Most Horrible Training Experience

Davy said: “You can survive anything.”

Actually you can’t survive anything. That is why there are funeral homes, crematories, morgues, cemeteries, etc.

The question is not about survival, it’s about acceptable standards for a trainer. What Jose described is neither acceptable or common. Why put any blame on Jose for complaining about unacceptable behavior by a rogue trainer? We don’t know what his life has been like. Maybe he has had to survive some difficult stuff just to get into training. His complaining doesn’t mean he is soft or a prima donna. It seems to me that he proved his mettle just by getting through that first week without quitting.

I think there is a bigger issue here. All of the regular commentators here are teachers. They have the heart of a teacher. But what good is a teacher without a student? We need the new drivers to be able to come here as students and feel that their feelings and experiences will be handled with respect. We want them to stick around, right? Everyone who stays here to learn helps us all because we all benefit from sharing the road with safe, considerate and well educated drivers.

My opinion is somewhat shaped by the fact that I had a truly outstanding trainer at Schneider. My friend and classmate wasn’t so lucky. He got a real jerk who spent most of his time reading a book or gripping about anything and everything instead of paying attention and teaching his student.

“… to empathize, encourage, and inspire”

There are good trainers and bad. My trainer was terminated and did something that affected me for years. However, i did not prevent someone i knew for 2 weeks hamper my career and thanks to my endurance and logic, i am still here and quite happy. My company tells my story to their nee trainers and sayd "act like this and you will be terminated".

With that said, assert yourself in a respectful way. I wouldnt argye, but i wouldnt take crap either. Take pictures of the truck and send them to your safety dept. When it comes to breaks, being reafy to report after 10 hours is like reporting for work. I am not your mother and shouldnt have to tell you to get up an hour ahead to be ready.

If you need to take notes do it and let him get offended. Or sugar it up and say "you are so informative i dont want to forget anything you say. It is obvious you are good and i want to be too". Yes it plays on his ego but he wont argue, so take ur notes.

Watch him at customers. Are u jot learning by doing so? Are u asking too many annoying questions about things that do not matter? Example.... i had a student struggling with backing and while on the pad, he focused on the drive rims being 2 different materials/colors. Who cares... but he couldnt concentrate on backing until i told him "cause that is how the truck came". One of the members here researched so much about leasing and fuel mileage that he never learned to drive. He had 3 accidents his first month solo. If this is an issue for you, try to concentrate on one thing at a time wh3n learning.

You arent at Prime i am assuming?

"Sugar it up and say..."

you are so informative i dont want to forget anything you say. It is obvious you are good and i want to be too

Very crafty. I like it!

Bruce, I didn't blame Jose for his trainer's woes. In fact I said I couldn't say weather he's a good trainer or a bad trainer.

We do encourage here, but we also bring the truth here. Look at it this way, a supportive friend would tell you you're about to drive off a cliff instead of whistling dixe up your rear end. How we tell you you're about to drive off a cliff might not always seem nice, but it's real.

I had what I consider to be an excellent trainer as well, but I can't even his recall his personal hygiene habits. It wasn't a blip on the radar. I made it a point to respect his personal space, I didn't invade it. I don't need to have a conversation with him or "Vibe" with him. I asked a ton of questions. He was patient with me most of the time but also chewed my ass out a couple times. I needed to hear it strongly worded.

I think in general the world's gotten softer and continues to do so. I think millennials and gen z would benefit from a big dose of hard labor and hard truths. Not to say that I don't have some hard charging motivated millenial and zoomer pals, I do. But in general, things aren't looking real bright for those two generations.

Training and teaching are two different things. I know you're from a construction background as I am. I'd also think that, as you're older than I am, you learned it the hard way. I learned from a bunch of old cranky tool throwing, cussing tradesmen who didn't give any consideration to feelings. You got shown something once, you figure it out, get quick and good or get fired. Most of them were abject slobs, it didn't matter. And the FNG, gets the bad jobs, just the way it is. You pay your dues.

You just described my trainer to a T. Was it a Schneider training engineer out of Gary? Just 5 days. Thats why I chose Schneider. Good luck man. 5 days is nothing. Most have you out for a month.

My favorite thing was he let me smoke while driving and he wrote in the book that I like to drive with one hand. lol. He was a total A hole.

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.

Davy you and I think alot alike due to life experience most likely.

Bruce I was honest in my reply with the perception I got from his post.

This is not an industry that favors burger king. You don’t get it your way all the time. You have to learn, adapt, and improvise.

I had great trainers. I am very thankful for that. But they trained me on the schedule as it presented itself. They told me once, and I was expected to get it. They trained me on what as a driver was required. Any back story didn’t matter.

Example: Sliding tandems , pull the lever and put it where its needed and release handle. That is pretty simple. I didn’t need at that stage the theory or enginerting background behind it. Set it and roll. If you want more info later learn it, but a short training period is not for that.

I never learned any of the business aspects of this industry in training. I learned it on my own as time went on. As a company driver it isn’t really needed.

Basic information is all that is required in the initial training. Some companies do better than others, but the goal is the same. Turn out a driver that has the minimum knowledge necessary to make the company money.

Lastly, adults all learn differently. A good trainer can figure a student out pretty quick and adapt. Bad trainers have no clue, couldn’t care less, and just do what they have to per the compaines expecations.

I was sought after to train and refused. The older I get the more I don’t have the patience. I admire those willing to do it right.

I personally don't consider anybody less “tough” if they don’t have want to deal with somebody as trainer who smells like butt, and has breath of rotting teeth.

And, if on top of that he isn’t actually doing much to train. I’d be asking for a new trainer also.

Doesn’t hurt to voice your concerns and give another goal with a trainer if possible. Company can’t fix what they don’t know if nobody is speaking up about this guy.

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.

Im a new applicant having a hard time reaching truckers to talk about the process. So i thought id reply here.

I smoke weed but I can quit. I do not care to, Never have. I dont drink. And I have a presciption for back pain. im 28y/o male. I have no attatchmnt to my prescription either. Will both of these things shut down my proccess entirely or are there acceptances for prescriptions from doctors for pain ever? Or If i had a medical card?

Trucking is Federally regulated, not state. So NO, a medical card for weed, ain't gunna fly in trucking, period....

Im a new applicant having a hard time reaching truckers to talk about the process. So i thought id reply here.

I smoke weed but I can quit. I do not care to, Never have. I dont drink. And I have a presciption for back pain. im 28y/o male. I have no attatchmnt to my prescription either. Will both of these things shut down my proccess entirely or are there acceptances for prescriptions from doctors for pain ever? Or If i had a medical card?

If you are currently smoking, you need to quit and be clean for at least 9 to 12 months so that you can pass a hair follicle test. Not all companies do a hair follicle test but more and more are going to it. While it won't go into the Federal Clearing House, if you test positive before going through the class, it will tank your ability to get a CDL....especially as the country's economy has tanked and trucking has slowed.

"I smoke weed but I can quit. I do not care to, Never have." This is confusing to me. You can quit but don't care to?

Opioids will not allow you to get your medical card. A lot of pain medication are not approved by DOT.