Short Mentor/Training Programs

I went to work for May Trucking in '09 when I got into the industry. I was on the truck for only 9 days. Not saying that's the norm, but my trainer was comfortable with recommending I solo out.

Being on a truck with someone else in their space is hard. What I recommend is to get out of that space alone as much as you can. I took a laptop with me and would go hang out by myself during rest periods (in truck stops) and surf the web, watch movies, listen to music, read, talk on the phone with my wife & friends, etc.

 

I understand your situation. Riding with a trainer is usually the hardest time many drivers have coming into the industry, it sounds like you have that in spades. How was your backing? How many miles/hours did you drive in a day? Were you responsible for finding your way to the customer or was that determined by your trainer and you just followed directions? If you are looking to not have someone hovering around you in the truck you really need to show your ability to already do the things this job requires. Anyone can go down the interstate highway without much training, it's the backing, navigating city streets, and administrative duties that count the most. For example, if you daily counted on finding pull-thru parking spots you need a trainer with you. If you count on driving less than 10 hours a day, and only during daytime you need time with a trainer. You might be a natural or quick study and have the skills right now to do this job on your own, we can't really judge from our keyboards.

I'm sure you've tried explaining your need to be left alone to your past trainers. I'm also pretty introverted, but I moved so much during my childhood I learned to fake being "normal". Perhaps you didn't explain clearly enough to get the point across. It's also possible your trainer only hears what he wants to hear, there's an epidemic of that in the industry. Quite a few trainers take up training to make more money and to have more social interaction than being solo. It's possible with the right trainer you can find one that essentially supervises but doesn't hover. I cannot over emphasize how you must make your point CALMLY and CLEARLY, not mumble 'back off' once at the start and then interpret everything as 'closing in on you'.

I'd ask you if you do ride with a trainer you calmly but very directly say "I appreciate your experience, you are Captain of the ship, but it's very important that you watch my driving and only intervene or offer suggestions as a last resort. I understand that means my fate is in my hands. I risk getting kicked out of the job. I intend to use this time to demonstrate I am ready to solo." And then know you have to demonstrate solo driving ability or get kicked out. Expressing frustration at being monitored or corrected would tell me you are not ready for the job. You do the job safely with no corrections would suggest you are ready to go solo. That means anticipating what other drivers are going to do and not just quickly brushing off your own oversight of the situational details. I don't know if you are a genuine introvert (being around people drains your energy) or maybe you are more like a Millennial who's been pampered and told you can do no wrong your whole life. You need to honestly evaluate you.

I think you really have to honestly judge if your skills are road ready now or if you would rather ride with a stranger or find another industry. It's possible you are good to go, but it's pretty unusual to be good to go with so little experience. I'm not doubting your skills just suggesting you better be good NOW, not just defensive about getting instructions if you are seeking to go solo. You are really walking out onto a very long thin plank over a deep gorge. You better be steady.

 

Was that initial CA to GA run illegal or did you not want to work that much to make the drop? Pretty crummy to bail after one load after your friend stuck his neck out for you. If the boss was making you run over hours then ok you made the right choice in leaving.

 

You have a lot more to go on than I do. I can only base it on what you posted here and that's how it looked. My apologies if I'm wrong.

If I were hiring and you were applying your short history doesn't look good. On the other hand it's not all that unusual for new drivers to go through a few employers in a short time. Looking ahead though you don't want to have 12 trucking jobs on your resume in a 3 year period. The only one's who will hire you then are the crappy ones since it's obvious you won't stick around long.

The only reason to leave one job is if it means a step up. It seems that what you thought you were doing when you quit Swift after two weeks. At this point take your time picking a company and do your best to stay there for a long time. Like I said in my 1st post, the more short term jobs you have the less chance you have of getting on with a good company.

 

What I don't get is the expectation that all new drivers are the same, and therefore should "just deal with it", coz that's the trucking life.

I appreciate the people who responded to the OP without demeaning his reaction to the "not-so-pleasant" experience.

Some of us newbies are NOT "millenials" or have NEVER been coddled all our lives...but cannot stand nonsense either.

 

With respect go ahead and quit all you want if you wanna be a failure all your life, that right there tells me you're so not ready for this industry.Here it's almost a year later and you wanna give the industry another try,I'll tell you it's not going to be any better.I don't know what exactly happened with you and that small company but to wait so long before trying it again and your reasons for quitting isn't going to work out,that I do know.This industry has no room for quitters and crybabies and that's what I'm seeing here.You seem like a very nice guy and that's why it's hard to believe you that you have this. whatever. you wanna call it against ppl if you're with them so long.You really do need to seriously rethink this industry.