Should I get off my mentor truck or tough it out?

Let the training dept. know what's going on with this steering wheel holder, so called "mentor / trainer". Tell them that you want a mentor that actually gives a crap about your training, and has an interest in what he is doing.

 

So I would give it a while and see if he gets better. Ask how many people he has trained. That will tell you quite a bit. My trainer experience was horrible as well. My training was horrible but was afraid I would get worse. I also heard if you get off one truck and then have a problem with the next they think you are the issue and could send you home. My first guy was violent and yelled a lot even in shippers office and one night he yelled at evening dispatch so he was fired off of the training program.

My second trainer was a great driver but so racist. Every day I heard why white people framed O.J. Simpson and that white people live on hills to see the cops coming because we are drug dealers and tax cheats. Was funny though every time he saw a good looking white girl he was in love. I got tired of it at the end and thankfully they put me with a another guy from Dallas to Atlanta to finish and pick up my tractor.

 

this scares the heck out of me. im @ the Corsicana academy right now and i take my CDL test this friday. i really hope the mentor i get is nothing like this one SMH.. im not a hard person to get along with, and i want to be a safe driver and learn while i am with the mentor, but i have my boundaries also.

that sucks you are going through this kryOn.

 

The first week I was running with a trainer we ran pretty much as solo and then we switched to team so that made it way better! Less time with the trainer! Big deal whats six weeks!

 

So is it Kry0n, or KryOn?
The first is with a zero, the second with an 'O'.
Letter or number?
Just curious.

But it really is a crapshoot when it comes to mentors.
Many are just out for the extra cash, but many more are really there to teach new drivers.

Experience is a big factor, but not the main one I think.
The main factors, I think, are how well the trainer knows the job and how well they are able to teach the skills.

I do agree that there should be much stricter standards for trainers/mentors.
There should be a training program just for them, not just a simple class that lasts a day or two.
IMO it should be more as the school for getting a CDL in the first place, since those schools don't really teach how to do the job.
And there is much more to doing the job correctly than simply getting the CDL.

And they should not be able to do a team operation until the last couple weeks of training.
That kind of training is helpful, because it may be a part of the job. But it should not be a major part in the training.


Swift was, as far as I could determine, the first to raise driver pay in the last year or so. Then everyone else followed.
It wasn't until that first raise that I began hearing adverts from many other companies that they had raised the bar.
Swift just did it again, and I expect everyone will follow the leader yet again.


So, how about it Swift?
Will you raise the bar in a different direction?
And that bar would be for mentors.

Offer some real training programs and incentives for those that teach all those new drivers you bring into the fold.
And not just the promise of more money via more miles due to the team status and the perk of a cent a mile for whatever time.

Do something really worthwhile!
Set up a training program to teach the new mentors how to really teach the students - which includes training them (the would be mentors) in any problem areas they may have.
Offer the money needed to make it worth their while - and NOT based on running as a team!
Offer better support to those new drivers that have real problems with their 'so-called' mentors that are not doing their job of training the correct way.


Swift, are you listening?
Because I KNOW you have some people watching what is going on here!

 

I agree that the OP should get a new mentor. But come on drivers, how many of you do a 7 point brake test daily? Be honest, how many of you do a pretrip the way it was really designed to be done.

 

how many times have you heard a driver doing a pump down break test at a truck stop? 22 years i've seen it once...i'm gonna do one when i leave a 2am...let see if i got shot.

 

lol I recall my mentor coming back from the restroom, I told him his truck passed the air brake tests. He told me to never do that again as air brake tests can break things. Ummm isn't that something that you would want to know before you go down the big steep hill?

Speaking of hills, there was one 21% grade with a sign that said no trucks over 10,000 pounds Empty. Mentor said go for it when the light turns green. I tried to argue that we are over 10,000 pounds then he says, 'yeah but we are Empty so it is OK'. Got the truck up a few hundred yards and she started bucking because it was just too steep. Had to back down into the 4 way intersection. I just asked the guy, "does Swift tell you guys to put us into extremely stressful situations or are you naturally this way (stupid)?"

 

Sorry to read about this clown who's supposed to be teaching you, but at the same time I'm glad to see I'm not the only one. I had two mentors for my five week trainee program with a large well known company. The first was suspended from mentoring after I'd been with him for three weeks. The second was a real character. He looked at my training card the first day and shook his head. According to him, my first mentor had just been spinning the wheels with me. Among other things, I only had four backups logged in when their should have been at least a dozen.

He said we had our work cut out for the next two weeks. Then at the end of our first day the fun rally started . He stated that he'd been mentoring for a little over a year and had had four students. All four he had either failed or convinced them to quit. "They call me the dream killer" he bragged. Going into our second and final week he seemed determined to make me his fifth drop on request. He yelled at my repeatedly for every little thing. He forced me to get by with one meal a day (with about ten or twelve minutes to eat it) At the end of my eleven hours of driving he would make me stay up for four or five hours before he let me get some sleep. Then drag me up five hours later to start all over.

To top it off, we went the last eight days with no shower. "Just do like I do" he said. Meaning wash off with wet-wipes.

When he dropped me off at the home terminal he didn't even say good luck. But he did shake my hand. The next day I passed the road test with flying colors. Then took a shower that lasted about an hour and a half. Your guy makes mine sound like Mother Theresa though. If you're more then half way done stick it out. If less then that ask for a new one.

 

Every single morning - when I'm with a student.