I Need Clarification.. I Wanna Know

Reaper, you are suffering from the end of TNT syndrome. That's the point where trainer and trainee have been together so long you annoy the heck out of each other. Don't let it bother you...you are almost done. He is probably finding things you do annoying too cause everyone sees things differently.

I don't get the not eating. Kum n go has food. You can buy tuna salad packs anywhere that don't need refrigeration. Keep beef jerky and other non fridge stuff. Plus he needs to stop for a 30 min break, so eat then.

I would never be swapping on an exit ramp. Ask him to make a list of acceptable places along your route to stop and you will know if you will make it. If you can't make it to the next place stop at the one coming up.

Please forgive my ignorance but I'm not understanding the inability to stop and eat. Like Rainy said, I don't understand why he wouldn't just eat on his 30 minute break.

But is time really in that short of supply that he couldn't stop further down the road even if it's not a break time? Perhaps I misunderstand but each driver can only drive 11 hours a day, doesn't that leave 2 hours unaccounted for for eating, showering, etc?

I don't get the not eating. Kum n go has food.

Kum & Go?!

Kum n Go is a fuel station that has food some cooked

Maybe he was mad because you stopped at a regular Gas Station instead of a truck stop. I did that in training and my trainer was not happy. We had to go through some side streets to get back on the highway.

Not sure about the not eating part. So he wants you to drive on an empty stomach, low on energy, and falling asleep? Sounds like a bad idea.

Please forgive my ignorance but I'm not understanding the inability to stop and eat. Like Rainy said, I don't understand why he wouldn't just eat on his 30 minute break.

But is time really in that short of supply that he couldn't stop further down the road even if it's not a break time? Perhaps I misunderstand but each driver can only drive 11 hours a day, doesn't that leave 2 hours unaccounted for for eating, showering, etc?

Teaming is different and each trainer will run things differently. My one trainer never stopped except for fuel/swapping and jumped out of bed yelling when I stopped for a potty break once...after my 30 min.-- the nerve of me stopping the truck for a whole 45 minutes of my drive shift. Some trainers will put a window between swapping shifts, others won't. That same guy yelled when I took too long standing in line at Wendy's--which I then ate in the truck. It can take more than 30 min to fuel at times, so basically he saw us waiting in line as part of the 30 min break which is no break.

The more you stop, the less miles you run, the less money the trainer makes. That's what it comes to. Bad trainers take advantage..good ones want the trainee to do what is safe and realize that fewer miles this week could mean more miles next week (depending on the delivery day/payroll cutoff). If my student said to me "I'm tired and stopping for a two hour nap"... I'd be quite happy they understood the need for safety, and knew their own limits. Id trust them more so could sleep better while they are driving. I said that to my one trainer and he called me "a cry baby girl who won't make it as a trucker ". Funny I'm still here and he was fired. Lol

To answer your question...yes. You can drive 11 hours per day max over a 14 hour period. That other three hours must include your customer time, fueling, and PTI. But it leaves plenty of time for breaks. And many drivers never drive the whole shift. Do I do it occasionally? Sure if the load requires. How often? Maybe once every week or two.

With a team, because someone usually has hours, the truck can keep rolling most of the time if dispatch plans properly.

I don't get the not eating. Kum n go has food.

Kum & Go?!

Hi

Yes, 6 string Kim & Go. They're in 9 states basically from Minnesota to Arkansas.

This is trainer/trainee fatigue. A common malady when two people, one of them a greenhorn, are stuck together in a truck and running their tails off with little to no down time.

It happens - you just power through it and move on.

Reaper, you should have some food on that truck with you. That keeps your trainer from getting off on these little power trips that he seems to enjoy.

Yeah plus worst case scenerio ill just have to stop extra for a bathroom or something. Honestly this last week is extra time i agreed to anyways so as others have said i gotta power through it.

Reaper, we've seen you come so far. This last little stretch is the final hurdle. When your trainer goes off on his little tirades, just smile and know that soon you'll be on your own.

The others have said it all. You'll find your own way of managing your hours / sleep time. I prefer to run hard every day. I'm just hardwired to maximize every minute of every day. This allows me to gain as many miles as possible, in the shortest time possible. My dispatcher has adjusted accordingly and keeps me rolling, and I'm consistently in the 3000-3500 mile range every week, even with a restart. As long as you're productive in your time management, you can set your own schedule somewhat.

With my wife riding with me, we thoroughly enjoy the 34hr reset. It gives us a chance to get out of the truck, Uber somewhere, and see the less travelled areas.

You'll work out a schedule that works best for you.

If someone is claiming there's no time to eat, they're doing it all wrong.