Some questions about my mentor

Even the "best of companies" can have bad trainers/mentors, and the "worst of companies" can have good mentors.

 

Okay. Mama Swift has remained silent on this last escapade until now.

Here's my take on it and I don't care what the rest of y'all think about it.

After the second mentor, I made a phone call to Driver Services in Phoenix. The gist of the conversation is not essential to this discussion, with the exception to mention that things were said to strongly encourage a hasty switch to a female mentor. As the record here shows, that happened within a day of that phone call. I cannot take credit for that, with the exception of calling attention to the situation.

Now. Your first mentor made you wait in the truck while he took hometime. You said his driving was erratic and you didn't feel safe. Fair enough. You chose to remain on the truck after he returned. It eventually (within the week) didn't work out.

You were placed with a second male mentor who, you claimed, was "getting violent" because he slammed the Qualcomm down. Probably out of frustration with you. But slamming the QC around is hardly "violence." More to the point, it is a demonstration of emotion. Mentors are no more robots than you are. Push their buttons enough and you will garner a response.

The female mentor. She was sleeping while you were driving. Big deal. After your observation period, you are supposed to be able to conduct that truck down the road without a babysitter. I-80 is notorious for ice this time of year. You have no way to know how long those other vehicles were in the ditch. Could have been last week. You also have no way to know whether your mentor was, in fact, sleeping, or faking to build your confidence level.

Fueling: I would imagine if she has had that truck any length of time, she would know how far it can go on a fill. She has to run her business as efficiently as she can. Fuel is her single largest expense and if she's anything like me, she fuels carefully to stretch her fuel dollar as much as possible. She probably had a plan for fuel, but you insisted on throwing your own monkey wrench into her business. So what if she runs out of fuel! Bundle up and wait for the road truck to show up. I guarantee, if she runs out of fuel once in sub freezing temperatures, she won't allow it to happen again. You do not know the capacity of her tanks. Fuel gauges can and often do lie. She probably knows this about her truck and maybe, just maybe, ¼ actually equals ½ on fuel. You wouldn't know this.

You say her tires were unacceptable. How many years has she been driving? And how many weeks have you? Trucks have to go through inspections every 90 days. If her tires were dangerous, they would not have passed inspection. There would not have been a thing she could say about it. Swift makes money selling tires. What may look questionable to your untrained, inexperienced eye, may just be perfectly within safety parameters. They don't teach this stuff in sit-down college classes.

Now, you think you have a good grasp of the transportation industry because you have trained with three mentors. I beg to differ. You haven't even scratched the surface. You don't even know enough to be able to ask the right questions. You don't know enough to know what it is you don't know and need more information about. Yet, you think you have a good grasp of the industry as a whole.

You need to sit back, keep your eyes and ears open, reduce your commentary to the bare minimum and learn from what these mentors have been trying to say. Thicken your skin and stop trying to tell them how to run their business.



This right here is why I refuse to become a mentor.


Good luck to you moving forward. But if problems start with yet another mentor, perhaps it is time to look long and deep into the woman in the mirror.

 

#### girl you go through mentors like I use to go through wives...... WOW

 

And just think,

next year at this time,

the OP will be more than qualified to be a Mentor !!!!!!

 

747 division is just running as a team and 757 is team with haz-mat. After the first 50 hours in training if the mentor feels the student is ready to run as a team then they are supposed to have the truck put on the 747 or 757 fleet so you can get team loads and get the miles going. It benefits the student because they get done quicker and since the truck would move more the mentor would make more money. I'm about the training, the extra pay is just an extra bonus.

 

I hope I get a trainer that wants to train and not just use me for more miles, I'm hoping that maybe for the first 1/2 of the 240 the trainer will train, then maybe team for the last 1/2 but I will deal with whatever happens, but really really hope I don't get a screamer..lol

 

All it takes is experience, right. And she sure is getting some of that!

 

YEP! WHAT SHE SAID,AS WELL AS THE COMMON DENOMINATOR THOUGHOUT YOUR TRAINING AND MENTORS...........IS YOU!

 

Being Otter...I am going to try and not be as harsh as Injun...she can be a tool sometimes, other times just a screw(ball)!

First...you probably won't get reimbursed (the rest) for the hotel nights...since it wasn't pre-authorized. I am sure in orientation, they told you anything over $20 needs DM authorization and/or a P.O. number.

The second Mentor...well physical and/or verbal abuse is not tolerated and probably has been dealt with by Swift. Water under the bridge.

The last one...well let me see...

There is a reason they don't want students putting fuel in the L/O tractors. Has to do with taxes, consumption, another persons business, mainly bookkeeping in the fuel department and getting the gallons consumed to highway use straight. No big thing for a small amount in one truck, but put a few hundred or thousand trucks, at 20-30 dollars a pop...it adds up quickly and road taxes along with other taxes can get into a legal issue.

As for the thing about the exhaust leak...first time you mentioned it actually. Did you tell the Mentor it was getting bad? She might not have noticed it, in time you get accustomed to the smell on a smaller scale.

Your first post was on 11-06, so you have a month in...you say about 60-70 hours left and 25 backs. Now was that 25 done or 25 left to do? Actually, in my mind, you should have had the 40 backs done at the 30 day point. If not...you need to get on the next Mentor about finding a dock, or empty warehouse, and get 3-5 done each day....just get that list completed. My students had the 40 done in 2 or so weeks...get the minimum accomplished, then the remainder are reinforcements! In an earlier post, you stated the backs you did were "the ones the Mentors didn't want to do". This is a bad attitude...who needs the learning experience...you or the Mentor(?)...those blindside and night backs are the ones you need to do with someone watching-teaching-coaching, to gain experience. Keep in mind, backing is the most technical, and least performed thing we do driving a big rig. So the more the merrier as they say!

Going to give you some sage advice...the next Mentor you get will have been fore-warned about your Mentor history. Also, he/she will have been "counseled" about all the "issues" you have had. Don't be surprised if your Driver Services rep. has you sit down in a quiet office/meeting room, with you, the rep, and the Mentor to "discuss" the (hopefully) final Mentor and the last part of your training. It will be imperative, you take stock of what has not been covered completely, or anything you have any question about...logging, QuallComm, OS&D, routing, fueling, backing...the whole nine yards. Go over your Student check list and verify (to yourself) everything on the check off list. The way Driver Services sees this...they don't want you to fail (bad for their numbers), they don't want you being "half-trained", and they want you basically out of their hair at this point...so you need to "suck it up" and just get the job done. 60-70 hours is about 10 calendar days...so maybe a Target gig might be best.

A warning...freight is slow for every company right now...and will be for another couple or 3 months. It is going to be hard going solo this time of year...as the miles aren't good. Be careful with your money...your attitude, and your emotions.

Be glad I don't wear the "blue" anymore....I would start with you by putting you over my knee and.....well....show you who is boss....flyswatters are a wonderful tool!

Git er done!