swift mentor #2

Well, people here probably won't like my story but I will tell it anyway. I had two mentors during my training at Swift. My first mentor was great. He spent time teaching me backing manuevers every chance he got. He also discussed how to handle various situations that could come up but that would be difficult to simulate. He had a great attitude and helped me through the transition to trucking. Within a week he had enough confidence in my abilities that he gave me more freedom in driving. He would just watch and let me know if I was needing to change what I was doing. Unfortunately, he finally got the call for the local job he was working on for months and he left with half my training to go. Within two days I had a new mentor. He was a great mentor but there was something about his personality that made the team mix difficult. After training he and I remained friends. He gave me some difficult backing and driving situations to ensure I learned what I needed to. There had been a few things my first mentor had missed during the assigned weeks and so he went back and covered them.

Unfortunately I let our "chemistry" problem cause me to develop an attitude which took me awhile to work out after my training period was over.

Both mentors were conscientious and did their best to teach me everything they could. 42 days seems like a long time but it really goes fast and I found there was still a lot I needed to learn. Even the training coordinator at my terminal was very supportive and worked hard to make sure I received the training I needed to be successful. The idea was, if I was successful and well-trained then that was good for both Swift and me.

 

I start orientation for Swift on Wednesday. Was going to go with Arrow but decided that I'm not quite ready for that challenge.

I think my biggest problem with going to Swift or any other company for that matter is the initial 6 weeks of training.

You know the questions we ask ourselves - "what kind of trainer/mentor will I get, is he/she going to be patient, will they teach me what I need to know, and is that persons hygiene up to par?".:smt102

I can only hope that I will get a trainer/mentor that actually knows what he's doing and can take me to the next level in a positive way.

 

You might try talking with the terminal manager. Two things would be first the need for a new mentor. Second, he may want to know of the situation with this mentor. It sounds like a safety issue. When they assign you a new mentor, hopefully they will get you a reasonable one (there are more of these than most want to believe). I would explain to him what all you did. He may try to get you a little free time at a terminal to show him your ability to do those items before signing them off or he may just sign them off by taking your word for it. My second one did that, but I didn't use that as an escape. I only asked him to sign off things I had done and knew I could do. Good luck. Hopefully by this time tomorrow you will be rolling once again.

 

Yeah, teaming with a stranger can be scary. Keep in mind that some trainers have the same concern. Hopefully you will get one of the many good ones out there and things will go well. My understanding is that, if it is not working out, you can ask for a new trainer. At least I have drivers tell me they ended up doing this.

 

Years ago I was a trainer for Swift (before the "mentor" program) and found that who you got as a trainer was not simply important but vital! Some of us were old hands who stayed on when Swift bought our companies, others were fairly new (less than one years experience).
You didn't say where you were training... but if you are near the Corrine, Ut. Terminal you might request Dixon. He has been training drivers for better than 18 years that I know of and he knows the ropes. The guys who get off his truck can make a living and stay safe.
Best of Luck.

 

I know my former trainer at Werner had to contend my attitude, but it only flared when he would lose his patience with me and start yelling for no real reason. I wasn't causing a hazard to ourselves or others it was just a matter of having trust issues.

For instants - My trainer would sit in the passenger seat while I was driving and put his pretty good size arm on the dash blocking my view of the right mirror. He would then ask me to move in the right lane and I would ask him to move his arm so I could see. That's when he would start yelling and I would lose it right back at him.
This Homey don't play that!

Also, the food issue was something I had to compromise with. He was really good at getting us something to eat at which time I would eat as much as I could (without getting myself sick of course) and have something to snack on during the day. But it was for a legitimate reason (I thought). We would get JIT loads and just didn't have the time to so called "waste" on sit down dining.