Wow, it’s been two months since I hit the road with my trainer. I can’t believe it’s already been that long. Time is really flying out here. As I stated in one of my earlier posts, my training period is much longer than most companies, so I probably won’t be done for at least another 6 weeks or so. But since I’ve put in quite a bit of time with a trainer already, I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts on how to survive your company trainer.

If you’re just getting ready to hit the road, and you’re anything like me, you are probably nervous about sharing a truck with a complete stranger for 6 or more weeks. I think that’s a totally natural feeling and there really isn’t any fix for that. Preparing to share your life with somebody you don’t even know for an extended time can cause a lot of anxiety. But hopefully you’ll find, as I have, that it isn’t so bad.

I believe I either got real lucky with the trainer I have or I just adjusted very well, because I have had nearly zero problems with my trainer. We get along great. The first week or two was the hardest because we were still trying to figure out each other’s personalities. I didn’t know what sort of things I could say or joke about in front of him, what would offend him, if I could curse in front of him, what he’d do if I made a mistake, etc. But being with my trainer 24/7, it didn’t take long for the tension to really die down. I think after the first week we began to get real comfortable with each other, and after the second week we were already at “friend” status. After two months, we’ve even contemplated team driving together once my training is done, so you can see the progress we’ve made.

Keep Your Ego From Getting In Your Way

I guess my biggest piece of advice is don’t let your ego get in the way of your training. If your trainer tells you to do something, just do it (assuming it can be safely done). If you have a problem with what he told you to do, talk about it later. Also, don’t get offended if your trainer tells you to do the same thing over and over again. For example, when pulling out of a parking spot my trainer always says “Pull out as far as you can and use as much space as you can before turning. Remember you have a 53ft trailer behind you.” After hearing that over and over and over again, it started to annoy me a little bit. But instead of saying “I know” or coming back with a negative response, I just say “ok” and do it. This is just one example of many. When you’re told to do the same thing over and over again, it gets to the point where you just want to say “I know! Leave me alone!” Come to find out last week, my trainer does this on purpose. He knows that I know. But he’s trying to “condition” my brain to actively think about that each and every time I pull out of a spot. You’d be surprised how many truck drivers pull out of a parking spot and tear off the front bumper of the truck next to them because they forgot they were pulling a trailer. Laugh now, but when you hop in the drivers seat just seconds or minutes after you wake up, you’d be surprised the mistakes you can make!

Also, don’t argue about things your trainer tells you when you’re driving. Here’s an example: I was driving through Dallas, TX one day when it was pretty congested. My lane was ending and I had to merge over to my right. I turned on my turn signal and a vehicle in the lane I was merging into flashed his lights to tell me I can come on over. He was close to my trailer, but I knew I had cleared him. As I began to move over, my trainer said “whoa, hang on a sec there’s a car there!” He obviously didn’t see the car flash his lights at me. Instead of continuing to move over, I stayed in my lane until some distance was between me and the car before I moved into the right lane. There’s no sense in arguing about it. Your trainer wants to know that you’re willing to listen and take advice. If you start doing things even though your trainer said not to do it, there could be some tension there. continue to page 2 –>

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