Profile For Stephanie K.

I am glad that you posted that clarification. Sometimes I read from a trainer their view of a trainees mistake and I wonder why they react with such an attitude of "just don't do that!!". I guess it just bothered me when I read the threads about the guy that was excited about his new GPS. I understand what you are saying about some mistakes being not acceptable. But when it comes to understanding why we have to do certain things instead of just doing them, I feel that once we get out there and we are alone we need to have that understanding. My experience s were based in backing and understanding the GPS. It took many hours of backing by myself with the help of many amazing truckers to understand how the truck reacts to my movements because the trainers I had just told me how to do it instead of helping me understand why it works that way. I also was never told how the Qualcomm and GPS differ. It took time for me to understand how to use them together and when to not pay attention to the GPS. I just feel that when a student is ignorant to certain things and starts to make a bad decision regarding making a turn down a road that leads nowhere a trainer shouldn't get on this site and boast about how he or she threatened to throw him off the truck because of that. Maybe I read it wrong or was a bit too sensitive to the situation. I apologize if I took it the wrong way. I just know how it feels to be new and excited about this career and feeling crushed by my inability to understand what and why a trainer is telling me to do something.

They call me Miss Daisy cause I am always below speed limit. Getting there 10 min earlier is just not worth the risk.

No problem. I bring things up as they come to me. I have been a student most of my life mainly because I can't sit still. I enjoy learning new things, but I suffer from a high IQ, so I am constantly testing my boundaries. Hence, my familiarity with failure. And my acceptance of humility. Lol. I also enjoy the wisdom that is offered up on this site. I just feel the need to point it out when I see, which sometimes it does, sway towards being a b*** session for trainers. Not a learning experience for trainees. I always have viewed this as a no bulls*** site that gives a positive perspective of truck driving for newbies. Not a place for trainers to bash their trainees. That will definitely not draw new drivers to this site.

Thank you. I am on a roll. I just think we need to accept that there is always room to grow.

I am hearing this alot from trainers lately. It really bothers me. You need to think as a trainee. You need to figure things out. You need to know why you are doing what you are doing. Just because we are ignorant when we first started out does not mean we are stupid. Why would a trainer threaten to throw you off the truck because you wanted to try following a different route instead of explaining why that would not be a great decision, and having an adult conversation about it. Maybe it's just me but lately I have been seeing alot of egos flying in the face of what is supposed to be called mentoring.

I just wanted to say how I view failure. Without failure you will never truly know success. It is the same with happiness. How do you know what happiness is if you have never experienced sadness. When we screw up we learn and we become better at what we do. Perfect people are only a pain in the a**. Nobody likes them or can learn from them. My motto is always, " there are no mistakes, only opportunities.". Just wanted to put my thoughts out there. As a newbie that screws up on a regular basis, but who owns it and learns from it.

I am confused. What does politics have to do with a student who is having trouble owning up to his own short comings? When someone has this issue it is usually fear that is driving it. Try addressing his fear of failure. Help him to understand that each time you fail you have more information and ability to succeed. You can not succeed if you do not experience failure. They coincide. One leads to the other. The trick is to do it gracefully.

Thanks for the replies. I have never worked this long and hard without days off. I think because I am still learning I get so exhausted. I have had two days I had to park because of weather and one reset since Dec 22nd. I love making the money, which is alot more than I was making managing salons, but I am an overacheiver and have a tendency to run till I want to quit. So I was just trying to get a sense of what was an appropriate amount of time to ask for and when to ask for it.

Just wanted to get a sense of how often people take home time and how long do you usually stay out before requesting time off.

Thanks. I have been having nightmares about it all night. After that right turn off Gravel Hill Road going to DHL in PA. I am gun shy