Trainers!!! How long before one should be a trainer

We have a ton of CDL drivers mostly due to the mills. How many make it 1 year? And how many of those that leave would come back if paid well?
Yes, many went local. But most get out of a truck with a bad taste in their mouth.
I agree that it is not the large carriers driving down the rates. They keep them down some on contract freight. But on average contract freight is higher than spot market broker freight.
The 80-20 is an agreed number that both OOIDA and ATA agree on. Oh, and FMCSA

Going independent will really depend on where you live and the lanes you want to run. You always want to have at least 1 contract lane set up for an outbound. Then you need to either find a load back on the spot market or in a contract. Living 100% on brokers is not a good idea in a lasting business model. It is possible. But not the best bet on consistent freight.

 

I'd love to go independent, and I would try to live on broker freight, since I live pretty cheaply, I don't need a large personal salary, but I would definitely try to get contract freight from a shipper going outbound. I'd really like to know how some of you independents have acquired contract freight going outbound, and all the details, but that belongs in another thread I suppose.

 

Salesmanship.

 

I voted for certification.
I don't care if you have done it for 50 years , you need to be a teacher to teach. Way too many horror stories and such about slobs and unsafe animals training people and often just running them off the entire industry.

It is a real shame that things in this industry that really need and require certification and government oversight are ignored. They often times don't even want to be bothered with actually issuing the CDL and just let the schools do the testing etc for the states. I am no fan of government but it has it's place.

There at the very least should be regulations against using students and such as team drivers and calling it training. Schools should not issue the CDL and instead a journeyman or similar type of license should be issued until final certification that would disallow using newbies as teams.

 

Schools do not "issue" CDLs

 

Trainers with only a few short months of exp themselves is like the blind leading the blind and then companies wonder why so many accidents.Only thing I can figure out why little exp to be a trainer is because companies are short of trainers and/or they make a killing off students so hurry up and get a driver certified to be a trainer so we can use the students for the miles and pay them povety wages.I think one should have at least a yr exp to be a trainer.I don't know if having your state certify you would be the way to go,just make it into law that you can not be a trainer untill you have a yrs exp nationwide.

 

You have to remember that when a driver with a company trainer that it has nothing to do with licensing. By the time they go out with a trainer they have already had their 7-14 day school, passed the CDL test, and for all legal purposes they are just as legal of a licensed driver as anyone else.
The training they get while out with a company trainer is just something that the company does on it's own. There is no regulation that says they have too.
This is what really needs to change, and what the FMCSA is looking into with that regulation. The actual training needed to get the license.
The company team thing is all after they are a fully licensed CDL holder.

 

Well, back in the early 70`s I never heard of a Truck Driving School, NEVER. My Opinion, 2.5 years driving, NO, YOU have no clue yet, NONE. Im not giving in to this at all, My opinion, 2.5 years driving too train someone, when yourself, has no experience. NONE, period. I might be harsh on this, but If I was out of a truck, lets say 5 years and wanted to get back in, and a company said, you have to take these so called Refresher courses, and you walked up to me and said "Im your new trainer", and found out you have 2.5 years driving. I probably would curse at you for 1.5 minutes and not use the same curse word twice in that time, and walk away, flipping you off, and the whole company. Ill be honest with you, and nothing personal toward you or anyone, But this would boil my blood, I worked too darn hard my WHOLE life for someone that has 2.5 years to show me how to drive again. NEVER gonna happen. PERIOD. Now Again, vinsanity, its nothing against you personally, But I have a LOT of pride, and all the s)(!t I went through in 38 years of driving. Maybe way too much pride, but I earned it. vinsanity, your probably a great person, and have a lot going for you and wish you the best of luck, But I could just not do this anymore, if I had to start all over. You have to put yourself in my place, I spent my whole life driving 38 years, In Chicago land, Probably shortened my lifespan, by 10 years, the way I feel inside, I just could not take it.

 

You know, I just posted above and Im sorry if I offended anyone, but right now my whole body is shaking, my nerves are a wreck. Cant believe this, I think my blood pressure went through the roof.

 

Just my two cents. It has been over a decade since I have driven, and now find myself putting in the apps for trucking companies. Economy is what it is. I did not have the greatest training, and not expecting to get even good training for the few companies offering the refresher courses. I think if someone had at least (under the right circumstances) two years under their belt that person could make a good trainer. Not a great one, but it would be an improvement over people with less than a year training people with almost the same amount of experience coming right out of school. I also think training should take a minimum of six months. Start out in the summer to learn when the weather is decent to good, and finish after winter. Get the first chaining experience while with a trainer that has actually done it a few times.