Some more recruiters came by the school today

[Jay B]

I am not going to name the company, but one of the recruiters told us about how they pay the most during the training period.
Quite ingenius I think. Here's how it works:

New guy gets .17 per mile while riding with trainer for a month or so. Doesn't sound like much? Well here's the cool part, that .17 is paid on all the miles the truck makes so it should be 4000-5500 miles per week.

Ummm, excuse me, but if the trainer is in the sleeper when new guy is driving then who the &%$#( is training the new guy?

But wait, it gets better. After new guy gets the OK from the trainer ( How is he evaluated if the trainer slept while new guy drove? I guess if new guy doesn't kill them he gets the OK) he gets teamed up with ANOTHER new guy for 6 months.

Excellent 2 guys with 4 weeks experience each and no real training pushing 40 tons down the road at 65mph.

Is it just me or does this sound like a really bad idea?
All I know for sure is I am going to stay as far away as possible from the white trucks with the blue and red trim.

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

I am not going to name the company, but one of the recruiters told us about how they pay the most during the training period.
Quite ingenius I think. Here's how it works:

New guy gets .17 per mile while riding with trainer for a month or so. Doesn't sound like much? Well here's the cool part, that .17 is paid on all the miles the truck makes so it should be 4000-5500 miles per week.

Ummm, excuse me, but if the trainer is in the sleeper when new guy is driving then who the &%$#( is training the new guy?

But wait, it gets better. After new guy gets the OK from the trainer ( How is he evaluated if the trainer slept while new guy drove? I guess if new guy doesn't kill them he gets the OK) he gets teamed up with ANOTHER new guy for 6 months.

Excellent 2 guys with 4 weeks experience each and no real training pushing 40 tons down the road at 65mph.

Is it just me or does this sound like a really bad idea?
All I know for sure is I am going to stay as far away as possible from the white trucks with the blue and red trim.

What you are going to find is that the MEGA carriers offer training to their drivers as a way to make decent money , And that they do not actually pay the trainers much to train infact most don't actually pay the traniers anything to train at all it is simply the ability to run the student as a second log book doubling the miles ran per week , and in many cases these big companies do not cater to solo drivers it may actually tripple the drivers miles to train as he may have only been getting 1800-2000 as a solo . It is 99% of the time the poor pay that exists in the industry that brings drivers to train in order to make a decent living , And no matter what starter company you go to you will be used as a 2nd log book to make miles . Some drivers will teach you a little better ,and some will claim they are in it to train and not for the $$$ , but there is no way a trainer can roll 6000 miles a week and train ...it's just impossible .

So you will find this scenario of you being used a 2nd log book to be used a cheap team pretty much anywhere you start ,and the only real difference is the color truck you get trained (teamed) in ...So you might as well do it for the most $$$...When I went through "training" at the ...W...I ran like team runnning 3000 miles a week ,and only made a gross payt of $325.00 per week , so what you are being offered is much better than $325.oo .


Oh yeah I also forgot When I trained at the ...W...I got my first paycheck , And realized it was short .02 CPM I called and asked what was up , And I was informed that trainers get .02CPM deducted from ther CPM , because of the "PRIVILAGE" of running all the extra miles . Yep nothing like living in a constant state of sleep deprivation , and worrying about sleeping , because it's very likely you may not wake up at the hands of a new driver making serious mistake . I did get tons of miles however I could count the hours of sleep I got per week on one hand of veteran high school shop teacher .I would have been better rested and safer if I had ran 2 log books or loose leaf as a solo driver .

[Fredog]

I am not going to name the company, but one of the recruiters told us about how they pay the most during the training period.
Quite ingenius I think. Here's how it works:

New guy gets .17 per mile while riding with trainer for a month or so. Doesn't sound like much? Well here's the cool part, that .17 is paid on all the miles the truck makes so it should be 4000-5500 miles per week.

Ummm, excuse me, but if the trainer is in the sleeper when new guy is driving then who the &%$#( is training the new guy?

But wait, it gets better. After new guy gets the OK from the trainer ( How is he evaluated if the trainer slept while new guy drove? I guess if new guy doesn't kill them he gets the OK) he gets teamed up with ANOTHER new guy for 6 months.

Excellent 2 guys with 4 weeks experience each and no real training pushing 40 tons down the road at 65mph.

Is it just me or does this sound like a really bad idea?
All I know for sure is I am going to stay as far away as possible from the white trucks with the blue and red trim.

when I hauled sulfer dioxide, I had to ride with a driver for 2 weeks
( home every night) to learn how to handle it.. they paid me 1/2 of whatever he made, I thought that was a pretty fair deal, I didnt have to drive unless I wanted to and he always paid for lunch.

[Colts Fan]

Oh, you mean Covenant!

[greg3564]

Well, like it or not, "team training" is rule and not the exception. Only a couple companies I know that don't do this, but the majority do.

[zipy46]

Thats puzzling,

What kind of person can crawl in the back of the truck and snooze while

a newbie is driving?

Where is this fellows basic self preservation instinct !!!

[Piece Of Work]

Yep, trainers are crazy. It never ceases to amaze me how complicated these training CDL Puppy Mills make it for new drivers to understand what is really going to happen.

Check out my student Website for some straight info for you.

http://www.conwaytruckload.us/html_pages/student.html

[Colts Fan]

Well, like it or not, "team training" is rule and not the exception. Only a couple companies I know that don't do this, but the majority do.

I know most companies do team training, but Covenant takes it to another level. IF you want to get on with them out of school you have to run team for 6 months before going solo.

[Jay B]

Some of you might have misunderstood me. I am in no way going to drive for those guys. I don't want to sound arrogant or insulting, but I do not have to go with a company like that. I am a second career starter, retired military, perfect DMV, no accidents, never did drugs and no DUIs ever.
There are guys in my class who will have to go with one of the larger companies that aren't picky about how they keep the tires turning because of the above mentioned issues. Some of those guys will probably even be talked into becoming an O/O before they have 6 months on the road and know if it is really the right career for them.

SAFETY FIRST

[Root]

Well, like it or not, "team training" is rule and not the exception. Only a couple companies I know that don't do this, but the majority do.

I hear this and read this enough to believe it. I haven't been in the business long enough or wide enough to unequivocally confirm it, all I have for sure is my own experience..

I 'lost' a career at 49YO. I chose Truckin' as the next step. I went to a Community College driving school for 7 weeks, got a CDL and a PTDI Certificate that belong to no one but me and still have both arms, both legs and my cajones intact. Selected a particular Flatbed Company to go with, after training in vans.. 2 weeks Orientation at HQ, 4 weeks out with a trainer, 1 Finals week back at HQ, and Bammo I'm Solo. Solo now 2.5yrs.

I'll tell you, straight up, I was blessed with an excellent trainer and Home Terminal only about 65 miles from home territory.. We ran hard. But we ran 'together' and did shut it down daily. Except for that hardcore practice o closing eyes n 'zoning out' for maybe 5-15min ONLY in the co-pilot seat, NObody was in the bunk during the 14. This was what I was looking for.. and lucky to find it.
The harder we ran, the more I learned. The more I was 'pushed', the more both 'parties' came to know and deal with my capabilities and limitations.. The more we did, the more of it I wanted for myself. I'm not an overtly Competitive cuss - but I'll "compete with myself" like nobody's business.
And to this day, I still say that I'd do it all over again with that guy. I'd run Team with him any day - but this company doesn't run any team ops.

And it is Skateboarding now, and it's sure enough a different world than vanning or tanker.. And it is a Regional/Dedicated/Locals operation - and while I've had my periods through all 3, (a nicely happenstance born of better Management flexibility with the Driver Talent to pull it off - in other words, not stuck), I'm single/twice divorced and more the personality that could make do with OTR ops. I've done a couple o 500+ mile runs with 2 potty/stretch/LC/PTI stops eating at "The Doorpocket Cafe" along the way, grazing along like the cattle I used to manage in my former career.. And the twisty-turny-twolanes in the dark and fog o Spring and Fall are more home to me than the Super Slab though both have their place in the Route and the Schedule.



Back on Topic, Greg3564, let us add 1 more company that doesn't go about their business in such a dangerous and ludicrous manner.
I will decry and oppose Communism/Socialism until my last breath, but that sweet freedom and prosperity inherent in Capitalism also allows for the greed and the utterly impractical/dangerous practices that are the mark of way too many Trucking Firms, large and small, in the USA.

The Goode Companies are out there, folks.
And unfortunately there seems to be a relationship between those Drivers, present and future, less willing and/or motivated to do a little homework, a little thought and a lot o planning, and those Companies perfectly willing to take every advantage of any individual that will put up with their unbusiness-like Business-as-usual.
As long as one exists, the other will.... To the eventual detriment of all.



Is this how it all ends? The 'Vicious Cycle', the unbelievable Turn-over rates that actually coincide with the Roll-over rates?
Could be. From a statistical standpoint it ain't us Old Guys having or being problems.. And I've met enough Young Guys out there that are 'product of' or at least 'pre-wired' to The Old School that I have high hopes for them, their futures and my own. But on a day-to-day basis I run into way too many Near-misses, hear way too much juvenile whining and attitude and see far too much slipshod securement from poorly-attired younger folk with winch bar or steering wheel in one hand - - and cell phone upside the head in the other.
I'd rather face a bullet comin' at me. I gotchur bullet Right Here..:mrgreen:
Enough bichin'.


In the meantime, it's "Wagons Ho!"
Whole corn for the mules and the road for the taking.
And hind teat for the hindmost....

To be your best, do your best for the doing becomes the Being.

Please tip your bartenders n waitresses, and much obliged for the use o the Hall....

[One]

I never really rode with trainer, but I had 4 y's straight truck experience before... I'd say a couple of weeks with a trainer are plenty- 2 at most, then call with questions.

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

Well, like it or not, "team training" is rule and not the exception. Only a couple companies I know that don't do this, but the majority do.

I know most companies do team training, but Covenant takes it to another level. IF you want to get on with them out of school you have to run team for 6 months before going solo.

Covenant still have that rider policy of 15 yrs or younger only ... :wink:

[gbtrucker]

I am sure that is going to happen to me when I get to the 4 weeks out with Co. driver.

I never could sleep very well in the back seat on vacations with Mom and Dad. One time they left me in the car to go inside the cafe and I woke up and walked in one door and they were walking out the other door. They realized they left me about 10 miles down the road. Probably many times while I was growing up they probably thought they should of kept going.

Anyway if I end up in the sleeper and my trainer is driving I am going to tape my Medical card on my forehead.

And if I wake up and we are stopped I am going to put a note on the steering wheel telling him I am not in the sleeper.

Oh My God, Wait For Me!