Tnt Phase Week 1 At Prime... Ready To Get On My Own!

Hey really extremely glad I found this forum. I've read through a few posts and they've been helpful. I started at Prime beginning of September. Worked really hard and asked a lot of questions. That first week was crazy. Hardly any sleep on day one and a lot of waiting but I made it through that.

I made friends got my permit and ended up in the training class. I asked questions and was enthusiastic. A trainer asked me to do psd with me and also the tnt.

I'm definitely not a fan of this guy. He isn't the worst but man I'm just tired of it. We got along great the first couple of days and at some point we got into different debates and it seemed like he wanted to fight me on like every subject like a controlling thing like he always wants convince me he's right about things lol.

He also seemed very instructional. Like correcting me about a lot of stuff and hes kins of afraid acting but I'm new so I get it. At some point he acted like annoyed with my questions. I ask him what turn to make and he says" I already told you a couple miles ago" and I tell him "I dont remember if you have a problem with me asking let me see the gps otherwise tell me" and he totally lost it.

He blew a fuse and screamed at me. He screms the exit I'm supposes to turn at as we drive by it and I tell him to not talk to me like that and just calm down. And he does and it just gets weirdly silent for the rest of the ride.

Later,another night, he says he wants me to go over my pretrip with him while he's driving. So I'm going over it and when i get to the air pressure I say "...between 120- 140 psi or governor cutoff. And by the way it is 140 on my sheet not 125 like you said." He starts getting upset asking what I mean. I explain to him that he told me before it was 125 but my sheet said 140 and he loses his mind again. Totally blows up. "125 ! I would never say that. Are you serious? Maybe I would believe 130 but not 125. Do you think I'm an idiot!?" All in a super aggressive screaming tone. And he's being really aggressive in his questioning and asking me if that's what I'm saying and so i finally just say "ya I'm not going to protect your feelings you said 125. It's not a big deal. I don't think you're an idiot I just figured you made a mistake and was letting you know. "

Anyway that threw a monkey wrench in our relationship. He had me go back to the pad to practice for a couple days.

I definitely dont like his style of teaching which is basically yelling but want to make it work. So he is manipulative and basically wants to make it clwar hes the boss and i dont know what I'm doing and need to be more teachable. Which all of these things are possibly true.

So after he basicallly makes it clear that i shouldn't question him next day he asks if I'm ready to take cdl test nextday. I will be on 5 hours or less sleep mind you and I dont feel i can say no. So hes like i need to maje sure you're in. Lol i just say ya like what choice do i have? Anyway next day comes and i pass first two sections and turns out he has a faulty air hose so I can't rake road test until thats fixed.

He gets it fixed and after 2 hours I get ashot atroad test and fail. Oh well. Passed it next day.

NowI'm out on the road with this guy. He goes back on his word about things a lot and has all excuses. When i first started it was explained to me that I would work 3-3 ans he would worj the other 3-3. Now we get stuck at shipper and less than a week in its no longer the case. Now 5-5 but that's trucking I'm told. Seriously considering calling fm or someone to get paired with someone else. Not sure though also think maybe I should just tough it out. Any opinions?

Welcome Alexander.

It's probably best to stick with the trainer you have. Honestly, from your description of your conversations with him I think you're just being a little thin skinned. You just have to toughen up a bit. You're a grown man. He shouldn't have to speak to you like you're a 6 year old girl. If he's a little gruff sometimes then so what? Just don't take it personally and keep in mind he's telling you the things you need to know in a life or death scenario.

Students tend to obsess about themselves without realizing there's a ton of pressure on these trainers. He's literally risking his life to teach you how to drive. Can you imagine how hard that is for him? He knows you're new and he can't trust you to do the right thing in an emergency, and it might get him killed.

So if he can deal with the anxiety of not knowing if you're going to get him killed or not while teaching you a new career I'm sure you can find it in you to deal with a little tough love.

Read some of these articles. They were written by a trainer and they're extremely well done:

Articles Tagged "Trainer's Viewpoint"

One of the best is this:

Types of Trainers and How to Deal With Them

Just toughen up a bit and focus on learning. He's not your personal servant. His job is to teach you a new career and make sure you don't kill yourself or anyone else. You can't expect him to be jolly every minute of his life, and I'm sure if we asked him for some details of your time together you're not a perfect saint to deal with either, am I right?

Thanks a lot i can be too thin skinned and need to work on that. Thanks for the links they're helpful. You make some good points about his perspective. I'll put on my big boy pants and toughen up. Thanks for the reply

On my truck there is no schedule. whoever has hours and isnt exhausted drives, even if its for only five hours for the other to grab some sleep. you might drive morning then drive night or whatever. we did a couple rolling 34s but also did a.couple days off at the terminal and i even grabbed us a night at hampton inn to get us off the truck for a night. the reason i do.that is because the trainee needs experience driving in various traffic volumes and will be expected to constantly flip a clock when going solo.

trucking cannot be planned it.chamges constantly and you need to be flexible.to.roll.with it.

hang in there..treat training like boot camp.then when you get your owm truck do whatever u want.

Thanks for the reply. I'm hanging in there taking it a day at a time. Does anyone know if the trainers are supposed to pay for showers?

Alexander

I almost laughed out loud at this....I would imagine, the answer is a big "NO" but we will have to see what Drivers say since I am still wrapping up my military commitment.

Best of luck Chris

No...are you serious? They might out of the kindness of their heart, but are not required to fund your hygene.

You will earn free showers with fueling points. You need a professional driver card with all of the truck stops you frequent. Very easy to get, just inquire at the fuel desk.

Failing any unforeseen circumstances, I too will be training out of Prime in Springfield. I have no problems with that type of training but being 57 yrs old and having done quiet a few things over the years, I only hope that the trainer I get has a lot patience for the both of us. Thanks for sharing Alexander and keep us posted.

I was blessed to have a great trainer that I got along with personally and professionally and I still talk to him two or three times a week. But even after 4 weeks it started to wear thin being in a confined truck with the same person. This is a very short period of your career, learn, absorb, and maybe blow a little air up his butt and act as if you really appreciate the pointers he's giving you. Trust me when you get on your own you're going to wish you had somebody around to help you out. It is hard out there. Been on my own almost 3 months and there isn't a week that goes by that I'm not challenged by something I haven't dealt with. Thank God I can call him in these instances but sometimes he doesn't answer cuz he's busy and I have to figure it out on my own.

Understanding TnT