OMG So Conflicted But Flattered (training )

Thanks G-town. I appreciate that vote of confidence. I'd previously thought about it but was thinking more like after 2 or 3 years. It's true you continue to learn new things every day out here.

I'm just tickled to have made it this far, relatively unscathed with no preventables.

Sue, I was asked to train when I was at Prime. I had less than a year of experience. I had some previous training experience as well, so I know you know what it involves.

G-Town is absolutely right. The correct question is whether you want to do it. It is different than training someone to do something for eight hours and then going your separate ways at the end of the day. And it's different in that you are literally putting your life in your trainee's hands.

Ultimately I decided training wasn't for me. I also believe in hindsight that I didn't have enough experience to be training a new driver. (I'll train a new manager any day of the week, by way of contrast.)

I'm not saying you don't have enough experience. I'm sure you can do it. I'm saying that that feeling of wanting to have more experience is certainly valid, and worth considering.

Keep your eye on the long-term when making the decision. ("Aim high in steering" also applies to career decisions.) I wish you the best either way!

Sue, the 1 year of experience is fine. That's what I had under my belt when I first became a trainer. Your job isn't to teach them everything about trucking. They aren't on your truck long enough for that. Your job is to teach them to operate the vehicle in a safe manner as well as to teach the what they need to know about how your company does things. From what I've seen from your posts that shouldn't be a problem for you.

Being a trainer has also made me a better driver. Between making sure I provide a good example to the student, coming up with different ways to explain things (which makes me think harder about how I do them), and the questions they ask that I don't know the answer to and have to find out for them.

Now the hard parts. You're sharing your living space with a different stranger every couple of weeks or so. Sometimes there are definite personality conflicts. Add to that the fact that you are putting your life in the hands of people with no experience and being a trainer can be very stressful.

Ultimately you need to evaluate the pros and cons and decide whether it's worth it to you. It's extremely rewarding to some and definitely not for others.