Week From Hell Ended Horribly!

James, if it's any consolation, I got sent home from TMC too. It was a long time ago, but I remember feeling really disappointed.

Guess what I did?

I got a job at Western Express. I worked my tail off there. I made sure I learned how to run a truck in a profitable way. After about 16 months I switched companies after receiving a great offer from Knight. I've never looked back on those days at Western Express with anything but gratitude. They kept me busy, and I learned how to excel at truck driving.

I never wanted to be anywhere near average. They helped me learn to seek a higher level of productivity. That's how you make this business work for you.

Over one million miles later, I'm still at Knight. I'm still building a solid career on the foundation I built at Western Express.

Hang in there brother! It's never easy getting a trucking career started. Persistence and tenacity have to be your constant companions. Don't let anyone make you think you can't do this.

James, I just wanted to reinforce what PJ recommended, that you go with van to start with. Right now, refrigerated freight is doing better than dry van. And I think reefer is a better sector for the long term. So, look real hard for a reefer company or a company that does both reefer or dry van. Of course, you will probably have to go with the first company that says yes, but try to focus on pulling a van.

Also, not just for you but just a general comment about turns. Many 4 wheel drivers are ok when they only have to go straight ahead. I think there is a switch on the steering wheel that automatically turns their brains OFF whenever the wheel is turned right or left. The best advice about turns I got from my trainer was “Straight and Late”. Maybe you’ve heard that expression. So, I always try to make turns by going straight as far as possible and then turning “late” in the process. That technique really eliminates most of the chances these 4 wheelers have to get themselves and you in danger. And for you, when you have to explain what happened at TMC, I probably wouldn’t complicate the matter by including the part about being cut off by a car. I would simply say that I misjudged a turn, jumped a curb and blew a tire. It was completely my fault and it won’t happen again.

I really believe that with you having your CDL , you will be able to find a new gig pretty soon, even in this economy.

Yes, BK< I learned and used that exact philosophy, Straight n Late lol. Made many a tight turn, much easier to complete safely, and with plenty of room !! @ school they taught you to go out until your shoulder passes the curb, on the road you're turning onto, right or left....Some I pushed the imaginary line a bit further, past the curb line-to-shoulder...

James, you aren't the 1st to get a trainer from hell, or a co-driver hahaha. Surely you will find your spot, you seem to have the drive and ambition to make it thru........I went thru 3 co's that, 2 couldn't drive fer chit, 3rd turned out to be a total control freak physcopath. 2 weeks, with him I was off the truck and done with him !!.....He never let me on the lower bunk either, driving or parked !!

1 night, I was awake and just waiting for him to maybe attack me when he went off on me snoring ! Wasn't me, I was fully awake, was him, I even recorded it for proof! He kicked my bunk into the air, twice, and went nuts ! He got up into the driver seat. Then he blasted the radio up and down,, the AC, then revved the truck etc dunno why?....Anyway, I was ready, to kill him, literally if need be in self defense, it could'a got real ugly, real fast!..... I just exited the truck and walked off to chill in the yard we got trapped/locked in at a customers by accident....

Got ahold of our DM and made up a B.S. excuse to get rerouted back to Calif from Denver. Explained later what had really happened, turned out he quit CRST when we got to the terminal in Cali.

Hey all. First off and as always, I greatly appreciate all of your advice. I'm definitely moving forward and I've learned from my mistake.

There were some other things I wanted to say and I have no idea if I should bring this or anything else up for that matter with another perspective company that may want to give me a second chance.

On the very first day with Jon; my driver trainer; he asked me if there was anything that I really felt like I needed the most help with. I told him that I really needed help with backing. Straight backs I felt comfortable with and I'm OK with an offset. Angle backs I really needed help with; specifically the 45 degree back. He said OK and I thought he'd spend a good deal of time to get me comfortable and confident in performing angle backs so I would be able to do them not only for the final test before I would receive my own truck, but obviously to do them on my own on the job. All I wanted to do was to get to the point of knowing that I could do all of the areas of my job completely unassisted and totally on my own. I'm sure everyone starting out is wanting the same thing. I never looked at becoming a truck driver as a job that I want to do. It's a CAREER that I want to live. I've embraced that idea before I ever began this journey and wanted this as my final career until retirement.

I figured that with him knowing that I wanted help with the angle backs that he would set aside time to go over them daily. That didn't happen. On a weekly basis, Jon and I would have to call my trainer coordinator to give her a weekly update on my progress. After my 1st week he gave her a call and she would ask him questions like how many hours of driving that I've driven, how many miles I drove, what loads we picked up and delivered, what type of load securement was used and how many backs (straight and angle) I've done. He was honest about everything I've done....except the part about the backs. He told her that in a week I had performed 28 backs; 6 straight and 22 angle. That was nowhere near the truth. In that 1st week I believe I had only done 6 total; 2 straight and 4 angle. The 2 straight I did unassisted, but the 4 angle were heavily assisted and obviously I'm nowhere near comfortable or anywhere near confident in doing an angle back on my own. Then he handed the phone to me and basically she asked me the same questions. When she got to the question of how many backs I've performed, I remained silent for a moment and kept thinking to myself that I really need to tell her the truth. Before I could say anything, Jon put his paper that he had all of the total on and firmly pointed to the number of backs that he was claiming that I did and gave me....a look. I'm sure you know the look I mean. Like, either say this or...look. So, I unwillingly told her thar I did 28 backs; 6 straight and 22 angle. I REALLY didn't want to, but felt I had no other choice.

There's one other thing that I wanted to talk about and I'm hoping this isn't the same with all truck companies. While I was in the classroom portion of the training, one thing was brought up multiple times and that was getting the proper amount of sleep and that a driver should never drive in a fatigued state. There was a lot of talk about this and that coffee, driving with the windows down, etc. is not a substitute for sleep. In the 2 weeks I was on the road almost everytime we went to sleep and I would ask him when to set the alarm he would tell me either 4 to 5 hours later. A few times we did get 6 hours or a little more, but most of the time it was only 4 to 5. Did I feel comfortable driving after only 4 to 5 hours of sleep? Absolutely not! Now, I'm sure you're all thinking; wait, what about the logs? There's no way you can drive with only getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep. Well, everytime I was not actually driving; sitting and waiting to get a load, sitting and waiting to drop off the load, securing a load, taking the securement off the load...basically whatever I was doing other than driving he would tell me to put myself on "Sleeper Berth". Obviously, during those times I am not actually asleep or resting. I'm wide awake and doing something. Actually, for a load of assorted steel we went to pickup, while waiting he told me to put myself on Sleeper Berth and we waited 6 hours to actually get the load. I sat in the driver seat the whole time, but guess who was in the Sleeper berth? He told me to wake him up when it was our turn to get the load.

So, I'm not sure if that's just how he does things, a number if drivers do that as well or is this an industry wide "cheat" that all or most companies want drivers to do? I can't see how they pushed for the proper amount of sleep so hard during the classroom training and then when I'm actually out there....it's 180 degrees opposite of what they were preaching. I just don't get it. Do they really want us to be safe drivers or is getting as much dine as humanly possible more important?

Do I bring any of this up with another company or keep my trap shut? I'm not sure what to do or if there are any companies that practice what they preach.

Once again, thanks to everyone for your comments and advice! I really need you to steer me in the right direction and I know that you'll do your best to do that.

Keep your mouth shut with a prospective employer about someone else teaching you to falsify your logs. Don't ever let yourself get caught in the driver's seat while in SB status. It happens.

Me personally, if I could sit in the driver's seat, turn the key, release my brakes, and drive, then I am NOT in SB status.

Do you get taught to back in training? Eh, not so much. In my 38k miles with my TNT trainer, I had ONE back that I didn't fight all the way into the hole. One. I'm lucky Troy didn't throttle me. It didn't "click" until I was solo in my own truck, in a "do or die, there is no help...." Situation. There are trucks you can learn, and a good trainer will teach you some of them, but backing is largely dependant on your truck, and your setup. Bone the setup, and it's a fight to the hole.

Gah! The Typos! Sorry!

Hey James, this is one of those topics that’s difficult to address on a public forum because most drivers falsify their logs to at least some extent. We all know it and DOT knows it too but if you admit to falsifying your logs or get caught falsifying them and then later end up involved in a fatal accident, you’re probably going to prison.

You shouldn’t have to choose between falsifying your logs and doing what your trainer says but in reality sometimes that’s exactly what you have to do. I’m not going to tell you what to do but I would focus on getting through training and making sure you do it safely at the same time. Learning how to be productive while also setting boundaries is part of driving a truck.

I wouldn’t tell a new company all about this. It’s irrelevant to them. Just find somewhere, get through training, and get into your own truck. Sometimes you will have to stand up to a trainer and say no. Sometimes you have to compromise. A lot of times you’ll just have to suck it up and get through training. I wish I had better news but getting through training is one of the hardest parts of trucking.

As far as the backing stuff goes, most companies should have some sort of training supervisor you can talk to privately if you’re having issues with a trainer. Trainers typically have a financial incentive to run as many miles as possible, just like you will when you get your own truck. Taking out extra time to practice backing either cuts into rest time (if logged SB) or delays the load ( if logged On Duty like it should be). It’s a lose lose. Just get backs in wherever and whenever you can. If you’re doing ok with backing just let it go. If you’re struggling really badly with it, I wouldn’t lie to the training coordinator and I’d tell them how many backs I’d actually done.

Always always always try to work things out with your trainer first before going over their head but don’t be afraid to go over their head if you need to. Use your best judgment and keep your eye on the prize. The goal is to get through training so you can get your own truck.

Good luck man. I think you can find another job pretty quickly if you apply everywhere that takes new drivers. The good part is you already have your CDL this time so that opens up more doors for you

James, I think the advice from NaeNae and Pianoman is good advice. Trainers are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. I had a great trainer and sleep was never an issue. He insisted on doing logs by the book, so no issues there either. I wanted to practice backing more, but he just had me do the ones needed to get the loads done. I pretty much taught myself like NaeNae did and that is a very typical scenario for a new driver. You will get lots of exercise doing GOALs if you are conscientious. When learning, GOAL excessively and never worry about what other drivers think.

Let the TMC experience be water under the bridge and start anew with a different company. Hopefully you will get a real good trainer the second time around.

I just had another Prime driver, on his third solo load, ask how I "got it in so smooth." What he saw as smooth, was a faulty setup, and more wiggling into the slot than I normally like to do.

His trainer didn't actually teach him any helpful hints, or any of the "Why you do this...." Instructions. I took thirty minutes of my day, and asked him questions that I know the answers to, but are designed to get him to look at a scenario and understand what needs to be done.

Can I explain to you the same way? No, because I'm not standing in front of you. Will my way work to teach everybody? I'd be an ID10T if I thought it would. Did it help that one guy? Sure. I got a text from him this morning, saying thank you, because he was able to get parked "easier" than he had. The thing is, I didn't actually teach him how to do it. It's like that scene in Days of Thunder...... "Special Tires." He got his mind out of his own way, and was able to do it.

Hu NaeNae. All I can say is that you never know. If I were there while you were trying to help that other driver and listened in, who knows? It may have helped me as well. And if it did, I'm sorry, but a simple, "Thank you!" in a text wouldn't have been enough to show my gratitude. That would, at the very least, deserve dinner and drinks 🍸 on me. At the very least.

Taking a little break now and I'm trying to get on top of other things to get done as well, but I've applied to Western Express, CRST, Schneider, U.S. Express, Farley & Schilling, Wilson Logistics, Paschall Truck Lines & Swift Transportation so far. I know there's more companies out there and will get back to that after some chores and lunch.

Drive safe and TTYL 👋.

I just had another Prime driver, on his third solo load, ask how I "got it in so smooth." What he saw as smooth, was a faulty setup, and more wiggling into the slot than I normally like to do.

His trainer didn't actually teach him any helpful hints, or any of the "Why you do this...." Instructions. I took thirty minutes of my day, and asked him questions that I know the answers to, but are designed to get him to look at a scenario and understand what needs to be done.

Can I explain to you the same way? No, because I'm not standing in front of you. Will my way work to teach everybody? I'd be an ID10T if I thought it would. Did it help that one guy? Sure. I got a text from him this morning, saying thank you, because he was able to get parked "easier" than he had. The thing is, I didn't actually teach him how to do it. It's like that scene in Days of Thunder...... "Special Tires." He got his mind out of his own way, and was able to do it.