I have to ask...how in the hell does one get by living in a BOX with another stranger for 4-6 weeks?!!!!!
B-R-U-T-A-L

I would love to hear your stories. The good, bad, and uglies of it. How did you cope and get by?
That long a time with a stranger in a sleeper it's a wonder you don't hear more hellish stories.

If you ask me, this has got to be the hardest part of traiing for an OTR job. Ugh.

 

Even though I was gone away from home the entire 6 weeks of my OTR training, the entire time was not spent running around and living 24/7 in the glorified walk-in closet.

My trainer went home a few times for a couple of days off here and there and when he did I got put up in a motel near where he lived.

 

I am pretty new so its fresh in my mind, I went through 3 trainers. all were pretty good, its not like you live with them for weeks at a time. they slept I drove, I slept they drove. then I was with a regional trainer and was put up in a motel over the weekends

 

Ok, this not exactly what I call training. It's been said on here a million times, but I ask the question again... How in the heck can the trainer be doing his or her job if the are in the bunk sleeping???

 

Sorry maybe I miss wrote, All of my trainers did not hit the bunk untill they were 100 % satisified that I was compedent to drive. The trainers sat next to me and evulated my driving before they were satisfied.

after evulation and filling out my drivers hadbook a call was made to the fleet manager for permission to run as a team ....

 

They can't. Most outfits dispatch their newbies\trainers as a team operation and call it "training". Basically the trainer gets the miles while the newbie gets pimped.

I know that Swift, Werner, CR England, Stevens, Central Refrigerated, Prime, CRST, and a whole slew of other dirtbag OTR companies run their training trucks as teams.

Roehl and I believe Schnieder and CFI don't subscribe to this practice. Kudos to them!

 

Add USXpress to the list of companies that has the trainer sitting in the jump seat instead of sleeping.

 

Well putting it that way, I did feel at times as I was making my little $50,00 a day little put out to say the least. I am just a newbe at this and not very educated in the rules. But it seems to me then that trainees should not go otr, but only Local / regional where they can shut down every night ? or the company should not dispatch long huals ?. the trainer gets pressure to deliver on time but has to be with the trainee all the time which means on duty not driving ? which also means that would take away from their driving time ?......

 

Well putting it that way, I did feel at times as I was making my little $50,00 a day little put out to say the least. I am just a newbe at this and not very educated in the rules. But it seems to me then that trainees should not go otr, but only Local / regional where they can shut down every night ? or the company should not dispatch long huals ?. the trainer gets pressure to deliver on time but has to be with the trainee all the time which means on duty not driving ? which also means that would take away from their driving time ?......

 

That depends on the trainer and the dispatcher. I have run with a few so called USX trainers who bragged about doing 5-6000 miles per week with their trainees, and requiring the trainees to drive at least 2500 miles per week from day 1.