Being A Nice Guy?

I'm on my trainers truck now going on third week. He scolds me when I brake cruse control to let on a merging car. He says they should find their accelerator pedal if they want in front of me. The other day, after we got loaded, a lady trucker behind me asked for help pulling her tamdem slide release lever and calculating how much to move her tandems. Since I had taken the section on Weight & Balance in the High Road CDL Training Program on this website, I was able to help figure how many holes she needed to move and watched while she backed that it went in the right hole. (although I do wonder how she soloed if she can't move tandems by herself) My trainer lectured me for 5 minutes about how I was using HIS time, and now she got to the scale ahead of us and we have to wait again, blah blah blah.

So, my question is, is that what trucking has come to today? Lookout for your own clock and screw anyone else? I told him I was not going to stop being a nice guy just because I drive a truck now.

Mousemaker, just roll with the flow while your with that trainer. Unfortunately in the business climate of today most of the trainers are only training because it gives them a chance to make more money while your moving their truck down the road. So in his eyes you are taking money away from him by helping out a fellow driver - I had the same type of trainer, and I've since found that they are fairly common. The trucking companies are short on trainers so they offer incentives that attract the wrong types of people just so they can get more trainers.

Just bide your time, don't rock the boat, be respectful and learn all you can. You don't have to like your trainer, but you've got to put up with them. Over all it's a short time compared to your entire career. If your like me you probably will never see that person again, but for now just take care of business and try to keep an agreeable attitude even if the trainer acts like a jerk.

So, my question is, is that what trucking has come to today? Lookout for your own clock and screw anyone else?

Absolutely it is. It has been for a long time now and it's really sad. Old School is right on, saying that most trainers really don't want to be trainers. They're just doing it to make a few extra bucks.

I'll add that ultimately they tend to see the student as an unfortunate pain in the *ss, but a necessary evil to make a better paycheck. Sad, sad state of affairs for sure.

But I think it's our society as a whole that has become this way. My philosophy on it is that we've had it so good for so long that so many of us now act like spoiled rotten babies.

Back during the early part of the 20th century people suffered a great deal more. We didn't have the medicines and technologies to make life easier. We had two world wars and the Great Depression. People pulled together for the common good, fought side by side, and did whatever they could to help each other survive and build a better America for future generations.

After World War II this country went through an economic boom that lasted for decades. Each generation had more money, more jobs available, better technologies, and a higher standard of living. And how do most parents feel? They want things to be easier and nicer for their children than they had it themselves. Each generation has been asked to do less, give less, and suffer less. Technology has made us lazy, and money coming out of our ears has made us greedy and selfish.

And here we are today - spoiled, selfish, greedy, and lazy. It's a sad state of affairs. But it's pretty easy to understand how we got here when you look at the big picture.

I told him I was not going to stop being a nice guy just because I drive a truck now.

That's what we need!! We need people to take pride in themselves and the work they do. Work hard, master your trade, and treat people with kindness and respect.

It's easy to allow yourself to be pulled down by the low standards of people around you. It's an endless struggle to hold yourself to a higher standard, especially when people are acting poorly and it's directed at you. But you have to maintain your integrity, keep your standards at the highest level.

Your timing is perfect. The latest article I wrote is called A Look In The Mirror and it's about this exact subject. It's time we all look in the mirror and realize there's only one way to change the way things are in the trucking industry and throughout our society - by holding ourselves to a higher standard.

Very nicely put Brett. I help people out when they are in a pinch as well. I am not a driver yet but soon will be and I think if drivers would stick together it would make for a better industry. Besides you never know when it might be you that needs some help.

Keep up that good attitude for others! I promise you one day you'll NEED someone to help you out and you'll be grateful just like that person you helped.

Sadly, my trainer only trained for the extra money and he was a complete ass like your trainer. Just roll with the punches the training will end one day. I had so many troubles with my trainer I wanted quit many different occasions. But remember to just keep your head up. Let him be miserable because he was dumb enough to lease now he must train just to pay the bills and not receive negative paychecks.