Comments By DSTURBD

8/23/16

Hey guys, This is the first chance I've had to update things. Got my new trainer Sunday. He is a younger guy and so far, it has been great!! He is much more into actually instructing, is very laid back, and the first thing he told me is that we will have fun because if you can't have fun doing this then it's just not worth doing! After the first couple of times I drove, he now just goes in the back and says, "You've got this. If you need anything, just holler." He sleeps while I drive so that we can run the truck more hours in each day. He has already cleared up a few of the procedures that were still very much in question with the other guy. Also, the fact that he has no problem sleeping while I drive tells me that I was right before, that the other guy was just being a control freak and my driving skills are just fine! (As they were twenty years ago!) I have already completed another full level of training since getting on this truck and it is great not to be stressed out every second of every day. Plus, this guy is focused on getting my remaining mountain requirements taken care of and really communicates what his intentions are and how we are going to do it. My goodness, if I had started with this trainer, I'd probably be done already. He graduated a trainee on Saturday and they flew him back to Dallas and flew me out to get on this truck! He says that we will be completely done by Labor Day and I don't doubt it as we have really been running hard! I'm racking up some serious miles and hours!

Will try to check in again soon.

DSTURBD

Yeah but think about this.......you're going slow up a hill and it aggravates a four wheeler who passes you, jumps in front of you, jumps on the brakes almost causing you to run over him, gives you the finger, and drives off. It happens all too often.

Then you get to the customer, you're the only truck there, and they tell you to sit in the parking lot and they'll come get you when they're ready. Six hours later and not one single truck has shown up all day but you're still sitting there because the place doesn't like truckers and they think it's funny to mess with you. It happens all too often.

Another time you're getting unloaded. You have 22 pallets. They take off 20 pallets and stop unloading you because it's lunchtime and it's a union dock. They get an hour lunch. You sit there for two more hours before they finally take the last two pallets off, and they do that just because they can. It happens all too often.

With the heavy traffic, tight schedules, gigantic snowstorms, construction, low bridges, 18 hour days six days a week, a completely reckless motoring public, and a society that thinks truckers are the lowest level of humans in our society trucking is nothing but a hostile work environment most of the time.

If the guy is just entirely too much to bear then request a new trainer. But that's just one small problem out of the way. There's going to be an endless stream of problems every day of your life out there and with most of them there isn't a thing you can do about it but deal with it in your own mind. How you deal with the constant stress, challenges, and hardships that you'll face out there month after month, year after year will determine whether you're happy and enjoying life, or bitter and miserable all the time.

If you do request a new trainer I would simply say you're not getting along and leave it at that for now. Document the things he's been saying, including the date and time. At some point you might consider reporting his behavior in great detail but I wouldn't risk it right now until you're out of his truck and running solo.

Hey there Brett, Yeah, I agree. All of those things have happened and they really don't bother me much as, like you say, that is all just part of the job. I had decided to just say that his teaching style and my learning style just don't match.

DSTURBD

Well, I would say just relax in your hotel room and take tomorrow as it comes. Get into a new truck with a new trainer. Get through your training and into your own truck. If a trainer is bashing a company to a trainee, they shouldn't be a trainer. My opinion.

Hey there Scott. Yeah, my sentiments exactly. I tried to take it all with a grain of salt, but it all just got really wierd. I have to talk to "Safety" tomorow and I am hesitant to be truly forthcoming as I don't know just how much will be shared with my trainer and he has already said that he will trash me if anything compromising comes to light. My one ace in the hole is that I have a true claim for "hostile work environment" if it comes to that.

I just want to drive a truck and do a good job. Is that so very much to ask?!?!?!?

DSTURBD

08/18/16

Okay, gonna go out on a limb here. After Brett's posts after my previous melt-down, I hesitate to get into too much detail or try to relate what actually happened, but I finally requested a new trainer today. I have read all of the posts saying that it is best to just gut it out and get through it when you have a less than optimal trainer. Believe me, that is exactly what I tried to do. When my trainer would go too far and just be out there, he would realize it and work extra hard to mend the fences. I had to give him the benefit of the doubt and try to put it in the past. It worked quite well the first couple of times and I decided that maybe I would stay with him and try to get through it. However, I do have to say that I was at the point of calling my student councelor each time to tell her to get me off of this truck. He seemed to realize that I had been pushed to my limit and did the big apology and back pedal to get us back to okay. I'm sorry, but I just do not respond well to screaming and shouting in my face, ridiculing me, and name calling such as liar, lazy, mentally retarded, not paying attention, etc. Now bear in mind that this guy has such a thick eastern european accent that I have to pay particular attention just to understand what he is saying!!! Therefore, I am quite sure that I am paying very close attention to what he says. Oh, and by the way, this guy goes through DM's like the rest of us go through underwear. He's got a new one now that he says is a total incompetant and liar and then when the guy answers the phone, he says, "Jason, my beloved DM, how you doing today?!?!?

The funny thing is that this guy constantly rails on how every single person at Stevens is an incompetant liar and how they should all be fired right now, today. Then, we got stuck in the LA floods and sat for two days. He was all ****ed off and was saying that Stevens should have re-routed us. The funny thing is that they did re-route us twice and he ignored it both times saying that he was not going to go that way as it was so many more unpaid miles!! Oh, and by the way, this guy is a lease driver. If this is what leasing does to people, then I now totally realize what this site has been trying to say about leases. I'm serious!!!!!.......This guy is an absolute lunatic!!!! I could write two pages on his twisted ideas about HOS and Qualcom postings!!!!

So, I guess I'll find out tomorrow what is going to happen. I rented my own motel room tonight instead of a company one as I want to have a room to myself to decompress, relax, shower and catch up on finances and personal paper work, as well as get my head back on straight.

At this point, I would really like to have a few days off, but I know that could be a problem of a whole new variety. The problem is that I am running low an a couple of my maintenance meds and they are sitting in my P.O. box at home and I am 900 miles away from them. They are VA supplied so there are some restrictions as to how I can get them.

The thing is that I do really enjoy operating the equipment, going to the shippers and receivers, and seeing different parts of the country. I am just trying to figure out how to get through training and into my own truck as I drove for years before and I know that I am competant and skilled. I know that after a few loads, my DM will realize that I can be counted on to deliver and all of this wierdness will be in the past. But........how do I get there?!?!?!?!?

Sorry for the rambling........DSTURBD

You came down Monteagle??? Did you head through Chattanooga?

Sorry, but to be honest, I'm not real sure. There was a lot going on with talk about the rest of my requirements out west and how we were going to get some western runs. I do know that we didn't actually go through any towns, we stayed on the interstates.

DSTURBD

Is your trainer bi polar?

Ha, ha, I really have to wonder! One minute he's happy as a clam and joking around, and the next, he's P.O.'d at the whole world and nothing can change his mood! Sometimes it coincides with a call from his D.M., but not always. Yesterday, he was all happy about how I did on my grade descent, went into the sleeeper for a few seconds and came out an entirely different person!! I know it couldn't have been anything I did as we were just cruising down the interstate at 62 mph. No big deal, nothing special.

DSTURBD

8/13/16

Well, got my first mountain check-off yesterday. Eagle Mountain, Tennesee. Only five miles long, but a good 6% grade...piece of cake. Not looking forward to 40 miles down off Donner Pass!!

Well, sitting here in northern FL, waiting for our 0300 delivery appt. so I thought I'd get an update done and then dive into my level 4 on line training quizzes.

Just a quick question......are all trainers bi-polar lunatics?!?!?!? LOL

DSTURBD

08/07/16

Well, just a little update here to pass some time. I am doing a 34 hr reset here at the Stevens yard and it has been soooooo good to just relax and get laundry done and some TV watched. Took really long showers as I had the time to do so and loved it!! Went to Walmart and doubled up on underwear and got some more T-shirts and shorts so laundry shouldn't be so critical from here on out, ha ha.

Also, my trainer lives here in town so he went home for his time. It is absolutely amazing how much more spacious and comfortable the truck is with just one person in it!! Not to mention that when I get my truck, I will have the bottom bunk (major, major consideration for comfort), and all of the storage for my things. I hate living out of a duffle bag!!!

Feeling very rested though and none of the niggling little worries of things needed and having to do without until who knows when. We get back at it tomorrow and I am ready to go!! Hoping for loads going lots of miles and west this time around!!

DSTURBD

Thanks for the update! I've been wondering how you were doing.

Sounds like everything is going well! How much longer do you have in training?

We're shooting for five weeks total, which means that I have about three more weeks or a little less. It depends a lot on our loads as the requirement is 240 hours of drive time, plus all the check-offs for various things like mountains, etc.

DSTURBD

Great to hear from you and that things are going well. When will you get to road test for your CDL?

Hey there Scott, Already have it. This is the road training to get my solo truck assigned. That's why I was so discouraged by the doctor. He was preventing the last leg of my journey.

DSTURBD