Truck Driving Jobs

stanger35120 · Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 88 Location: ohio

is the best way to train new drivers running team??? or trainer stays in jumpseat the whole time??? i think it would be the trainer stays in the jumpseat the whole time... how about y'all :rock:

Uturn2001 · Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:56 am Post subject:

IMHO the only way to train is for the trainer to be awake and alert and there is no way to do that running team miles. During the last week of training the trainer could go to the sleeper to give the trainee more of a sense of being in charge of the truck, but still needs to be awake and ready at a seconds notice.

ken_o · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 667

is that a trick question every one learns differently no one set way. hopefully at least theirs is an experienced trainer to guide you through the process who is patient and knowlageble.

navguy05 · Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 88

Trainers are supposed to be there to train, not suck up the trainees miles like a team operation. My first trainer was getting paid all the miles to the truck and trainers pay on top. After the first couple of days in the truck, he says "wake me if you run into any problems." and crawls in the bunk. I said "if I run into any problems, you might not wake up." Then he'd jump my a$$ if I didn't get as far as he thought I should or asked a question he thought I should already know the answer to. I told the company but he was one of their "top" trainers, so they blew me off. One day at the home terminal, he threatened to hit me with a tire billy (to equalize the size difference between me and him he said) in front of some other drivers. I told him I'd break both his arms and he'd be eating from a tube the rest of his short life, he had the gall to try get me kicked off his truck as being untrainable. I ended up with a new trainer and he got fired. Sorry about the rant, I just have my own ideas about what a "trainer" should and shouldn't do.

Fozzy · Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 2460

The problem here is that EVERYONE knows the answer to this question. The OTHER problem is that no one can admit that its the "FREE TRAINING" aspect that has caused most if not all of this. These companies have just decided to use the training funnel, they pour litterally thousands of people into the funnel, if a couple of drivers plop out of the end they are just as well off. The company wins whether or not the student driver quits or stays. They get a FREE team to make team runs for litterally HALF of what a regular team gets and if the student quits they do not have tp pay for the training. They have also convinced other drivers who are starving to death that the "only way" to make more money is to become a trainer.... what a great way to pick the best drivers for trainers.

GMAN · Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Posts: 9398 Location: Tennessee

The only way to learn to drive a truck is to sit behind the wheel. A good trainer should be able to talk you through most any situation, but allow you to do the work. Hands on the the best teacher. These guys who get in the sleeper with a new inexperienced driver need their heads examined. :shock:

emmysdad1 · Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 9

The trainers who are in it for the money need to do something else. I train because I like having someone on the truck for company and I enjoy helping people. I also feel that trainers should have to demonstrate some level of knowledge and ability to explain things in order to be a trainer. I have only been training foir a few months but I do it because I want to, its not a money thing

Windwalker · Joined: 22 Oct 2005 Posts: 2822 Location: Holiday, FL

I've been a trainer.

Think about it. Who does the training if the "trainer" is sleeping? It's the job of the trainer to coach the trainee. I've never learned how to do that by sleeping. If you don't have your eyes open, you don't see when the trainee makes a mistake and it does not get corrected without damage to property and other things. I have split the driving, but I really burned up the hours because I was up for both shifts. Running team is NOT training.

Windwalker · Joined: 22 Oct 2005 Posts: 2822 Location: Holiday, FL

navguy05 wrote: Trainers are supposed to be there to train, not suck up the trainees miles like a team operation. My first trainer was getting paid all the miles to the truck and trainers pay on top. After the first couple of days in the truck, he says "wake me if you run into any problems." and crawls in the bunk. I said "if I run into any problems, you might not wake up." Then he'd jump my a$$ if I didn't get as far as he thought I should or asked a question he thought I should already know the answer to. I told the company but he was one of their "top" trainers, so they blew me off. One day at the home terminal, he threatened to hit me with a tire billy (to equalize the size difference between me and him he said) in front of some other drivers. I told him I'd break both his arms and he'd be eating from a tube the rest of his short life, he had the gall to try get me kicked off his truck as being untrainable. I ended up with a new trainer and he got fired. Sorry about the rant, I just have my own ideas about what a "trainer" should and shouldn't do.

May I ask... WHAT MADE YOU WAIT THAT LONG?????

Fozzy · Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 2460

Windwalker wrote: I've been a trainer.

Think about it. Who does the training if the "trainer" is sleeping? It's the job of the trainer to coach the trainee. I've never learned how to do that by sleeping. If you don't have your eyes open, you don't see when the trainee makes a mistake and it does not get corrected without damage to property and other things. I have split the driving, but I really burned up the hours because I was up for both shifts. Running team is NOT training.

I was a trainer for quite a few years. The first time was for a propane hauling outfit in California. First OTR training was for a fleet out of Omaha It wasn't bad at all. I was not really prepared that well to train people to drive in that climate, but I trained people in the military and to scuba dive in the civilian world. I then trained for a medium sized fleet out of Green Bay. It was the BEST that I ever worked for. They actually spent money to train the trainers and absorbed the costs to train their new drivers. We did NOT team drive AT ALL! All runs were solo runs and the students were ready to roll in 3-4 weeks od REAL training. By the third week they had accomplished everything that they would experience with the loads that we hauled and the areas' we ran. If the student was having problems (backing normally), they were sent to run with the local trainer in the Milwaukee-Chicago area. The trainers were all sent to the 40 hour train the instructor course before being allowed to train anyone. I went to the trucking school after that and became a third party examiner for the state later. I got spoiled to being able to train. I went back to the big fleet out of Omaha and tried to train there again. It was extremely dissapointing to say the least. When the two week window is up, they basically demand that you run as a full team. I will not run as a team with a student period. I just simply got tired of trying to train in that silly situation. It's their loss :P

navguy05 · Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 88

Windtalker, That was 1995 and I was young, new to trucking, wanted to learn everything I could and didn't want to make alot of waves. Now, I'm old, cranky, and have SOME experience. I say some because I still try to learn something everyday. One thing that guy did do for me was taught me how not to train people. Even a bad situation can turn into a valuable tool for later on. I took what he did to me and turned it around when I was instructing at a driving school.

stanger35120 · Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 88 Location: ohio

ok now that we got quite a few opinions in the poll....now let me ask this ...if team driving is not a very effective means of training why is it carriers are allowed to do it....i too think it probly is not a good way to train....but sadly i beleive i will soon be taught this way :sad: :roll:

Fozzy · Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 2460

stanger35120 wrote: ok now that we got quite a few opinions in the poll....now let me ask this ...if team driving is not a very effective means of training why is it carriers are allowed to do it....i too think it probly is not a good way to train....but sadly i beleive i will soon be taught this way :sad: :roll:

"Allowed" doesn''t even enter the picture, the mega carriers have decided to do this to recoup the money that they have spent on this idiotic tuition reimbursement scam. Ask yourself if you'd be satisfied if your children were taught this way. The teacher enters the classroom. piles some books on a desk and then goes to the back of the classroom and sleeps. and of course we'd have to add that the the classroom were moving down the higway at 60+

redsfan · Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:37 am Post subject:

I would have to agree with Fozzy, Windwalker and GMAN on this. I have never been a trainer in the trucking industry and I may never be, but I have been a manager for several years and even taught a few computer classes. What I've found is that people learn by not only hands-on, but hands-on with guidance. If the person who is supposed to be there for guidance is sleeping I fail to see how that is beneficial to the trainee. I can see, however, how the team miles would benefit the company. Unless the trainee is going on to team trucking environment, what could he possibly learn from the trainer sleeping?

RockyMtnProDriver · Joined: 12 Jun 2005 Posts: 1558 Location: Cranbrook BC

GMAN wrote: The only way to learn to drive a truck is to sit behind the wheel. A good trainer should be able to talk you through most any situation, but allow you to do the work. Hands on the the best teacher. These guys who get in the sleeper with a new inexperienced driver need their heads examined. :shock:

I agree. Although some things can be shown in demonstrations, it is best to learn behind the wheel.

For those that do not know of me, I have taught at least 200 people how to drive Tractor/Trailers.

GMAN. They do examine their heads, as well as their bodies. They do it at the morgue and the examinations are called autopsy's.

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