Here Is A Scenario, Advice Please!

This is a dedicated acct. Load is scheduled to be ready by 3pm. My trainer says we should be up and ready by early in the AM to wait for load incase it's ready earlier. We pick the load at 1pm and l start driving around 1.30pm. We have 3 deliveries (3 stops) to make. By the time we are done with the last stop its 10.47pm.

My trainer says my 14 hrs are not yet done and l should continue for another 8 hrs, meaning l would need to stay up close to 24 hrs. By this time l am very sleepy and explain l cannot stay up any longer let alone drive. He offers me power pills which l respectfully decline. This is what i'm told.

"You chose the wrong career. This is not for you if you cannot complete 14 hrs on duty. Of the 6 guys l have trained only 2 completed training. If the men could not do it why do you think l can do it?"

Is this normal training and is it ok?

Be did take over the driving however. l am amazed that he could still stay awake long enough to drive back get another load, and continue driving till 6.11am this morning. How is that possible. I know he didn't sleep at all during the day.

Simply put, if you're too tired to drive, don't. You'd only be putting yourself and others at risk. If you have to rely on those pills, you obviously didn't get enough sleep the night before. No amount of caffeine will cure a tired mind. Your trainer should know that.

It takes time to build up the stamina to drive 10-11 hours. Offering the pills to you was wrong in my opinion. If you are too tired to drive, the only safe thing to do is sleep. Good for you for standing up for yourself! Ignore what he said to you as well. If this continues, I suggest you contact whoever is in charge of your training program, and let them know what is going on.

So, you were right not to take any pills from him. Know that if it was prescription, and you take a medicine not prescribed to you, it will be a failed drug test if you get caught. Also, even if they were not prescription, I would never take any kind of "power pills". Likely they were pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, commonly known as "mini thins". I can't be sure, might have been just caffeine pills, but, if they were mini thins, i would be curious how he got them, since pseudoeffedrine hydrochloride has been banned from being sold over the counter. Not to mention, if you take them enough, they can have adverse health implications.

If you picked up at 1pm, I assume you started your day at around noon? This would mean your 14 hour clock would have expired at 2am the next morning, so, provided you didn't use up your 11 hours of driving, that would have been the latest you could drive.

Remember, safety above all else. If you are too tired to drive, shut down.

As far as your trainer, make a call to your dm , explain the situation. I'm not advocating getting someone in trouble, but, your trainer should not be trying to get you to break the law, and he certainly should not be offering you pills. However, this needs to be fixed, because, how many times has he done this in the past, how many times will he continue to do it if allowed to go unchecked.

Do you run electronic logs? If so, you wouldn't have been able to run past your 14, unless he is having you drive on his login, which, again, is a no no. Paper logs is another story, but again, it is neither legal, nor safe.

So, you were right not to take any pills from him. Know that if it was prescription, and you take a medicine not prescribed to you, it will be a failed drug test if you get caught. Also, even if they were not prescription, I would never take any kind of "power pills". Likely they were pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, commonly known as "mini thins". I can't be sure, might have been just caffeine pills, but, if they were mini thins, i would be curious how he got them, since pseudoeffedrine hydrochloride has been banned from being sold over the counter. Not to mention, if you take them enough, they can have adverse health implications.

If you picked up at 1pm, I assume you started your day at around noon? This would mean your 14 hour clock would have expired at 2am the next morning, so, provided you didn't use up your 11 hours of driving, that would have been the latest you could drive.

Remember, safety above all else. If you are too tired to drive, shut down.

As far as your trainer, make a call to your dm , explain the situation. I'm not advocating getting someone in trouble, but, your trainer should not be trying to get you to break the law, and he certainly should not be offering you pills. However, this needs to be fixed, because, how many times has he done this in the past, how many times will he continue to do it if allowed to go unchecked.

Do you run electronic logs? If so, you wouldn't have been able to run past your 14, unless he is having you drive on his login, which, again, is a no no. Paper logs is another story, but again, it is neither legal, nor safe.

14 hr clock started when l started driving. No problem with that. But he had me wake up early "just incase the load is ready earlier".

It takes time to build up the stamina to drive 10-11 hours. Offering the pills to you was wrong in my opinion. If you are too tired to drive, the only safe thing to do is sleep. Good for you for standing up for yourself! Ignore what he said to you as well. If this continues, I suggest you contact whoever is in charge of your training program, and let them know what is going on.

DEFINITELY DO THIS. Let your DM or whoever else there besides him that is in charge of your training to get this done. That trainer shouldn't be training if he is putting his students through that. Even though it may be his truck, still: WHEN ITS YOUR TURN TO DRIVE, YOU ARE THE CAPTAIN OF THAT TRUCK. Let him know this. TELL HIM you don't feel safe and NEED TO SLEEP. If that doesn't work, tell his DM or tell the SAFETY Director. If he is making people do all that, then he not only shouldn't be training, he shouldn't even be DRIVING a truck. Drivers like this are what causes accidents that could cause MAJOR DAMAGE or KILL SOMEONE.

Horse droppings! There is absolutely no reason to wake up that early "just in case the load is ready". Simply wake up when you think it might be ready and go back to sleep. You can wake up a couple more times if you feel like it but your appointment time is really all that matters.

JJ

Often the shipper can call you when your load's ready. Sweet dreams till the phone rings.

On your part, do your best to get some sleep or a nap while you're waiting. Once that 14 hour clock starts, you'll need to do all you can.

And I agree with others - if your trainer offers you anything stronger than truck stop coffee, they need to be reported.