Stevens Transport aviary

The 'contractor' shut down at 4am on safety due to weather. I didnt get the load from the 'contractor' until almost noon. The roads were almost dry when i repowered him. Imo, the 'contractor' didnt want to hurt his mpg's by going into the north east. Me? I dont give a crud, I get paid by the mile. lol. And what Emul said...

 

Our DM sent a QC asking us how I-40 was thru New Mexico. It was 95% clear & dry. Interesting that there were 3 Stevens trucks sitting at Route 66. Have a feeling some guys used an inch of snow on the grass as a reason to spend New Year's Eve at the casino.

 

Probably another 3 or.4 at Sky City...

 

I want to wish everyone a safe, prosperous, and happy New Year.

 

And at Dancing Eagle!!

 

Ya know, mistermino, your posts about miles have really been bothering me. Maybe it's just me, but the purpose of a trainer is not to rack up all the miles you can, but to properly train a student to become a truck driver. I see way too many guys come out on Grad Fleet that have no idea what they are doing because the trainers have used them simply as log books!! Things have improved slighty with the return of Trainee/Trainee teams because they are forced to learn. There is absolutely no excuse for a new driver to hit Grad Fleet without knowing how to operate a reefer, move their tandems, secure a load, I could go on & on. I really wish that the Training Dept would 'revamp' things so that trainers were paid a 'bonus' for training while running 'solo' miles so that the student would get actual training.

If your students are getting off your truck with all the proper skills, I apologize. If not, please reconsider WHY you became a trainer.

 

I was fortunate in that the jack ### I had for a trainer was also a lazy S O B so I pretty much did everything. He picked me up under dispatch and promptly said he was out of hours so I had to drive... got to the receiver two days later, he hands me the B O L and says find the receiving office...

But I get off his truck knowing more than when I got on jt.

 

Students learn by DOING.
When I was training, I made my students run as many miles as they were able. This gave them experience behind the wheel.
I also had a list I went thru that all my students had to accomplish...move a 5th wheel, do a full PTI on a reefer, work the dock with produce loads, keep a contineous seal record...and more.
But driving gives the student the opportunity to experience situations (traffic, road conditions, and more) that may only come up once in a while. Hopefully some of these would happen when I was there to guide them.
Yes, there are trainers that use their students as log books, but there are more that try hard to teach skills.
A trainee is required to run a minimum of 8,000 miles in 5 weeks. That's only 1600 miles per week. It is not inconceivable for a training truck to move 20,000 miles in 5 weeks. If a trainee has driven 10,000 miles, he's only doing HALF the driving.
I know it sounds like a lot, but it really isn't if you look at the whole picture.

 

We hear alot about bad trainers, but would you say the majority are pretty good?

 

I would say a majority are good.
The poor ones tend to weed themselves out