Wile E. Mile --

Your little tale of woe isn't well-written, don't flatter yourself. You whine all the time, you offer up snarky commentary, you come across as an ignorant, spoiled child. How old are you?

--What Wolfhound said, especially the part about his boot.
--Speaking of boots, Schneider gave you theirs because you pulled TWO unsafe lane changes, blew off a red light, and copped to an "anxiety attack."
--What part time trucker said.

--You wrote that Anon "admitted" he trains for the money. It was hardly an admission. That's why people train. Welcome to economic reality.
--You found Anon's Jake use to be "annoying." Hey, it's his truck and he's been out here for eight years--maybe he knows something you don't.
--Jakes save brakes. That's why trucks have 'em. Jakes don't "waste" fuel. The Jakes engage when you take your foot off the pedal. There's no ignition. How could that use MORE fuel?
--You chewed raw garlic before getting back into the truck. That was real considerate. What were you thinking?
--You were grinding gears because of an argument THE DAY BEFORE??
--Swift doesn't allow drivers to be in a truck when it's in the shop. Do you know why? At the old Salt Lake terminal in 1997 or 1998, an impatient rookie driver who wanted things done HIS way--a guy like you--
started a truck and just drove it out of the shop. A mechanic was working underneath. The drives rolled over him, smashing both legs. Hence the policy. Sorry that it was an inconvenience for your royal highness.
--"Tight" Wal Mart docks. Man, you don't know what a tight dock is. It took you 20 minutes to get in and you couldn't take a little ribbing? Then you flipped out and couldn't drive. Lighten up.
--In eastern Missouri you performed yet another of your unsafe lane changes. "I could have caused a major accident." Ya think?
--"I spent the morning thinking about how badly I had to go to the bathroom." Real good.
--"I cracked 75 and did five-over on tight turns." You're actually proud of that?
--One night you "almost tipped over." I believe that you believe it.
--On your last day you were doing 60 mph down Cajon Pass. Anon had told you many times to slow down. But you knew better.

Please--don't come back to OTR. You're not mature enough to drive, you're not responsible enough, and you're definitely not tough enough. You had an opportunity to learn a trade and broaden your horizons, but you bailed. I know, I know--it was all Anon's fault. And Swift's. It wasn't yours.

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I hope that all you newbies and trainees-to-be read this thread and absorb its lessons. You're in a trainer's truck for one reason: to learn. Focus on that. Don't obsess, as Wile E. Mile did, about the trainer (his habits, his finances, his shortcomings). Keep your eye on the ball. You don't have to like your trainer and he/she doesn't have to like you, and when your training is over and you're on your own, you'll probably never see him/her again. Bring a sense of personal responsibility to YOUR training. Learn, learn, learn. Ask questions. Be a sponge. Don't decide beforehand that you're going to throw in the towel. Don't decide, as Wile E. Mile did, that everyone and everything had better live up to your expectations. Leave the garlic at home.

The premise, or as it was explained to me....when the jakes are engaged, fuel is not shot off...the timing of the valves is altered using the actual staggering of the fuel detonation to slow the truck. So on flat ground using the jakes is a waste of fuel, but downhill its not, as you would burn fuel in any event. Or so I was told.

When in construction zones and creeping along....I use 1st or 2d gear depending on the speed of the creep of traffic.

I've noticed a slight a slight reduction in fuel mileage with the jakes but not enough to make me stop using them

Wile E Mile I am a former trainer and while you Mentor had a couple quirks he was a decent trainer. However if I had caught you doing 60 MPH down Cajon Pass fully loaded I would have been on the horn to the Saftey and then the Training dept myself regardless if you were getting out of my truck or not that is one hill you do not SCREW WITH. I was a finish trainer meaning I got worst of the worst and you more than likely would have ended up with me and I might have been able to turn you around you also have to listen to your trainer and learn from them. They know more than you do.

[quote="RebelDarlin"]Here ya go, the colors didn't work though

dtryanxpress wrote:

I never read the entire post just to long, but I did read the first 9 days. You know I see several things Anon did wrong, but overall he has tried teaching you basic trucking skills when your behind the wheel. Personally I think you have had an obvious attitude since day one with Anon. By your own admission he paid for your showers and gave you encouragement non stop. You have made fun of him for having a side business and believing in something, made of fun of his fianances his family and his heritage, I think this may be the overall problem here.

I guess what I'm saying what's the deal. No trainer is going to be perferct I guarantee you that, you will find faults with anyone just as everyone will. Hopefully you changed his name and don't use his real town and family names on here, that would be flat out rude. I will read the rest of the post at another time but for now this is my observations.

OK I went back and read the rest. I'm glad your out of trucking and hopefully for good. You admitted that Aanon told you not to go over 65 and not to go over in the turns but you joked about how you did, like your proud. You joked about doing 10 to fast at the top of a mountain and how you overheated the brakes along with following to closely. Get the he!! out of a truck, if this is how you plan to drive, God only knows what you'll be like after a couple years. Your a disgrace to professional trucking. Cry baby!

No tears here.

Going 15 over down Cajon Pass was probably the most dangerous thing I did. Yeah, it wasn't safe, but if I knew how to handle every hill, hit every gear, and clear every turn, I wouldn't be in training! Anon told me to slow down about 1000 feet from the top of the crest, and I followed his directions. Other trucks maintained 10-15 over throughout, and they were desperately applying the brakes to slow down.[/i]

Did you go back to Swift with another trainer?

Yes, and it's worse now.

My new trainer ("Blizzard") is a 27-year veteran: he's driven over two million miles solo (four million as a team), and has been training students since his first month in the industry. He sits in the passenger seat while I drive, and doesn't just retreat to the bunk and go to sleep when the shift is over. Sounds like the perfect mentor, right? Not really....

Blizzard is a Vietnam vet, and he runs his truck like a drill seargent breaks in a group of fresh recruits. He almost never gives positive feedback, but starts yelling when I do something that he considers wrong, like sequentially downshifting to a stop (he wants me to exit the interstate and remain in 8th [top] gear until I reach the limit line, then idle into 1st).

Anecdote: Blizzard and I got into a discussion about why he went into trucking, and midway through he said that any idiot could go into trucking. I asked him what that said about us, and he said we were both idiots, and that he was an idiot for going into the industry in the first place and training bad students (and no, he wasn't referring to me!!) :o

Well just out of curiousity and what not, if you knew Swift trucking would be a horror story, and maybe not the best school to attend to. You could have gone to another school right? Like the pumpkin company supposely has excellent training. But then again look on the bright side, you're only with your trainer for a what a few weeks? or something. then you're on your own, and you will never have to see him again. Most likely lol.

I didn't go to the Swift Academy (and sign a contract for 18 months of indentured servitude), so I wouldn't know. If you look for my thread on pumpkindriver.com, you'll see why I didn't graduate from SNI.
The school I did complete was one of the better ones, though: four weeks of instruction; license fees paid; three free meals each weekday; free housing during the weekdays; advanced instruction on doubles, end-dumps, mixers and flatbeds. Oh the benefits of union membership...

Anyway, I decided to go with Swift (i) because they'll take anybody; (ii) their training pay and benefits are actually slightly better than some of the other megacarriers; (iii) Swift gives you up to a one-month leave-of-absence; (iv) the training pay is reasonable (when the end-of-training bonus is included); and (v) tenure is almost guaranteed (my first mentor taught a student that currently has a total of six preventable accidents. Guess what--she's still an employee!!)