What to expect from your trainer?

I'm starting my 11th month with Swift. I have 5 more months experience than my trainer had when I got on his truck. I have 4 months more experience than he has presently. He quit driving a month later when his next student wouldn't run like me and he wasn't making any money.

That's pretty much what you can expect. Either someone with zero experience or someone who has been driving for 30 years that is like a trucker version of Al Bundy, always reliving their glory days and unable to adapt to the present reality of elogs and flipflops. Either you'll get a total newbie or a guy who is convinced trucking was safer when guys ran 3000 miles on cat naps and speed, while running around scales and keeping 3 logbooks.

Good luck. Just take your time and don't hit anything. Your real training begins when you get your own truck.

 

Redrover....you could be more wrong but not by much. Great bunch of misplaced generalizations there young man. A trainee could get a guy with 25 years who runs just as many miles on an elog as they ever did on paper, but still thinks it isn't the governments place to mandate what should be a capitalist business decision. They could get a trainer who in 25 years has never wrecked a truck, and would like to help a trainee learn to do the same thing. They could get a trainer who has done stuff like ask the company for a shorter load (losing money) so a trainee could visit family in Denver just to have the trainee show up at the truck 6 hrs late, and then try to start a fight with you when you ask where the heck he has been. They could get a trainer who likes to take a shower every 24-36 hrs and didn't understand why the trainee wore coveralls every minute of every day while stinking up my truck refusing to shower and then complaining about the heater being on in January when he was wearing said stinking coveralls for 8 hours driving. They could get a trainer who's younger brother was killed on January 11th, 1989 by one of those catnapping pill popping drivers who thought a load of darned shoes needed to be delivered 12 hours early in Kansas City by driving up U.S. 71 in excess of 80mph and hitting a car 2 20 yo kids where simply going home from work in. The generalizations arent fair or accurate. Have a Good day.

 

To be fair, bad trainees is to be expected. Bad trainers should not be something that someone should have to expect or tolerate.

 

Does not matter how many years a trainer has been driving . Not all drivers are cut out for teaching , hell even basic human interaction. It's like rolling the dice .

 

here's my 2 cents, which isn't worth much, but I think choosing the right company is really important in figuring into whether you get a good trainer. If you choose a company that has you team drive with a trainer, well, how much are you really gonna learn if he's in the sleeper all the time. My husband chose a smaller company with just 1 (I think) trainer for his division. He had to wait about 3 weeks to start but his training was excellent.

Good luck

 

I agree entirely. Trainers should be professional. Absolutely. But my point was more towards the opinion of some people that all trainers are bad. It is just assumed we are all in it just for the money, blah blah blah. I am not perfect. Not even close. But I do try really hard to make sure the new guys entrusted to me get a good start and know what they need to know before getting out on their own. And there are lots and lots of trainers just like me. So it just irks me a little to hear the trainer bashing that goes on from some of the fellers that post on here. I didn't intend to insult anyone on here directly and if I did, I apologize.

 

I definitely understand where you are coming from. There does seem to be a lot of stereotyping of all trainers as just being in it to get some free miles, or all trainers being worthless slobs who crap their pants and such.

Honestly I have no idea how many good there are vs how many bad. I've never worked for a mega or been with a real trainer. But even if a good sized majority of trainers are the bad sort, I imagine the constant dumping on trainers can be frustrating.

 

Most trainers are out for the miles and money. Some actually want to train you correctly.

Going into the winter months is how I started.
We had a couple chain up moments. Once he hired someone to help.

My advice is this...
If you have to chain up - shut down before you need to.
No load is worth the risk to yourself or others on the road.
I have seen too many trucks in the ditch or into other cars and trucks in those conditions.
And if you crash the truck, it will ALWAYS be a preventable accident!
!!! Period.
And it will always be your fault.

You are in control of your truck, and you can see the conditions that you are headed in to.
If you decide to push through, you are responsible for the results - good or bad.

If you send a message that you are 'shutting down because of unsafe conditions to drive', they will have no choice but to adhere to your determination of the situation.

 

What I would expect from a trainer...I expect him o teach me the mechanics of trucking. Not teach me how to drive. IMO, a person should already know how to drive (navigate through traffic and read and comprehend road signs). If a student gets in the truck and tailgates his first time behind the wheel, they should put him out. He should know better. Trainers shouldn't be teaching things like following distance. Run a redlight and speed through school zones...out.

Trainers shouldn't have to teach the basics, they should be able to concentrate on all those little details that will make a student a polished professional.

 

A mixed bag.