STAY AWAY FROM XXXX

After finishing cdl school, I choose T.M.C thinking that 5 weeks of training would be great. Boy was i wrong.My trainer was a 500pound 30yr old from louisville kentucky with a cpap machine on his truck.Trash and roaches in the cab of a pretty Peterbilt truck.Too pretty to be in that condition.Everything was yankees this yankees that.Every drop above the mason dixon line their was some kind of confrontation between him and a forklift driver,or a customer.After a week and a half of driving 11hrs straight and tarping during my 30min break while he drove 1to2 hours a day,I got tired of being called "boy","do as your told" among other unprofessional obscenities.I contacted my fleet manager [name removed] via email to request another trainer which is policy.instead of contacting me to ask what happened.She called him the following morning next thing i know im stuck in columbia s.c waiting for a bus to arrive 7+hrs later. You don't drive from virginia to maine then from virginia to the bottom of florida all in a week and a half being a bad driver(2000 miles) which he claimed was the problem when the field manager contacted him.Stay away from [name removed] as a trainer and ask for a different one.This company pays 400 training pay and will use you for cheap labor.Its up to the trainer to say if you get your own truck.They double revenue of the truck by pushing you hard while the trainer sleeps.I didnt mind pushing my 11 hrs straight because i go hard.When i saw that the coordinator called his phone after sending her an email in confidence i knew that if he wouldn't put me through after 2 weeks because of where im from, or how i look that he wouldn't do so in five weeks. Dont get used for 5 weeks while the trainer makes all the money.The more i demonstrated that I love everybody,the more it ****ed his racist ### off.I guess if I was 30 yrs old 500 pounds on a cpap machine,id be mad at the happy guy eating fresh fruit in my truck too.YOU'VE BEEN WARNED STAY AWAY FROM [two names removed] and you should be good. #### TMC

There's nothing wrong with cpap machines. They aren't just for overweight people.

I wasn't going to approve this comment but I think it's a great example of the stuff you're going to hear from terminal rats and people on other platforms around the web so it's best to be able to understand this a little better.

Now most of the time when someone posts something like this they have no interest in actually discussing the situation or trying to work through the problem. In this case Brandon even went out of his way to name specific people using their first and last names, which really makes me think this was just a "drive-by shooting". But we'll see. Maybe Brandon will return.

I'll make a few quick points.

First of all, let's keep in mind that first and foremost Brandon loves everybody, as you can see:

The more i demonstrated that I love everybody, the more it ****ed his racist ### off. I guess if I was 30 yrs old 500 pounds on a cpap machine, id be mad at the happy guy eating fresh fruit in my truck too.YOU'VE BEEN WARNED STAY AWAY FROM [two names removed] and you should be good. #### TMC

I can feel the love pouring out of you Brandon. Well done. You really rose above it all like a saint.

So Brandon, were you fired from TMC, did you quit, or are you still with the company?

My trainer was a 500pound 30yr old from louisville kentucky with a cpap machine on his truck.

You're a student. Your job is to learn your trade. What does the weight or age of your trainer have to do with your goal of learning your trade? Not only that, but are you criticizing someone for having sleep apnea as if that makes them a lesser person?

Everything was yankees this yankees that

Oh no, a sports fan??? My heart bleeds for you. Again, what does that have to do with you focusing on learning your trade?

Every drop above the mason dixon line there was some kind of confrontation between him and a forklift driver,or a customer

Well then that was a great learning opportunity for you, right? You know better than to be confrontational with people.

After a week and a half of driving 11hrs straight and tarping during my 30min break while he drove 1to2 hours a day,I got tired of being called "boy","do as your told" among other unprofessional obscenities

So you came here and resorted to name calling and calling people out personally? And you're saying that as the student he made you do most of the driving and do the tarping? My God, he must think that doing the job is the best way to learn the job. What a crazy theory. Do you think you would learn to be a better driver and flatbed operator if you sat and watched cat videos on YouTube while he did all the work?

I contacted my fleet manager [name removed] via email to request another trainer which is policy.instead of contacting me to ask what happened.She called him the following morning

Ok, you have to understand something here. You're a student that they know nothing about. He's an experienced driver that has been with their company for quite some time. Granted, that doesn't mean he's a great trainer or has a great personality but you can't expect them to just listen to one side of the story, your side, and do as you tell them to do. You're not in charge of the company or this situation. You're the unknown that's supposed to be trying to prove yourself. Of course they're going to contact your trainer to get the other side of the story.

This company pays 400 training pay and will use you for cheap labor

That's an interesting statement. You're being paid while you're being trained to do the job. You don't even know how to do the job yet or you wouldn't need someone holding your hand. So instead of you having to pay to be trained, like you would at a University, they're paying you to go to school and you think you're being used like a pawn in some game? Seriously, friend, get a grip on the reality of this situation.

i knew that if he wouldn't put me through after 2 weeks because of where im from, or how i look that he wouldn't do so in five weeks

That statement leads me to believe you quit the company then? Is that the case?

Folks, I did a couple of podcasts about this very kind of thing. We see it constantly in this industry. Instead of students focusing on making themselves better, they focus on what they perceive to be everyone else's shortcomings. It amazes me how many students come into trucking thinking they're the smartest guy in the room with no faults and they're the ones running the show.

Please listen to these podcasts if you haven't already. It very well may save your career:

Episode 1: The Bootcamp Approach To Trucking

Episode 18: Stop The Fear And Doubt, Focus On Your Own Success

The more i demonstrated that I love everybody, the more it ****ed his racist ### off. I guess if I was 30 yrs old 500 pounds on a cpap machine, id be mad at the happy guy eating fresh fruit in my truck too.YOU'VE BEEN WARNED STAY AWAY FROM [two names removed] and you should be good

That's my favorite right there. It shows you the level of self-awareness we're dealing with here. It's rare you get someone to exclaim how they love everybody in the same sentence as an insult directed at someone.

I'm assuming that you're saying TMC sent you home because your trainer said you're a bad driver? If so, I call BS. No possible way they sent you home after spending the time and money to train you, because you aired a grievance against a trainer and he had a different take.

I'm assuming that you're saying TMC sent you home because your trainer said you're a bad driver? If so, I call BS. No possible way they sent you home after spending the time and money to train you, because you aired a grievance against a trainer and he had a different take.

I totally agree with that statement but I'm leaning toward the thinking that he quit because he said:

i knew that if he wouldn't put me through after 2 weeks because of where im from, or how i look that he wouldn't do so in five weeks

I think he meant Yankees a people from the north who weren’t slave states during the civil war. I’m drawing that conclusion because he claimed the trainer was racist.

OMG you're right! Geez, they've been talking about baseball on TV all the time lately and that's immediately what I thought of. As a Yankee who lived in the South for a while you would think I would have realized that right away.

Well, Brett could you link Old School's traing story here? It's a great one for this.

As far as a nasty truck with roaches, that is a health hazard. If I was in someone's truck and saw roaches, I would get out so fast and then deal with it. I have spoken to one guy from TMC. He had just finished training and was on his first solo run. He loved the training and continued help he was getting. He pointed out that they have trucks who's drivers look for problems with company drives and equipment that may need some help. So, the only real problem I see in your situation is the roaches. If your trainer is an ass and you can't get a new one, deal with it. It's only temporary. I hope Brandon will come back and learn from this.