Post Trucking Company Orientation: Training Days Begin

My three day orientation at Swift was packed with alot of information. I mean.. alot.

At the end of the third day only one attendee was sent home (health reasons). Well, not totally true... one guy was sent packing before orientation even began... He missed the shuttle van on the first morning.

I was sent back to a motel; sand a driver code. The nice lady that conducted the sessions promised me to come back the next day for my code. . She did not disappoint.

While waiting to meet my mentor I hung outside the smoking area. Being a new face I hung out with the regulars. Finding out I needed a mentor an intense bidding war ensued among the mentors that were present. I took a liking to one guy that was cool. We shared the same love for Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

I went inside the office to meet my developmental driver leader. She told me she had already chosen a mentor for me and that he will arrive in a couple of hours.

I met my mentor later that day. He was a larger version of me; big, bald, and tattooed. I found him down to Earth and easy to get along with.

My mentor isn't a Swift company driver (owner/operator). He drives a Kenworth T 700 with an 8 speed. I never drove a KW nor an 8 speed so it was a thrill to experience something different. Also, unlike the typical Swift castrated 62mph rigs this one runs up to 68mph.

So far, in the first 2 days I've run 700 miles on two runs: New York and Pa. Being on a dedicated major retailer account we pull a reefer and return to the terminal regularly.

Tomorrow, we run to Chicago. The fun continues.

Thanks for the update! Best of luck!

I'm starting to see the mentor's true colors.

The truck is supposed to run solo for the first 50 hours. Well, it's been run as a team since day one. He takes at least half the miles and when he tires due to undiagnosed sleep apnea he sits in the jump seat and passes out within minutes. After 20 minutes he crawls in the sleeper for hours. He wakes up just before we return to the dc and takes over.

He fudges my Qualcomm logs; logging me in the sleeper berth when it should be on duty not driving: screwing me out of money.

Saturday he was whining how broke he is. Then, he leaves the terminal with his buddies and they come back with a ton of food and throw an impromptu cook out. I find out today that he bought the food. Today, I notice $200 missing out of my wallet.

And on top of it all, he smokes all my cigarettes. .

I can't sleep due to his raucous snoring and his farts will peel paint off walls..

I've had it.

Oh yeah, he lied to me. He doesn't own the truck. Some other guy does and he just drives for him.

So much bs. ...

Hammer, I hope your just messing with us! WTF!!??

So you're saying he's obnoxious, he smells bad, and he tells a lot of lies? Welcome to trucking my friend. You've just described 75% of the drivers out there.

How long are you in training? I hate to say this but it's true......as long as he isn't physically hitting you or forcing you to do unsafe and illegal things it's probably as good as it's going to get. The standards for the behavior of trainers is incredibly low. Don't expect much.

I do know that Swift claims they're willing to put you with another trainer if you don't like the one you have. I'd give this guy a little more time but don't let him talk you into anything dangerous or illegal.

On-the-road training in the trucking industry is an extremely sad state of affairs I'm afraid. There are very few good trainers out there. Most of them are nearly intolerable as people and mostly ineffective in their training. It becomes an exercise in patience and tolerance more than anything for most students.

Well if you could prove he took the $200 from your wallet, that's something blatantly illegal, but good luck trying to prove it unless you caught it on video or get him to admit to it

I hate to say this but it's true......as long as he isn't physically hitting you or forcing you to do unsafe and illegal things it's probably as good as it's going to get. The standards for the behavior of trainers is incredibly low. Don't expect much

This statement by Brett is not an uncommon one by folks here and at other sites that I am reading and looking into for this career. And sadly this seems unacceptable to me. Not the statement itself, or who made it, the fact that it is apparently true. That's what's unacceptable to me. also, while I get the idea of not rocking the boat, I would think the best advice would be to ask for another trainer. But, yet, the opposite is what's commonly given. That just seems wrong to me.

As of right now I am planning on jumping into trucking as soon as I get loose ends tied up in the personal life. The one thing that is honestly holding me back concerns training. Are companies hurting so bad that they take in ole warm body to be a trainer? And why are O/O trainers? There #1 priority is themselves and there truck, wouldn't hand selected company drivers, the best of the best if you will, be selected?

I am a huge believer thast when you start a job your likelihood of success or failure is directly impacted by your training. Yes, you can recover from it, but why should you have to? I'm not naive. I understand this isn't a perfect job and that it has it's issues, but training shouldn't be one of them.

LOL, okay my rants done, but that has really been bugging as I keep looking into this career. Best of luck Hammer, I hope it all turns out alright for you.

As of right now I am planning on jumping into trucking as soon as I get loose ends tied up in the personal life. The one thing that is honestly holding me back concerns training. Are companies hurting so bad that they take in ole warm body to be a trainer? And why are O/O trainers? There #1 priority is themselves and there truck, wouldn't hand selected company drivers, the best of the best if you will, be selected?

Trainers select themselves by attending a class for it. O/Os are trainers because most companies pay trainers. You can't select the best of the best because you can't force someone to train. So, you end up with people who want the cash and don't care about the training in some cases. But, that's where I say people can be the change. If someone good qualifies as a trainer, it'd be nice if they'd pay it forward for at least one trainee.

Yeah, I get you can't force anyone to be a trainer, but you should be able to give your best extra incentives to train. Just because I have a good record and volunteer doesn't mean I should be a trainer. And from what I am reading that seems to be how it's done.

To me that just seems to be ass backwards.