well thanks for the kind words. I've actually tried the training thing out twice and went down in flames both times. The first guy had absolutely no business whatsoever driving trucks. Nice enough guy, but he just couldn't comprehend the basic skills needed to swing 53 feet of trailer into where it needed to be. To his credit, he tried, but he just didn't have it in him. I told the fleet manager he couldn't drive and thankfully he took my word on it. The second guy would have been ok because he had the driving skills down, he just couldn't get used to the lifestyle that comes with this job. He liked hanging around the truckstops, but didn't like anything else. After 4 weeks with him, I told them I didn't see it happening but they turned him loose and he lasted exactly 3 days. Abandoned his truck at a Truckstop in Virginia to boot. The thing I noticed with the second dude was that, besides him being a a-hole, I didn't like the invasion of my space. I found that I don't like sharing. LOL. I've got my little world behind the seat where everything has a place and a purpose. I don't like reaching into a cabinet to pull out a plate and grab ahold to someone else's drawers instead. I don't like trying to put coke zeros in my fridge to find out he's got 8 pounds of lunch meat in there. It's not that I don't like people, it's just that I like people in their own space. In order for me to live comfortably in this world, I just ask for the space in this truck. Everybody else can have what's left in the world. So, in short, if you told me I had to train someone, I would say I'll train anybody you want as long as we can set him and his stuff up somewhere in the trailer.
sometimes you just have to cheerfully remind folks that you are out of hours. Now here's where the communication skills come in. Don't just say " I'm out of hours and can't take it" and nothing else. Instead of telling someone what you cant or won't do and nothing else, tell them what you can't or won't do and follow it up with what you can or will do. The best advice about talking to folks I ever got was to never tell people what you think they want to hear, you just tell them HOW they want to hear it. Know what I mean?
Yep. He posted the same thing on my thread verbatim. Thought it odd that he didn't even change the "7 posts" statement. Talk about lazy. I was thinking the same thing. Words to live (or drive) by. I agree.
Just giving you a update. Have three days left in academy. All I can say is be prepared for your classmates to hinder your class progress with stupid questions and inability to comprehend basic driving skills. Also be prepared for your class to grow and take you're drive time away because swift gives them so many chances rather then telling them they are not going to make it. Sorry had to vent, but besides that we have some good instructors , our CDL test is Thursday.
Easy, good luck testing out bro! After that the fun begins with your mentor, lol. Well, after orientation of course. I hope I have good classmates that I can learn with. I certainly hope I don't have any that are know it all's, and that are constantly trying to tell the rest of us how things should be done, lol. Good luck again.
