go to a “safe parking place”. I drove to the closest truck stop. I was called,terminated and told to leave the truck.
I asked what about my gear and was told it would be put in boxes and I could pick it up at the Company warehouse. I was told I would get a bus ticket home but I was on my own to to get to the bus terminal. I was 500 miles from home and 30 miles from the bus terminal. If I hadn’t had money on me I would have been stranded. I paid $251 dollars for a taxi ride to the terminal. I was stranded at the bus terminal for 6 hours ended up calling PTL and raised hell. They took me to a hotel
The next morning I rented a car for $350, drove back to the truck stop and stuffed all my gear including a refrigerator in the rent car and drove home. Like I was told by an experienced truck driver. I was set up to fail.
Ps haven’t been able to get a job.

 

Well. I can’t prove it. There were no markings on the truck. I went back through my orientation paper work and there’s nothing in writing. I actually asked and remember someone saying 11.5.
Like I said I hit the bridge it was my fault.

 

Thanks for the reply. I would like to go back to work. I would prefer to go through training again with a decent trainer

 

You know Thrasher 28 it’s funny you mentioned a blemish.
The damage to the truck was cosmetic. There was no accident report. My driving record is clean. I’m just being badmouthed by PTL who set me up in the first place.