Mentors/Trainers/First Driver/OTR training, etc.

[Sadie H]

Hi everyone - I am not sure this is really a topic for "women in trucking" except that I AM a woman and it is a question that I wouldn't likely ask if I weren't.

A little history. I went through SWIFT Driving Academy, got my CDL, have my 2 year DOT card, blah, blah, blah Spring of 2006. I ran 10 days of the 42 required over the road training with my Swift Mentor and then had complications at home with our foster child. Long story short, she got pregnant, my husband was overwhelmed and I had to go home to help handle that mess. She ended up going to another foster home and that situation is over now(FINALLY!!). I want to get back into trucking since it is just hubster and I again (he is a computer programer) and I am doing my "homework" before jumping back in.

I have about a third of the over the road part done but it has been 6 months so I probably will have to (and really need to) just start that part over. What I want to know is what companies do any of you guys(gals?) out there know of that have a great reputation for good Trainers? Obvioulsy, I am not beating Swift's door back down. I could go back there, but to be honest, I had mentor trouble and so did EVERY person in my class that I kept in touch with. I thought it was mainly because I was female, but come to find out the men had just as much if not more mentor trouble than I had.

I just want to learn to run legal, not cook my books, drive smart, not hard, do it RIGHT. I don't want to push so hard that I can't learn along the way and I want to be given the opportunity to do trip planning, input to which loads we accept - you know, just learn it and and learn it all the RIGHT WAY. The entire time that I was out with my Swift guy he just did everything and stuck me over there when he was tired. That wasn't working out so well and even without the catastrophe at home, it wouldn't have yielded me out as a great driver.

Am I dreaming or ar there companies with good trainers/mentors, etc? Any help much appreciated!!

Drive Safe - Thanks to all!!

Sadie H

[Soladad]

I was fortunate and had a good trainer through Roehl. Although I have heard a few stories from a few other lady trainees that they were not as fortuate.

Soladad

[4roses]

Sadie you didn't say what part of the USA your in, but have you checked out CFI ? .... I know for a fact once your hired on .... you will go out with a Finisher for a while. You'll do 100% of the driving and routing and everything else. The Finisher is there to teach you how to do routing and backing, chaining, the paper work that's necessary to cross over to Canada and back ... the Finisher will only sleep when you do. ... Now saying all that - - it's a known fact that not all people in life get along. That's why we have so many different personalities, but if there's a true problem with a Finisher all we have to do is call the office and speak to the person's 'over' the Finishers and they will help to solve any problems. If there's a major problem, then you will be routed to another terminal where you'll be set up with a different Finisher. .... A larger % of the Finishers with CFI have a million miles - accident free under their belt with CFI.

[dieselgrl]

I'm not sure I'm much help as to alternatives to Swift because I completed training through them and then stuck around for two more years. I do understand your problems with them - I myself went through two mentors in a week, and stayed with the third one to the end.

The key to surviving training with Swift is to keep your own wits about you. If you feel unsafe, call back to the terminal and speak to the Driver Services Rep. It's their job to make sure you're ok, and if your concern is a valid safety issue or a personality clash so bad that it makes doing your job a major issue, they should remove you and place you on another truck. My first mentor forgot to tell his wife he might end up with a female student - I never got off the terminal grounds on that truck. The second one tried to get me to put the truck into Georgia overdrive coming down Showshoe mountain in PA in the snow and ice. I removed myself off that truck and was bussed back to my home terminal. The third? Great guy. We got along well, and he taught me more than I realized once I was out on the road on my own. We still keep in touch years later.

While you may not go back to Swift to finish your training, the guidelines are the same regardless of the company. You've got to be strong enough to listen to your intuition and tell someone when you feel unsafe, or unable.

Trust yourself, and you'll be fine with any company you choose in the end.

[Shawnee]

Mentors? Finishers? it all sounds so complicated, all this just to get your CDL?

[shedevil]

Don't feel alone in this I'm going to work for Star Transportation in Jan and will be ASSIGNED a trainer a little nervous about that too, hopefully they are trainers that got that job by being professional wether you are male or female.... keep posting and rest my fears..

[4roses]

Shawnee :
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quote: ... Mentors? Finishers? it all sounds so complicated, all this just to get your CDL?
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no ~ you will have your CDL when you graduate from a Truck Driving school. Getting a CDL license doesn't mean your knowledgeable enough to drive an 80000 pd tractor down a hwy. It only tells others that you've gone to school to learn the basics .... your real training will begin when you get behind the wheel and learn how to drive . Look at it this way ... if you went to school to be an airplane pilot do you think an airline would assign you with a plane and say go drive it? ... you'd go out with a Finisher for a period of time while you fine tuned what you had learned in school ... You'll be Glad that you have a mentor or finisher seating in the jump set as your traveling up and down the big mountains, dodging the traffic in L.A. and when suddenly you have an ice storm start up in front of you.

People will be surprise what they learn each day on the road. Schools are great - - but there's no way they can make a person understand what it's really like setting behind the wheel .... just be sure to carry an extra pair of jeans and some wet wipes ... there will be times they'll be needed.

shedevil :
I personally don't know anyone that's worked for Star ... I was blessed with the Finisher that was assigned to me. When we first met we took some time to visit and answer questions that each of us may of had. ... One of the things I told my Finisher was .... I don't do well with people who 'yell' at me for any reason. ... from that first day on ... there wasn't any yelling .... Just think about ~ whats the best way you learn? ... from someone showing you how to do it ? or someone telling you how to do it? do you need to do something several times before it kicks in ? ... these are things that will help your Finisher understand the best way for you to learn. If a Finisher doesn't do her/his job in a Professional manner and you don't learn ... then their supervisor may need to spend more time training 'them' on how to - train you. I hope that makes sense
There will be times that your gonna think ... :shock: what was I thinking??? Do I really want to do this ??? ... Just remember to tell yourself, each and everyday ... will be a new experience .... It's a good life - just not for everyone thou.

Good luck.

4roses

[Shawnee]

Actually I already have a CDL, for many years now, and I never went to a CDL school and I never had a mentor or a finisher, or a trainer, I rode with another driver for about a week, before I went to do my test for my CDL, he just basically taught me how to drive in a city environment, as I already knew how to drive, back up etc because I was a shunter for that company,

for4roeses you are right about what you learn on the road, I learned from the school of hard knocks, I had to learn everything about the industry pretty much out here on my own, I guess it would have been a bit easier if I had some kind of formal training

I guess I learned the old fashioned way, as a kid straight from the farm, as soon as I was old enough I got my licence and the next day I was driving a truck, drove company truck for a couple of years and bought my own so I guess I have done alright

not everyone has had the same kind of opportunities that I had, and not everyone grew up around trucks like I did, and I know most of your big companies won't hire you unless you have been to CDL school, and taken their training

just trying to compare how other people got their training

Good luck to you all