Swift Training

have you thought about maybe its not the mentor if it keeps happening? and what exactly did you do where he "cared more for his truck" than you?

My truck would be important to me as well, people dont just buy a $150k truck then let students destroy it so im assuming there is more to your story...

 

... perhaps the OP may have been grinding gears? The mentor may have been an O/O and he might have taken exception to potential multi-thousand dollar transmission repair issues?

dollar, I feel for you. Sounds like the first mentor was way out of line: sleeping on the job on the first day.

For any trainee, you need to take responsibility for your training. This includes maintaining close contact with your training supervisor and letting them know if you aren't comfortable with your mentor/trainer and requesting a replacement asap.

When I went through training I was far less than thrilled with several aspects of my trainer. I seriously considered asking for a replacement, but ultimately decided to "suck it up" and finish out with him in order to get through the training phase as quickly as possible. I had a goal, and that was to get into my own truck as a solo driver asap. Changing trainers wasn't going to help that happen quickly. In my case I had over 3 years prior experience going back to '77, so I had more experience than my trainer (2 years) and there were several aspects of his idea of how to drive that didn't set well with me.

In retrospect perhaps I should have asked for another trainer. However, I did achieve my goal to be solo, and that is the point of it all. Now I'm looking forward to finishing out a year with Swift and look at my options.

 

You were on the truck for a week and had a total of 15 minutes drive time? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding...

.... but the part about stalling and grinding... IMHO that is part and parcel with learning how to drive. I'd dare say that most all truckers while learning to drive have stalled out and grind the gears.

The art is in how to teach someone how to avoid those mistakes... without going ballistic.

Bear in mind that trainers attend a class for a couple of days in order to become a trainer. They are shown the basics of what they need to teach, but they aren't taught how to teach. Therefore it is rather hit or miss whether you will end up with a trainer that can teach his/her way out of a wet paper bag.

 

I would of contacted someone first day, not wait a week and then say you drove only 15 minutes, you need to take some initiative in your training. Im not trying to point all the blame to one person but you shouldnt be either, your blaming Swift for not having good mentors when there are some very good mentors you just have to take the bull by the horns and demand some changes if it needs to be done. Training is what you can get out of it, ask questions, practice etc etc.


Lepton I wasnt a grinder and staller when i started
But I also have been driving manuals for 15 years, some argue that a truck is totally different and in some aspects it is but it all came natural from all those years of doing it, only time I ever had issues trying to shift something was my brother in laws old pickup that had the 3 on the tree.
I have stalled the truck once so far since I had to stop quickly and forgot to throw the switch to low gear....

 

Another fuel for a free shower, so you had to pay?
50 gallons gets a shower - or a team shower - which covers both of you.
It does not cost extra.

Grinding gears and stalling the truck is normal when you start out.
It takes some time to get through the gears, especially if you are heavy.
It's not a formula, it's a feel. And it's one that I still have a hard time finding, from time to time.

 

Really?

People get in a lease to get a truck of their own, then find that they have to team or mentor to make enough money.

And then what?
They stress because they went the mentor route, and want every student to be perfect drivers right out of school?


If you mentor, whether you are company or O/O or L/O, you should expect that your truck will have some abuse.

 

You have a point

I dont know, I just see a lot of his situation from a different point of view I guess....