Mentor Problems

My trainer never woke me up. Then again I slept a LOT less than he did. Also my company does not team train. The trainers are allowed to offset their clock after the first week, but can not run true team.

Oh I agree. There's no reason to do it all the time, but I don't think it's reasonable for a trainee to expect that it will never happen, either. It's not really something you can put on a list of things you won't tolerate. There are preferences, and then there are lines you simply don't cross. Getting a nice, long uninterrupted night of sleep is almost anyone's preference, but it's not going to happen all the time, that's for sure.

Oh ok. Guess I just misunderstood you at first.

Jm, one of my fears when starting this career was that I wouldn't get enough sleep, and/or that not getting sleep in a regular pattern would really bother me.

At first (during training) it really did get to me at times. My trainer woke me up sometimes so I could see something I needed to see or do. Not often, but more than I liked.

And he ran hard. We rarely had a chance to catch our breath during the ten weeks when I was on his truck, and when we did get a weekend off, he wanted me to join in with him and his wife going to movies or shopping or whatever. I just wanted to veg out. He finally figured that out after I told him as much a half dozen times, but it was exhausting.

And then on top of it, he talked a lot and told me personal stuff I really didn't want to know. We are complete opposites on the privacy axis and the introvert/extrovert axis.

I still talk to him pretty regularly over two years later, though. He was the best trainer ever, and he's really likeable. But he drove me nuts during training sometimes.

Try to get through this. 100 hours is what, maybe two more weeks, or a little more? As the others said, it all changes for the better once you get your own truck. This is just the bit you have to get through to get there. Once it's done, you'll rarely think of it unless prompted by a conversation like this.

Jm, one of my fears when starting this career was that I wouldn't get enough sleep, and/or that not getting sleep in a regular pattern would really bother me.

At first (during training) it really did get to me at times. My trainer woke me up sometimes so I could see something I needed to see or do. Not often, but more than I liked.

And he ran hard. We rarely had a chance to catch our breath during the ten weeks when I was on his truck, and when we did get a weekend off, he wanted me to join in with him and his wife going to movies or shopping or whatever. I just wanted to veg out. He finally figured that out after I told him as much a half dozen times, but it was exhausting.

And then on top of it, he talked a lot and told me personal stuff I really didn't want to know. We are complete opposites on the privacy axis and the introvert/extrovert axis.

I still talk to him pretty regularly over two years later, though. He was the best trainer ever, and he's really likeable. But he drove me nuts during training sometimes.

Try to get through this. 100 hours is what, maybe two more weeks, or a little more? As the others said, it all changes for the better once you get your own truck. This is just the bit you have to get through to get there. Once it's done, you'll rarely think of it unless prompted by a conversation like this.

I want to thank you for sharing your experience. I really appreciate the suggestions and tips from everyone.

I'll throw in my 2 cents.

My company doesn't team train so I can't give any insight on that aspect. But IMO, if you don't feel like you'd be safe to drive with only X hours of sleep, then in regards to your safety and the safety of others, you should not be operating ANY vehicle.

I remember starting my 2nd week solo, just about to fall asleep mid afternoon before a 34h reset ended, my DBL called me and assigned me a load that, to be able to make the appt time, had to be started as soon as my 34 ended and he didn't want to spring it on me while I was sleeping and risk not seeing it. This kept me awake the entire rest of the day, I maybe got 1h of sleep.

I started the day at about 2300 iirc, and drove 3 hours for a live unload to a Michael's store. I had to slap myself awake a few times, but I got there safely and, much to my surprise, nailed the back fairly easily. Was a very quick unload so no chance to sleep, had a 2nd delivery another hour away. Again, nailed the back easily. Had about 2 hours waiting for my next assignment so I took that time to get some sleep.

TL;DR, sleep when you can, if you don't feel safe to drive, don't.

I'll throw in my 2 cents.

My company doesn't team train so I can't give any insight on that aspect. But IMO, if you don't feel like you'd be safe to drive with only X hours of sleep, then in regards to your safety and the safety of others, you should not be operating ANY vehicle.

I remember starting my 2nd week solo, just about to fall asleep mid afternoon before a 34h reset ended, my DBL called me and assigned me a load that, to be able to make the appt time, had to be started as soon as my 34 ended and he didn't want to spring it on me while I was sleeping and risk not seeing it. This kept me awake the entire rest of the day, I maybe got 1h of sleep.

I started the day at about 2300 iirc, and drove 3 hours for a live unload to a Michael's store. I had to slap myself awake a few times, but I got there safely and, much to my surprise, nailed the back fairly easily. Was a very quick unload so no chance to sleep, had a 2nd delivery another hour away. Again, nailed the back easily. Had about 2 hours waiting for my next assignment so I took that time to get some sleep.

TL;DR, sleep when you can, if you don't feel safe to drive, don't.

That sounds like me. I can't sleep without a load. I'm so afraid I won't hear it come through.

My FM knows I need it lol.

Hi,

I am new to the forum. I was just wondering, were there no expectations set by the company as to what was expected of the Mentor and what was expected of the Mentee? Example: This is what a Mentor is and this is what a Mentor is Not....guidelines if you will.

Magee

Magee wrote:

Hi,

I am new to the forum. I was just wondering, were there no expectations set by the company as to what was expected of the Mentor and what was expected of the Mentee? Example: This is what a Mentor is and this is what a Mentor is Not....guidelines if you will.

Magee

Welcome to the forum. The short answer is Yes.

For details please read the following links:

Road training

And this:

Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving

Also, check this out from our truck driver's career guide:

Orientation And Training With Your First Company

Well, I guess I'll have to hang up my boots then. I am one of those people who can't go back to sleep when awoken

Trucking takes an incredible amount of flexibility and tolerance and patience. It's rare that someone with rigid views or stringent requirements can tolerate the OTR lifestyle. It kind of sounds like this whole thing might be more than you had bargained for. If you're looking for a lifestyle of consistency, trucking will be a nightmare. You can't really make trucking conform to your preferences. It just isn't that type of job or lifestyle. You have to learn to work within the system, work with the schedules you're given, deal with the traffic and weather and breakdowns, and get the job done day in and day out no matter what it takes.

That's why the failure rate for new drivers is so high. Only a small percentage of people who make an attempt at this industry make it more than a few months. In fact, at company-sponsored programs fewer than half of the people they bring in even manage to get their CDL , and that's the easiest part of the whole journey.

And by the way, you can adapt to these things. Like the whole "I can't go back to sleep once I wake up". Well then you're not tired enough if that's the case! It's something you learn to do. Anyone can do it.

I always tell people that I "sleep like a trucker" because I can fall asleep anytime, anywhere and wake up anytime, anywhere and be at full speed in a matter of minutes. That's one of the things you really have to learn to do if you're going to perform at a high level out there. You have to be an opportunist. You make the most of every opportunity, whether that means grabbing a quick nap in the middle of the afternoon, throwing in a load of laundry in the middle of the night, or grabbing a quick sandwich while you're getting repairs done. You do what you have to do.

Hang in there and give it more time. Remember, this is the toughest time in your trucking career. Once you get to the one year mark you'll have ironed out most of the problems and you'll have adapted to the lifestyle. In the beginning it's really tough for most people. You don't want to quit during the hard part. At least wait until you've been out there long enough to get decent at the job before you decide if it's for you or not.

Re Brett's comment above that fewer than half of company-sponsored training program "students" achieve even the minimum amount of success, i.e. only half succeed in getting their CDL... I believe that speaks much more about the quality of the programs than it does about the students.

Think about it... what other training program, school, educational environment, etc. could have that dismal a record and yet continue to operate without being redesigned? The simple fact of the matter is either the program's design is seriously flawed, its implementation is horrible and/or the admissions process is admitting people that are not suitable to/for the program.

Some percentage of failure is to be expected and is typically, perfectly, acceptable in any endeavor. But, fifty percent!... come now, certainly this industry can do better than that. So... Why don't they?

Why hasn't/doesn't the industry correct the situation? Well, it seems to me, there are only two possibilities. One... they are not capable of recognizing and correcting the problems, i.e. they are just plain stupid. Or two, the companies believe it makes more business sense to live with the failures, than to make the necessary adjustments to improve the situation.

No one can make the case that the trucking industry's major players are just plain stupid. So, it must be that a simple business decision has been made to accept the status-quo.