Personally, you can't possibly be much worse than some of the "trainers" TransAm has. And at least you'll get decent miles that way, as they appear to not want to make it look bad to the "newbies". That and you have at least 3 months more experience than some of them!

Just a note...they can and will release you at some point to drive team, probably for the last week. With being forced dispatch, you're going to be up a creek if you don't at least have both of you drive at that point. They will be dispatching team loads at that point.

I know I'm going against the grain, but congrats. I really hope it works out well for you and helps solve at least a few of your issues.

 

 

Take this grain of advice from a former trainer also. I got the rejects at my last company. I was literally the last hope these drivers had to make it as a driver and they were told by both the Saftey director and the Personal Director if he says you will not make it you are done here. DO not be afarid to tell a trainee that they do not have the right temperment and attitude to be a truck diver. I had one that said as soon as we got in the truck Now I can Run over 4 Wheelers. Needless to say I threw his ass right out then and there. Next one was popping Nitroglycrene tablets like candy and somehow had slipped it passed the Doctor for the physical. he did not make it out of the yard. I flunked 80% of all of my students simply because I knew they were not cut out to drive a truck by there attitudes. Regardless of how bad of a sob story they tell you stick to your gut and guns and if thant says they will not make it wash them out and maybe save someones life.

 

Just what I expected from you. You refuse to learn your lessons. After months of being told to stay away from CR England what do you do? You go ahead and work there anyways. And guess what? YOU FAILED just like you were told you would. You who had never driven a truck before thought you knew more than drivers with years of experience and you always had some sort of counter to every argument thrown your way. Well guess what you are going to fail at this as well. Why? Because you are like a little kid who thinks they know it all. You refuse to take advice and listen to others who know far more than you will ever know. I used to have a smidgen of sympathy for your situation but no more.

One last word of advice. Play it smart. If a trainee asks you how much experience you have LIE, because if I was assigned to you and found out how GREEN you were I'd bail out of that truck no matter where it was.
You are a fool Spencerian a complete and total fool. I just hope it doesn't get somebody killed.

 

No. I am educated, and that creates a problem. When I was asking about CR England NOONE that had actually driven for them could chime in. It was all stories of "my brothers girlfriends, cousins, moms, ex husband".

This happens all the time in trucking. It is a profession you have abided with. How many green horn trainers are there out there? Several.

 

I don't give a rip if you backed the truck up the whole 6 months you 'claim' to have driven. You're still a green horn newbie to this industry!
And yes I have trained, but that makes no difference because it takes years until you get a grip on this business.

I have been driving for 28 years and I it took about 10 years to get some understanding of this business. Least enough understanding that I wouldn’t teach some newbie my bad newbie habits.

And you pointed out that you haven’t a clue since you think one month in the winter, one trip down two different mountains qualifies you as an experienced driver. You disqualified yourself once you thought doing something once made you an driver.

I’ll let you in on something that you won’t be able to understand today.
OK?
Several years form now you’ll understand why you need training. And why someone with less then 6 months of experience is just a wet behind the ears greenhorn.

BTW: Your waterhead comment (whatever a waterhead is) just shows your immaturity! Your CB truck stop slang shows you need to grow up punk.

And if and when you become a trainer I am sending your posts to the company you work for. Even though they more then likely are too hard-up to look for qualified drivers. Least when you kill someone they can’t say they weren’t warned about your immaturity.

 

Spencerain;

I know I've razzed you more than a little bit, but seriously, I think that there is considerable truth to the hazards you will be facing as a trainer.

I was luckey; the company I drove for ran us as a team, (which,IMO, should not be allowed until a trainee has at least a few weeks under his/her belt), but my trainer was either driving or in the jump seat the vast majority of the time. I don't remember exactly, but I know that for the first three days, he got less than 12 hours of sleep.

Not a good idea either, IMO, but he did have about 30 yrs. of experience under his belt.

Trans-Am is not offering you this training positionbecause they want to keep you; they are doing this to have very cheap labor running their truck non-stop.

Think about it carefully, Spencerain!! You have a wife & children. Trans-Am does not deem to care much about you, much less your family. but your family may pay a very high price if things go too terribly wrong!!

 

Not me...because I wouldn't get in the truck with him in the first place. I'm finding out how much experiance my trainer has BEFORE I get in the truck with 'em. And if they tell me he has only 6 months OTR experiance, i'm telling them to find me someone else. You do what you want spencerian...it sounds like you are no matter what anyone tells you here...but IMO, I sure wouldn't want someone with only 6 months OTR experiance to be my trainer. Besides, you say you have been with TransAm for only 3 of those 6 months? How can you teach someone the in's and out's of a particular company, which you are relatively new to yourself? I would like to Thank You for one thing though, you just gave me another reason NOT to drive for TransAm :wink:

 

Thanks Useless. That was the best post you have ever made in reply to one of my posts. I have thought about it seriously.

The main reason I want to do this is to give trainees a better experience than I had (or read about). It's not about money, miles, or retention for me.

I know I don't know all there is to know. But I know I can also teach more than I was taught. All I learned from my training was that drivers can be moody, stamina takes some time, trainers are greedy, trainers seem lazy, how to log by the miles.

I was never taught tandem sliding, PROPER logging, safe hill/mountain descent, trailer offtracking, and many other facets of driving a truck. Of course how could they when they were asleep? These were all things I learned on my own, or researched.

I am aware that TransAm may want me to be a cheap team, and if that happens I simply will go to safety. I have called and talked to the training department. they assured me it was MY CALL if I drive as a team. I was told it was completely up to the "coach". If it is contrary to what I am being told then I will remedy the situation by any means.

I do have a wife and kids. They are important to me. For that matter I must feel secure before I let a student drive with or without me in the sleeper.

 

How the hell can you give a trainee a better experience than you had when you have no experience yourself? At this stage of your trucking career you have about 10% of the knowledge you need in order to make this a successful go of it. All you know how to do is hold a steering wheel!!!!!!!!! You have to be one arrogant S.O.B. if you really think you can be an effective trainer.

Ask yourself this one question: Do you really think that you can provide a trainee with all the tools he needs so that when he gets his own truck he won't get himself or somebody else killed? Do you? This isn't just about you, you will be responsible for the life of someone else not only while they are on your truck but once they get their own truck as well. You think you can handle that responsibility? I don't. Nothing you have posted to this board makes me believe that you are anything but a self-centered egotist who thinks the whole world should stop what its doing just to listen to you. I pity any person who has the misfortune of getting you as a trainer.