A bunch of criticisms? Marc your trainer is doing his job.
Instruction, guidance and correction isn’t necessarily a criticism. If you forgot something or executed something not-quite-right, would you prefer his silence? He is tough because this is a tough, very unforgiving business. You have only a taste of that so far...
Stow your ego and learn from him. He has 25 years of experience and is willing to share. In a short time you’ll be on your own, and he will not be there to catch mistakes or shield accountability from a more authoritative level. Make the most of this and try to separate the emotional aspect from the learning aspect. Expect to make mistakes while training and expect to be corrected for them. And do not expect praise for doing your job. For him to confirm you did “pretty good today”, is about all you can expect.
Trainer gave me a bunch of criticism
That really is an odd statement. I hope you're not the type that's so insecure and thin-skinned that you can't learn because you take every instruction or critique as an insult. Come on, man. You're learning a job with life or death circumstances. If you're man enough to handle the responsibility for the lives of innocent families then you have to be man enough to handle the truth about how you're performing.
Sorry but again, you are coming off way to ****y again. For someone who just earned their CDL and 2 was lucky enough to a major company to bend their hiring requirements, you should be showing a little more humility and appreciation for the chance you where given.
Instead it sounds like you are annoyed with having to go through training and annoyed your trainer dares to correct you, or offer any suggestions. You think you are "super trucker" before the ink on your CDL is dry.
You should be soaking everything your trainer can offer, especially considering the area you will be driving, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan can get real ugly with lake effect snow with little to warning best prepare yourself before I see you on the afternoon news being pulled out of a ditch on I- 94.
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Operating While Intoxicated
Guys, maybe Marc is not as good at written communication. Had he written "constructive criticism" this message would have come across better.
I think Marc Lee is excited and wanting to do a good job, but confused by conflicting instruction. With some people everything is black and white, so dealing with gray is hard to do.
Marc Lee, something you will learn is that if you give the same load to 100 drivers, you will get 100 different routes, start times, break time and length, etc. But all will get it there on time in the end. If you ask 100 drivers how they setup and furnish their trucks it is all different and you can take pieces of everyone and make your own way.
Think about it. Trainers have real life experience, and every driver has completely different experiences and mistakes we have made. We teach from experience. We teach our trainees to prevent them from making our own mistakes.
I tell every student "You will do 3 things...1.) you will lock yourself out of the truck so zip tie a key outside as soon as you get the key. 2.) You will jump the 5th wheel so know that dropping the airbags and placing a hammer under the right side of the skid plate 3.) You will hit something. Admit it, accept it and learn from it.
Another trainer might not tell you all this, but i do..from experience. and most come back and tell me i was right. See how this works, different trainers will tell you different things based on their experience. Get through training and you will make your own mistakes and learn from them.
Robsteeler comes to mind. He was dead set against team training because he didn't seem to understand how it works, wanted a speedy training period, and went solo and had a hard time at first. i felt bad for him. He even just posted on another thread that trainees need to listen and learn. See how the sharing experience thing works?
It is perfectly acceptable to question why something is done the way it is done. But the tone of voice will matter. If you are the one criticizing the trainer, you won't last through training.
Thank you all - especially Rainy D..
Rainy, you are correct.
I am not thin skinned and not complaining. I am also not !@$/y!
I am just relating my (limited) experience.
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After a week of ride-alongs, drop and hook (and hook and drop) they finally figured out what to do to get me driving.
Ran this morning right-seat. Came back to D.C., got my trailer and hauled it about 1.5 hrs. from Oconomowoc, WI to Glenview, IL. Did the "double drop" thing we do for Target" and dropped the trailer with returns (pull through) at the yard.
Forgot several steps (including putting the lock on the drop). Just one last "oops" before heading back. Trainer gave me a bunch of criticism but on my way home I got a "You did pretty good today" text.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.