yeah, the lack of sleep there for a couple of days was not good. I am certainly not whining about it, but am trying to be open and honest so oth newbies reading this thread know what to expect. Trucking is a tough business sometimes!
I really did luck out in getting the mentor that I did. One of the first things he told me is that there are no rules on his truck. I am pretty much free to do whatever I want. He has given me nearly 1/2 of the available storage space on the truck, I can listen to whatever radio station I want to, and can get up and start driving whenever I want(if we don't have a morning delivery to make). I am more of a morning person, so I get up between 6-8am and drive til my hours are up or I get too drowsy to continue. He then takes over and drives about 7-9 hours. In theory, we would both be getting enough sleep. Again, this is trucking and the reality is that you will only get 4-6 hours sleep sometimes...
Stay safe out there, and enjoy the Superbowl!
Tapeworm is starting at Swift on Monday!
Discussion in 'Swift' started by Tapeworm, Jan 8, 2011.
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Nice to see someone else having fun out there with his mentor, I did too.
Sounds like you are doing great, Tapeworm, keep it up!
I completed training a couple weeks ago and am now waiting to be assigned a truck, which I am told might take a couple weeks. Plus, I was held up for about a week because I failed a portion of my road test and had to come back in for some extra backing training.
A word of advice... Don't be upset if they think you need more training. It really was just what I needed, as my mentor was not the best at explaining things - especially with backing. He tended to direct my movements, instead of explaining how the tractor/trailer would move, and would start yelling when I did something too slow or in the wrong direction (which was all the more frustrating when he would get left and right mixed up
).
The instructor (James, at Fontana) teaches in just the way I need to learn, and I did everything right after just a few hours with him. (I was scheduled for two days training, but I passed after the first)
He showed me just how far out to be when I start my setup, where to have the drive wheels when I begin, exactly where and when to 'get out and look', how to make small (non-snaking) corrections, etc..
Personally, I think every new driver should go through that training - as should every mentor.
The actual name of the training is:
Local Close Quarter Training Program
And if you (or anyone) are able to get James at Fontana, or someone else as good, I would highly recommend requesting the training once you finish your mentoring. You'd be surprised at how much it can help. -
Glad to read that your training is going well!
Just cuz your line is drawn down to Line 2 does NOT mean that you're getting any sleep! Ask my wife; there were times we couldn't get any sleep due to bumpy awful roads. We'd each get our 10 hours (appx 500+ miles) drive time in before hitting the sleeper. At times, it could be 2 days before she'd get any sleep. Ouch.
Although I don't regret our team driving experiences from many years ago, I made the decision after that that if I went back OTR, it would be purely as a solo. I've never regretted that for a moment. There are some who couldn't imagine anything but teaming, but I've found that it's just not for us anymore.Last edited: Feb 19, 2011
spuddatruckdriver, Giggles the Original and Tapeworm Thank this. -
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