Melton Truck Lines Training

Hi all,

I decided to go with Melton Truck Lines. I’m a student driver no exp but I already have my CDL.

Any advice or warnings about Melton? As in stuff the recruiter won’t mention? Such as is the training actually good? Or the road test? Etc.

That’s a very good choice. Check our diary section and blog section for informational articles about training.

My advice; listen to understand, communicate proactively, be humble, be respectful, and above all else project a positive can-do attitude from day 1.

Pay attention in orientation and take notes on topics that are new or important.

Good luck.

Hello Jim!

Please allow me to give you just a little advice. Most of us start this career knowing very little about what it is like to be an OTR truck driver. We are curious and we start combing the internet to find tips and advice. The problem with that approach is the internet is full of really bad advice concerning starting your trucking career. Even here on our site we struggle with bad advice popping up from people wanting to be advisors when they really aren't qualified. The main theme that I see in online trucking information is this... The trucking companies are out to cheat their drivers and take advantage of them in any way they can - especially the new drivers who are getting started at the mega-carriers.

There is nothing that could be further from the truth, yet these myths live on in infamy with a never ending flow of new stories of bad experiences constantly reaffirming this negative narrative. This causes each trucking newcomer to be on the lookout for dishonesty and cruelty from their employer. They spend inordinate amounts of time trying to find fault. They do this to avoid being one of these seemingly innocent victims. In so doing, they miss the very opportunities that could help them enjoy success and a long career in trucking. It is a sad problem that vexes our industry.

Trucking is a radically different career than anything you have ever experienced. Go into it with a humble attitude that says, "I know nothing about this career, but I will be patient and see if I can manage to figure this out." DO NOT go into this thinking that you are smarter than the company who is hiring you. They have all the experience. We have nothing when we get started. We bring nothing to the table, but a warm body that needs a lot of help and instruction.

Be humble. Be teachable. Don't carry any preconceived ideas into this career. They will all be wrong. Trucking will challenge you to the core. I emboldened that line because it is important that you realize that fact. That is the one reason every newbie thinks they are being treated unfairly or dishonestly. They were not prepared to be so challenged. They thought this was going to be easy and they found themselves really struggling. Anytime we think something should be easy, yet we find ourselves really struggling with it, we start looking for ways we are being cheated. Then everything we read on the internet starts coming back to us. Oh yeah, they are treating me like a slave. They aren't paying me fairly, and on and on our excuses go. Everything is the fault of the company. We are just innocent bystanders who are being taken advantage of. So it seems.

Trucking is a performance based business. Very few people in the U.S. actually get paid for how they perform. They typically get paid for the time they put in. With that system it doesn't really matter how productive one is. The only critical thing to your pay is the time you spent on the job. Trucking straightens all that out and makes sure you are productive. Rookie drivers are never as productive as experienced drivers. Therefore they sometimes struggle to make a decent paycheck. Then they start feeling cheated and abused. That negative narrative they have exposed themselves to comes up and bolsters their state of discontent and makes it like a roaring flame in their mind. They end up slaying themselves with doubts and fears that they are the latest victim of an evil trucking company bent on churning drivers for a profit.

I am going into all this detail because you seem to think we have some inside information to give that will help you recognize if they are lying to you or not. You have to forget about measuring up the company and focus on measuring up your own performance. That is the key to success out here. I started my career at what many consider to be a really disreputable company. Here is the attitude I took when I got started. I determined that I was going to be the best driver this company had ever seen come through their doors. I started and finished everyday with that attitude. You would do well to take that same approach. Do not look for fault. Look for success in your efforts. Trucking has its frustrations. That is part of the territory. It is not a company trying to cheat you. It's not that you are starting at a bad company. You have to make things happen out here for your own success.

If you can focus on your performance it will only get better. Never focus on how the company is performing. That approach will always let you down. Hang in there and be a professional.

Melton has an exceptional reputation for being a good flatbed company. As G-Town mentioned, you can find drivers who have posted their training experiences at Melton under the training diaries. If you happen to find anything negative about Melton on other sites, on YouTube, on Facebook, etc, take it with a grain of salt. Those are usually disgruntled drivers who couldn't cut it and have decided to bash the company instead of understanding how they contributed to their own downfall as drivers.

Word. For. Word.

I came in, with some understanding of what I was in for. I wasn't prepared to face the rather large chip I had on my own shoulder, as I "thought" I knew what a good employee was.

Trucking will challenge even the best of us. The difference between a disgruntled driver, and a successful one, is how they HANDLE those challenges.

Hello Jim!

Please allow me to give you just a little advice. Most of us start this career knowing very little about what it is like to be an OTR truck driver. We are curious and we start combing the internet to find tips and advice. The problem with that approach is the internet is full of really bad advice concerning starting your trucking career. Even here on our site we struggle with bad advice popping up from people wanting to be advisors when they really aren't qualified. The main theme that I see in online trucking information is this... The trucking companies are out to cheat their drivers and take advantage of them in any way they can - especially the new drivers who are getting started at the mega-carriers.

There is nothing that could be further from the truth, yet these myths live on in infamy with a never ending flow of new stories of bad experiences constantly reaffirming this negative narrative. This causes each trucking newcomer to be on the lookout for dishonesty and cruelty from their employer. They spend inordinate amounts of time trying to find fault. They do this to avoid being one of these seemingly innocent victims. In so doing, they miss the very opportunities that could help them enjoy success and a long career in trucking. It is a sad problem that vexes our industry.

Trucking is a radically different career than anything you have ever experienced. Go into it with a humble attitude that says, "I know nothing about this career, but I will be patient and see if I can manage to figure this out." DO NOT go into this thinking that you are smarter than the company who is hiring you. They have all the experience. We have nothing when we get started. We bring nothing to the table, but a warm body that needs a lot of help and instruction.

Be humble. Be teachable. Don't carry any preconceived ideas into this career. They will all be wrong. Trucking will challenge you to the core. I emboldened that line because it is important that you realize that fact. That is the one reason every newbie thinks they are being treated unfairly or dishonestly. They were not prepared to be so challenged. They thought this was going to be easy and they found themselves really struggling. Anytime we think something should be easy, yet we find ourselves really struggling with it, we start looking for ways we are being cheated. Then everything we read on the internet starts coming back to us. Oh yeah, they are treating me like a slave. They aren't paying me fairly, and on and on our excuses go. Everything is the fault of the company. We are just innocent bystanders who are being taken advantage of. So it seems.

Trucking is a performance based business. Very few people in the U.S. actually get paid for how they perform. They typically get paid for the time they put in. With that system it doesn't really matter how productive one is. The only critical thing to your pay is the time you spent on the job. Trucking straightens all that out and makes sure you are productive. Rookie drivers are never as productive as experienced drivers. Therefore they sometimes struggle to make a decent paycheck. Then they start feeling cheated and abused. That negative narrative they have exposed themselves to comes up and bolsters their state of discontent and makes it like a roaring flame in their mind. They end up slaying themselves with doubts and fears that they are the latest victim of an evil trucking company bent on churning drivers for a profit.

I am going into all this detail because you seem to think we have some inside information to give that will help you recognize if they are lying to you or not. You have to forget about measuring up the company and focus on measuring up your own performance. That is the key to success out here. I started my career at what many consider to be a really disreputable company. Here is the attitude I took when I got started. I determined that I was going to be the best driver this company had ever seen come through their doors. I started and finished everyday with that attitude. You would do well to take that same approach. Do not look for fault. Look for success in your efforts. Trucking has its frustrations. That is part of the territory. It is not a company trying to cheat you. It's not that you are starting at a bad company. You have to make things happen out here for your own success.

If you can focus on your performance it will only get better. Never focus on how the company is performing. That approach will always let you down. Hang in there and be a professional.

Also worth mentioning, one of my friends drove for Melton, and was very happy with them. She would still be with them, had she not been offered her dream job.