Next Leg Of The Journey Begins

Well, finishing up my training days, parked here in Minneapolis Flying J for now. Load to Penn.. @ 5 am Which I will dropped off at our main terminal in Cedar Rapids. Where I will hook up with a California bound driver to our Riverside terminal, under a couple loads I'm sure, to connect with my co-driver/friend and get my assigned truck there.

Should be going home for a few days, prior to our first team load as a team !! Cool let's get this started I say ! Need a little break, tie up some personal stuff at home. Get extra winter clothes, upgrade cell plan again, couple tires for my car etc.....Sure buddy will have couple cars for me to fix hhahaha sure they missing the live-in mechanic now!! haha

Aside from my trainer, and being a tiny bit weird he has been good for the most part, and we got along fine. But now it's time for him to pick up his next student when he drops me off tomorrow, sometime late afternoon-ish.

Being a lease--op, he did few things against policy but whatever lol.......... Like having me sleep on top bunk from day 1,(tad scary at first)......using his cell, in his right hand driving, checking stuff, like our next, cheap fuel stop etc...... And driving twice, for a short bit on my clock, to rush to a location, as his 70 hours were up......We were never late, usually early and did quite a bit of weekend sitting in truck stops....

We got out of Denver yesterday just in time too it seems, as the hardest snow storm hit.....Once we got like 30 miles away from the city the light snow drizzle ended all the rest of our drive to Minneapolis......

My classmate/co-driver has been running hard as well, so we should be good to go and rack up them "safe" miles.....And hopefully manage our clocks just right, as I'd like to take a break once in a while and get in some fun too, not just all work work hahaha......

P.S. forgot to mention we ran a bit over like 17,000 miles in 20+ actual driving days.......11 hours is a bit much on my right ankle but I get thru it in the end.....Few times he was backing to a dock or parking spot, I wanted to jokingly ask him "Hey !! You want me to do that for ya?? lol 1 night he took 9 tries to get it parked I snickered a bit I can't lie lol

Glad things seem to be going well, although I wouldn't have been ok with him breaking the law like that and jeopardizing my safety.

Well, finishing up my training days, parked here in Minneapolis Flying J for now

I actually stopped there around noon today to scale out my load. Got pretty crazy in there so I took off asap.

Now the real learning is about to begin. Stay safe out there Stevo.

That's great news, Stevo. Great job!

I would not let the fact of sleeping in the top bunk policy by that trainer slide. Illegal, and Extremely Dangerous! Your training DM or Safety needs to be made aware of that. This is against every company policy I'm aware of. I can't stress this enough.

Anyone up there is coming down with many broken bones if your truck were to rear-end another truck, safety net or not. Is that worth risking your life over for a few weeks with a trainer? What about the next student?

Steve I am happy you survived this trainer. You outlined every reason in the book to me why he should not be training. Safety violation of you in that top bunk, big no no. Cell phone another. Do you realize that is more severe on a csa score than 15 over the speed limit and as such alot of companies will fire on the spot. Him doing alot of the backing, that did you no favors my friend.

This trainer is training to use students for miles. He gets paid every mile that truck runs. In reality that is all he really cares about. Sad but true fact.

PJ I did a lot of the backing hence my joking if I'd asked him if he wanted me to do that instead lol.....I am by no means a pro, but I feel better at backing that watching him sometimes.....

Yeah I know its not good sleeping on top bunk period.And was no net up there his is tied to the wall on lower bunk. I survived, but did hold that locker handle a bit now n then.....And yes the cell use as well is a big no-no,

I might mention it later on, and I do have 15 seconds of video as proof on cell phone. Just I aint no rat will think it over a bit before saying anything .... But good point, what about the next student, and possibilities of something bad happening down the road

PJ I did a lot of the backing hence my joking if I'd asked him if he wanted me to do that instead lol.....I am by no means a pro, but I feel better at backing that watching him sometimes.....

Yeah I know its not good sleeping on top bunk period.And was no net up there his is tied to the wall on lower bunk. I survived, but did hold that locker handle a bit now n then.....And yes the cell use as well is a big no-no,

I might mention it later on, and I do have 15 seconds of video as proof on cell phone. Just I aint no rat will think it over a bit before saying anything .... But good point, what about the next student, and possibilities of something bad happening down the road

Steve, I should have been your lead driver. I wouldn’t have done any of that bs and wouldn’t let it fly on my truck. Did you graduate from ASD out of Fontana?

I understand Steve. I’m glad your out of the situation. I think about what could have happened and it scares the crap out of me. Just a couple days ago 6 trucks were blown over in TN during high winds. What would happen to someone in that top bunk???

Trainers like yours irrate me. They think they are smarter at this business and lease a truck, then figure out they aren’t making money so they become trainers to get bigger miles, to get bigger paychecks.

Their focus is on themselves, not the students. I am sterotyping here, but it is a very true reality.

I have a passion for training. I had one of the toughest crowds in training for 25 years, cops. I taught driver training both to academy and in service in cali. It is about the students skills as well as mindset. Purpose, simple to help them stay alive. Not the money you can make from it.

I’ll get off my soap box now. I wish you the best moving forward. You have had a hard road, no pun intended. Very proud of you sir!!

I understand Steve. I’m glad your out of the situation. I think about what could have happened and it scares the crap out of me. Just a couple days ago 6 trucks were blown over in TN during high winds. What would happen to someone in that top bunk???

Trainers like yours irrate me. They think they are smarter at this business and lease a truck, then figure out they aren’t making money so they become trainers to get bigger miles, to get bigger paychecks.

Their focus is on themselves, not the students. I am sterotyping here, but it is a very true reality.

I have a passion for training. I had one of the toughest crowds in training for 25 years, cops. I taught driver training both to academy and in service in cali. It is about the students skills as well as mindset. Purpose, simple to help them stay alive. Not the money you can make from it.

I’ll get off my soap box now. I wish you the best moving forward. You have had a hard road, no pun intended. Very proud of you sir!!

I’m still a Lead Driver with CRST and I wholeheartedly agree with everything PJ just commented. It truly is unfortunate that there are trainers out there that are like that. I always do my darndest to teach my students the first FMCSA way of things, then the TT way of things then the CRST way. That way they learn what’s important first then least. The day I ever need to just use a student for extra miles will be the day I quit training again. I certainly don’t want to be that guy. 😜