LOOOOOONG Overdue Update

Hey everyone! I'm finally back on here after a hectic and convoluted training process. So much has happened in the last couple of months, so this will be a long one. Grab a drink and get comfy!

I think the last time I updated was when I got into the trailer fender bender. Nothing terrible. I just gashed the side, but no damage to any other property. But the trainer I had at the time really made me feel like I was the worst driver ever. She actually had a sit down meeting with me and our fleet manager saying she wasn't going to teach me how to back because she thought I would damage her truck. They wanted me to just upgrade and figure it out on my own. She really was treating me terribly. She had me convinced I was an awful driver that would never make it. I would ask if we could stop so I could go to the bathroom and she would make me wait two hours or more. If I was driving and stopped to use the bathroom she would freak out because I was only allowed to stop where she designated. The final straw I had with her was on a flower run. I drove until my clock ran out, then had to stay awake with her for the next 12 hours unloading boxes. When we were finally done with all the stops she told me to "take a nap" because I had to drive again in a coup,e of hours. I had been awake well over 24 hours by this point and told her I wasn't driving. But she wanted to hurry up and get to pick up the next load. At one point she woke me up and had me sign in. I found out later she drove on my hours. She then spent the next few days berating me for being "tired" while moving all those boxes.

Rainy D knew what was going on and made a phone call or two and within 15 minutes I had a new trainer. What a difference!!! The new trainer let me do all the backing and showed me how to do all the Qualcomm entries, paperwork, etc. All the things the other trainer never did. I loved my new trainer, and she was so awesome with me. She even let me go home and pick up my chihuahua so I could have some stress relief on the road.

So now I've finished all my required training miles and I successfully upgraded on Monday. It took a bit, but finally today (Friday) I got the call that they have a truck for me. It's at the shop now fixing a couple of minor things, but I got a 2016 International Pro-Star lightweight with just under 85,000 miles on it. I call her The Grey Lady and I love her! She handles very differently than the Freightliner, but I'll eventually get used to her. Now I'm just hoping the shop has the truck done tonight so I can get all my crap on there and get a load out tomorrow morning that will route me home for a bit.

So that's it!! Hope everyone has been well and safe. If you're reading this and considering Prime DO IT! They are an excellent company especially to start with. In fact, company drivers just got a bump in starting pay. My lightweight pay starts at $0.46/mile!

Now that my schedule won't be so ridiculous I'll be able to keep up on here a lot more!

WoooHoooo! Congratulations!

Very nice and so glad you got with a "real" trainer... Someone who does it for the right reasons.

Congrats!

Pic of truck- beautiful. With only 85k miles WOW

Congratulations!!! Really cool to read about you upgrading with all that you endured.

Best wishes and safe travels!

What's crazy is that by total coincidence we both had the same negative trainer. And good news is that driver is no longer permitted to train at prime.

I'm really glad all worked out. ;)

And the truck is beautiful!!!

Congratulations! The color suits you, too. Neon green letters .

Congratulations

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Congratulations! Someday that horrible training experience will be something to laugh at. Good luck on a long happy career.