What qualifies a trainer?

Especially when they take a green driver and make them a trainer...

 

Swift used to assign drivers as trainers who had 6 months total driving experience. They call them "mentors" now I guess because they really can't call them trainers.

 

To many of these training companies have rookies training rookies. Drives with 6-12 mos exp. training new people. It takes a full year to find out if you even like this job and 3-5 yrs before you know enough to teach anyone else. The Feds like to make rules. They should have one that states that no one can be a trainer/mentor with less then 5 yrs driving exp running 48 states. Oh and companies are calling they "Mentors" now because it relives them of any insurance problems for having "trained " you.

 

The cheaper companies will have the trainers that they do not care if they train correctly or not. That's just the bottom line. CDL schools are there to get the student his or her CDL. The trainer is there to teach the company procedures. Driving the truck defensively and safely gets lost along the way.

I've said for awhile now that driver trainers sould be required to have a driver trainer endorsement on their CDL. They should get paid more all the time because they would need to know more all the time. They would be required to have a clean record and 5 to 10 years experience. Then the companies should be audited to make sure their safety program is at work. If a good driver does not want to train then they don't have to get the endorsement.

Our driver trainers are responsible for all of us. We sit down once a month and discuss close calls and other situations that might be a problem. Never have any of this information been used against a driver so everyone feels free to talk. The system works along with the Smith System that I believe every driver should follow.

 

My trainer was great and had over 25 yrs in seat. At GTI we had to complete a "block" system that covered certain things each week we were out. If you didn't complete block 4, and your trainer doesn't sign it off, you didn't go on to 5...and so on. Great system and it works very well. After you get off the truck, you go thru a test drive with safety and then you can go solo. I know there are people who fail the last drive test after 4-5 weeks in a trainers truck...that's pretty tough. Some co's advertise that you can become a trainer after only 3 months....that's just crazy. I had some questions after i went solo but nothing major and just kept on truckin...

 

TMC was good for this. I got into shouting matches with many trainers at shippers recievers and truck stops for being... Less than savory characters toward their trainee's.

It takes a little longer, but they need to be taught by someone whos patient and will explain things to them. Not some douche yelling and hollaring because they don't already know everything, right out of driving school.

 

Sounds like the douche that trained me at DTI...

 

You hit the nail on the head for me! I would hear seasoned drivers talk about the predicaments they found themselves in,or bad experiences that happened to them. I went through a lot of the same things and realized its just part of trucking...and not beat myself up so bad about it.

 

I started with dti had 2 trainers in 5 weeks both had over 5 years experience but I only backed up 3 times never scaled a load basically all I did was drive and fuel. my first one picked me up at portage because he was on nycon run to slc and his wife got off the truck for a few weeks. the 2nd one was about 6'5" and 500lbs and a pig all he did was complain about the company and he quit shortly after I upgraded. bounty hunter and ghostrider.. both named john...lol

 

Your trainer failed the man.

When I was up to become trainer, 7 seperate officers had to evaluate me, shop, safety, operations etc and then sign to approve. All 7 had to sign.

And then I was issued a student. And a large book set with a very specific program extending over several months to turn trainee into a approved company hire. This book included very specific things that have to be taught and demonstrated retained by the trainee. Example straight line backing. Left side backing to dock, blind side backing to dock etc etc etc etc etc.

In my situation this student was my spouse. Oh boy. This would be good or not so good. I told her that I will teach her by the book, but by the end of this we will either be trained or divorced. She was a very good girl. I did discover issues with her which was talked over with the officers. They hired anyway with the understanding that she is a team with me by then and we were to do a specific task with that truck.

And boy did we ever. Was she a trucker? hell Yes. But was she a GOOD trucker to give her a semi and not see her for 6 months? Hell no.

It would not be the first person, nor the last I will see in a 18 wheeler over my years. Road tripping a student or training someone, I fall back onto MY instructors and how THEY trained me. All of which had good things and bad things. I tried to keep the bad things from reaching my students.

Then I find out I get to keep a few of those students, rest of them sent home for this or that or something else. Sheesh. Once in a while something comes up like hitting roanoke computer scales at exactly 30 mph. Not 29 not 31 3-0. You will find it in that student to hit at 30 the good ones. The rest splash all over there and we get inspected for our trouble. Or tumble into a Mississippi scale at 15 from 70 before hitting the platform 10 feet after that. Papers please. Does that make me a bad trainer? Louisana did that once to me and my wife. Made both of us question our parentage then question our existance on "Thier highway"

Sometimes I wonder.

You gotta take it with a grain of salt. The trainer is there to help. Not bully, terrorize or destroy. If there is something horrible inside you being trained it will be discovered and that will be that. Don't worry about that.

Just do your best.