Most Horrible Training Experience

I just came back from 5 days out on the road training and it was the worst experience ever. First off his bunk beds were dirty , the fridge and microwave looks like he hasn’t cleaned it in years it smells horrible.

All he did was eat all day , sleep and talk on the phone all day. Anytime I ask questions he gets offended, anytime I try to take notes he gets offended. Anytime I get to a shipper or dropping off a load he never lets me go inside by myself he is always taking lead and everything he tells me he doesn’t explain every detail, he’s very vague.

I only got to practice alley docking about 3 times and most of the time he will take over and park himself. He only speaks about himself while we are on the road we barely vibed. I understand this is training. I’m not here to make friends, but I am driving 10-11 hours out the day. Some mutual conversation would be nice, but he would be on the phone instead the whole time.

If I did something wrong he would mention it a few hours later and then bring it up instead of telling me what I did wrong right there and then. He never really physically showed me anything he would just point and tell me what to do instead of showing me then letting me do it so I can learn.

When it comes to the eld I pretty much learned on my own. At the beginning he would always do it for me which I did not like because I need to do it on my own in order to learn. He basically had no patience. He also told me that I’m a perfectionist and the way he worded it was in a way he stated as if he did not like the fact I am a perfectionist and take pride in what I do.

He doesn’t brush or wash his face in the mornings and expected me to do the same. He talks way too much about things that’s not related to my training and he belittles me every chance he gets. I ended up requesting a new trainer because this was the most miserable week I ever had in my life training.

When I was in cdl school I was treated with respect. They had patience and took the time to explain everything in detail which this trainer failed miserably to do. He may be a professional driver but he isn’t a professional trainer.

I honestly feel like I was racially discriminated but I’m not going to shift my focus on that. I’m just really focused on getting the experience I need to pursue my trucking career and I appreciate anybody that takes the time to read this and hear me vent and give me advice moving forward.

He even said he is home every weekend because he can’t be on the road with somebody for more than 2 weeks or else he will feel like killing them. He told me many things that made me feel very uncomfortable and I didn’t feel confident when I was around him. I have to go in Monday and find out when I will start with my new trainer… at this point I’m not looking for a bond with my trainer I just want to get this over with.

I came in to this very excited but this experience turned me off. I’m not losing my motivation and my determination and will keep pushing forward and I want people out there to know what to expect and hopefully don’t have to experience what I experienced.

Welcome Jose

I have to tell ya I sure hope your strong suit isn’t expressing yourself in writing how you really are, because reading your post sounds like your a spoiled brat I would not want in my truck. I hope I’m wrong!!

You have no experience yet you express yourself as how this job should be done.

If you think schedules are going to fall the way you like, find another occupation. Freight moves on its schedule within your hours of service. Plain and simple.

There are a ton of elements you left out in your rant. We are here to help people learn this industry to be productive drivers. Not to agree with someone who has no clue, experience, or misconceptions.

Are there bad trainers? Yes sir!!

You have to learn this business as well as to adapt to many situations not to your liking. Thats trucking.

If you give specifics instead of a shotgun approach we can help you, otherwise go find a site that will agree with you and you can fall into the large group of folks that have not and will not make it in this business. Up to you sir!!

You are right I left out so many things it’s because I didn’t even know where to begin .. so much has happened in one week and I wasn’t treated with respect. He would literally talk to me like I’m a dog and I let it go because I figured ok he has no personality let me not pay it no mind.

As days go by everytime we get to a shipper he is always taking lead and not letting me interact with the people to discuss what trailers I’m dropping off & picking up etc. I don’t mind you calling me a brat but I don’t see how I am one if I’m asking the trainer questions and he keeps getting offended and when I try to take notes he gets offended as well.

For example, we get to shipper and we have to slide tandem he ended up pointing and telling me what to do and I followed his directions and I did it but I did not understand the process till I went on YouTube and saw what is actually happening which is the truck sliding and when you release the pins it pops out etc.

All I’m asking for is detailed explanation so I can understand the process which will help me understand what I’m doing and everything. I’m well aware that trucking schedules are precise but me personally to perform my best I need to freshen up which I ended up learning on my own if I want extra time sleep for 9 hours and wake up do what I have to do then let the clock hit 10 hours then when it resets start my pre trip then go about my day!

All he had to do was tell me that little method I learned on my own which he didn’t. I understand now that when you are in training you have to expect to get dogged out, treated like your not a human being basically like crap and have to suck it up. Now I know what I’m getting into so when I do get my next trainer I’m well prepared.

Welcome Jose

I have to tell ya I sure hope your strong suit isn’t expressing yourself in writing how you really are, because reading your post sounds like your a spoiled brat I would not want in my truck. I hope I’m wrong!!

You have no experience yet you express yourself as how this job should be done.

If you think schedules are going to fall the way you like, find another occupation. Freight moves on its schedule within your hours of service. Plain and simple.

There are a ton of elements you left out in your rant. We are here to help people learn this industry to be productive drivers. Not to agree with someone who has no clue, experience, or misconceptions.

Are there bad trainers? Yes sir!!

You have to learn this business as well as to adapt to many situations not to your liking. Thats trucking.

If you give specifics instead of a shotgun approach we can help you, otherwise go find a site that will agree with you and you can fall into the large group of folks that have not and will not make it in this business. Up to you sir!!

PJ, with all due respect, I didn’t think Jose came across as entitled. He just had a bad experience and even if only half of what he says is true, he had a pathetic trainer.

Jose, you did the right thing asking for another trainer. How many weeks are you on the road with a trainer? What is your company?

Hopefully the next week will go better for you. Will you post a report about it so we will know if it went better? Don’t just leave it at this point, tell the rest of the story..

Also, when you have questions, you can ask them here. You will get a tremendous amount of solid advice and learn a lot. We love questions from new drivers, so take advantage of a great resource.

Also, judging from your name, are you bi-lingual? If so, that is a great advantage to have as a driver. Just hang in there and get past this bad experience. Not all trainers should be trainers, but there are many, many good ones. Sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw. If you stick with driving, you yourself may become a trainer someday. If so, this experience will help you be a good teacher to other new drivers who will appreciate your patience and teaching skills.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I’m not used to a trainer bullying me , being condescending and very aggressive. But reading your reply makes me feel like maybe that’s just how it is and I’m okay with that because I know what to expect now.

Welcome Jose

I have to tell ya I sure hope your strong suit isn’t expressing yourself in writing how you really are, because reading your post sounds like your a spoiled brat I would not want in my truck. I hope I’m wrong!!

You have no experience yet you express yourself as how this job should be done.

If you think schedules are going to fall the way you like, find another occupation. Freight moves on its schedule within your hours of service. Plain and simple.

There are a ton of elements you left out in your rant. We are here to help people learn this industry to be productive drivers. Not to agree with someone who has no clue, experience, or misconceptions.

Are there bad trainers? Yes sir!!

You have to learn this business as well as to adapt to many situations not to your liking. Thats trucking.

If you give specifics instead of a shotgun approach we can help you, otherwise go find a site that will agree with you and you can fall into the large group of folks that have not and will not make it in this business. Up to you sir!!

Jose ya just got a bad trainer, now at least you're being set up with, hopefully a better 1....

Me, being me, I woulda just flat out told him, "look dude, I'm here to be trained, and not talked to like a dog PERIOD!" lol

I had a co-driver for 2 weeks, he was cool when I'd met him before. But in the same truck he was a total dipstick. He wanted total control, with paperwork, routing etc. Even his $800 GPS which I never touched, fine handle it dude. Turned out to be a real pshyco type, fueling, I woke up and had to get to restroom to pee. He got all mad shouting at me etc, because he had to wait 5 whole minutes.....And he would get pizzed a lot for nothing, and yell at me a lot. I put up with it as much as I had to, until I'd had enough of his crap personality.

(There's another story when he totally freaked out on me, and I kinda felt my life was bit in danger...I was on alert in case things got worse that night, or I'd end up un-aliving him in self defense!)

When I got back to the truck, I just gave him a piece of my mind about the whole situation....I told him I wasn't his dog, and his attitude better change fast, because he was no better than me (just as new). He was a little cooler after that, but I'd made up my mind, once back at our home terminal , I was off "His" truck....He ended up quitting that same day I jumped ship. lol

Jose,

Relying only on what a trainee tells us about their experience, It is sometimes difficult for us to determine whether a trainer is being a condescending jerk or whether a trainer is just being bluntly truthful without candy-coating his comments.

We aren't in the truck. Therefore we don't know what is actually going on. Some of us might think you have a right to be offended by your trainer's attitude towards you. Some of us might feel you are being over sensitive. Based on either kind of response their are nuggets of wisdom you can take away from all the comments you received in response to your original post.

Hopefully, if this trainer is as bad as you say, other trainees will speak up and the company will get the message that this person should not be training new drivers.

On the positive side, you can look at this as a challenge you dealt with and we're able to move on from. A new driver faces many challenges during their first year. Being able to get through those difficult times is a huge part of becoming a successful driver.

Best of luck to you!

A couple things. Since it's your first and only trainer, you can't really say if it's the worst trainer ever. You never know, you could have worse down the road.

Training is just something you have to go through. It's boot camp. You're an FNG, as such no respect is afforded to you. Just the way it is in the trades. Trucking is a trade.

Who cares if he's stinky, the truck is stinky etc. You just learned how not to keep a truck. There are plenty of times that the load takes precedence over your beauty regime. The. Load. Always. Comes. First. Your performance and ability to self motivate is what matter. Improvise, adapt, overcome.

I'm not saying he's a good trainer or bad one. It's totally unimportant in the scheme of your career. Your with a trainer a short amount of time, they can't teach you enough to become a driver. Life does that.

What is important is that if you've never had any experience in rough neck, construction or the way the military used to be prior to all the helmet wearing participation trophy kids got involved, you're going to be in for a shock in trucking. It's militaristic, non corporate, individualistic and doesn't give a rats ass about feelings.

I'd highly recommend reading up on how Gen X kids grew up. Try watching a few movies like Platoon, Heartbreak Ridge, things like that. Basically learn how to keep a closed mouth, say Yes Sir, become hard and tough. Are you going to let someone else best you?

You already learned a bunch of valuable lessons, you're just unaware that you learned them. How not to keep a truck. The value of personal space. That conversation is over rated, especially in the morning. That feelings don't matter at work. How much you work matters. You learned how to use your eld, now your hungry to try backing, now your hungry to get into shippers and figure out the process.

Life's tough, buy a helmet.

Who cares if he's stinky, the truck is stinky etc. You just learned how not to keep a truck. There are plenty of times that the load takes precedence over your beauty regime. The. Load. Always. Comes. First.

Come on really? This is such a load of BS, you should not be forced to live in those conditions.

I'm not saying he's a good trainer or bad one. It's totally unimportant in the scheme of your career. Your with a trainer a short amount of time, they can't teach you enough to become a driver. Life does that.

Hard disagree while a trainer doesn't teach you everything they do get you pointed in the right (or wrong) direction. A good trainer will make a huge difference in someone's career especially at the start.

Since I wasn't there it is impossible to know if he's was "condescending and bullying" the import thing is you got a new trainer with will hopefully be a better fit.

Who cares if he's stinky, the truck is stinky etc. You just learned how not to keep a truck. There are plenty of times that the load takes precedence over your beauty regime. The. Load. Always. Comes. First.

Come on really? This is such a load of BS, you should not be forced to live in those conditions.

I'm not saying he's a good trainer or bad one. It's totally unimportant in the scheme of your career. Your with a trainer a short amount of time, they can't teach you enough to become a driver. Life does that.

Hard disagree while a trainer doesn't teach you everything they do get you pointed in the right (or wrong) direction. A good trainer will make a huge difference in someone's career especially at the start.

Since I wasn't there it is impossible to know if he's was "condescending and bullying" the import thing is you got a new trainer with will hopefully be a better fit.

I was with a trainer for two weeks, I mean it's simply not possible in two weeks, even four to learn what we need to learn. Yes, they can give you the seeds, but you must plant, water and cultivate those seeds in to trees of knowledge. It's unreasonable to expect to learn how to be driver let alone a successful driver in two to four weeks.

You're not living in that condition, your staying temporarily in someone else's world. If it's unsanitary and a health issue, yes, do something, but other than that, it's just a phase. Maybe I'm callous to it, I spent over 3 decades working in disgusting and often brutal conditions. The job always came first. It tougens people up. You can survive anything.