Question:
I've had enough of shitty trainers. I'm sorry for the cussing. While making my first initial stop in Kent, Washington ,I saw the most horrible acts of training.
This trainee was having a hard hard time getting into the dock. He looked tired, worn out and very stressed. He was doing a 45 degree back, which I found out sometimes isn't the best way to back in sticky situations. His trainer was yelling at him, literally belittling him and acting like a fool. I was going to get out and perhaps help the trainee, but he finally got the trailer in the hole. NO THANKS TO THE NO GOOD SO CALLED TRAINER.
I went inside to check on the status of my trailer and the trainer was in there being a (edited). He was saying crap about where his trainee was from (Texas) and then said more BS about him being a idiot. Yes!!! Right in front of the poor guy. Oh if I had a pair of balls I would of knocked his butt out. I would of ugghhhhhhh. There is no sense in belittling people or even degrading.
Trainees are sensitive, we are fresh, we are NEW. A helping hand is needed and not a sour mouth from the trainer. There is no sense in putting up with that BS. A person who degrades another is brought back to childhood, the BULLY. I always hated bullies, guess that is why I went around knocking boys in the heads with my purse full of rocks.
When in doubt and you don't feel comfortable with your trainer, ask for a new one. Get one that someone prefers. Don't settle for less, you are paying dearly for your CDL. You life depends on what you learn from your trainer and common sense.
I know you want to be on your own truck. I know you can't wait and that the squishy team running is driving you crazy. One more week with a different trainer can mean a whole lot.
Take it into consideration,
Sweet Whiskey
P.S. It was a CRST trainer...... sure wish I would of gottent that truck numberSweet Whiskey

Answer:
Eh, maybe some good will come out of it.
Maybe the trainee will get so disgusted with his treatment that he will reconsider his entrance into this business and go out and get a normal job.
Or, maybe the trainee will survive this moron trainer, and have such an impression left by this moron trainer that he will himself become a fantastic trainer by being everything this moron trainer was not.
I only wonder why the trainee would just stand there and take it. I'd be on the phone to the company ASAP telling them all about their high quality trainer and not to run us as a team from this moment forward because the only way we can continue to share the same truck is if I beat the living crap out of this guy.
Answer:
If I've said it once, I've said it at least one hundred times.
Over the road truck driver training is not prison.
Get off the truck and get another trainer if need be. It shouldn't be miserable out here while training because there will be enough of it and stress too when your on your own.
Codger "Stop holding me back. I'm going to clown college." Homer Simpson

Answer:

Heh, gimmie a break. This is a crappy business filled with crappy, miserable people with chips as big as Mount Rushmore on their shoulder. The trainee should be lucky he didn't get stuck with one guy I saw driving for Prime -a crazed, skin-head neo-nazi-type with a swastika tatoo on his forehead. Looked like he just got out of the joint. And with the way this industry is going, he probably DID just finish a long stretch at SingSing!!
Actually, the A-hole is doing the trainee a favor. He's just prepping him for all the 4-wheelers, state troopers, yardmen, freebasers, forkliftmen, toothless bums, lot lizards, and lumpers that will he will come into contact with on a daily basis.
OTR. Love it or leave it. Most intelligent people LEAVE IT!! - Hamilton Carhartt, founder of Carhartt Apparel

Answer:

And some of you are complete idiots with no hope
of ever being trained by anyone.
You have no idea what transpired prior to your observation.

For what? You didn't need a truck number. I believe CRST could tell by the customer you were at,they do know where their equipment is.
Answer:
Now see it wasn't the fact that he was doing him a favor, because he wasn't.
Can you imagine driving in Seattle/Kent Washington traffic after being degraded and belittled?
You are already stressed, upset, feeling worthless and you have to drive in heavy traffic. Who do you think will be on edge?
The crazy 4 wheelers and bus drivers and local daycabers?
I think not, he is not there to be stressed more then he already is. I don't believe in giving slack either , but come one now.
Staff Sgt Barnes wrote:

I suppose i'm not very intelligent, considering I drive a truck.
Is that what your saying?
Sweet WhiskeySweet Whiskey

Answer:
Dont let Barnes get you down SW. Not too long ago he was in here asking questions about becoming a driver and now he seems to be an "authority" about it.
The rest of us who have been out there and done the OTR bit do know where you are coming from, and we do know what you mean. Some of us have had to deal with no good trainers.
Regardless of what may have transipired in the moments preceeding this there was still no call for it what-so-ever. If this trainee was indeed a lost cause then his butt needed to be in the passenger seat until they got back to the terminal and his company sent him packing.
Answer:
I've managed to see a few 'trainers' <cough> at some of the places I pick up and deliver to.
The worst ones seem to be CRST 'trainers'. <cough>
At least with the other company's I've had the experience to watch, their trainers usually try to help the trainee.
I remember once out in LA, a CRST truck rolls in and after getting his dock assignment, the guy got out of the jumpseat and just stood there like a frickin idiot.
The guy behind the wheel was having a hard time getting it in the door, so I mentioned to this guy, "Hey, why don't ya go help your partner get backed in."
He looked at me and said, "He's 'training' right now. If he can't do it with me watching, how's he gonna do it when he has his own truck."
I told this so-called 'trainer' <cough> that he was a POS and that he should be TEACHING his student how to back into a hole. The trainer <cough> just gave me a 'disgusted look' and walked inside the building.
I walked over and asked the trainee if he'd like a little help. He answered in a relieved tone of voice that he'd really like that!
I had him wait for a second while I grabbed a piece of wood and set it down near where the trailer tires should be when he got into the door (no painted lines to guide him).
Then I jumped up on the running board and made him take a lap around the lot to better reposition the truck. Once back in front of the door, I guided him into a perfect set-up position. Once there, I had him set his brakes and get out to look at what I had him do and why I had him do it..
Once he understood what 'he' did, I stood back and watched, offering tips as needed while he backed in. It only took him 2 pullups due to his oversteering, but he didn't do too bad.
When I went in to get my paperwork later, the trainee was on the phone with someone, asking for a new trainer.
I hope he got one!

Answer:
I've been on the receiving end of "training" like that. It bites the big one. The last thing a trainer wants to do is make a trainee nervous. The "trainer" mentioned by SW sounds like a real POS. As a trainer myself, I always make the trainee as comfortable with the situation as possible before pressing on. I always tell them, too, that if they don't feel comfortable with a situation to stop. I'll talk them through it or do it myself.
Trainer attitude will dictate whether any maneuver will take a little while to master, or longer. The clown in the SW story probably thinks the trainee woke up with the goal of doing a crappy job today. Sounds like a sorry excuse for a trainer. There's no reason for yelling at someone who's still learning.
I always tell my trainees that if I'm in the yard, unless I'm absolutely tied up, when I hear the backup beepers going, I will always go out and spot for them. I also tell them that they should do the same for anyone else, too.
Hoss, you probably made that driver's day by showing and explaining what his s***head trainer wouldn't. -Arthur Spooner

Answer:

[sarcasm]Gee, Hoss, you'd never make it as a trainer, helping people out and really showing them how to back up! What are you trying to do, actually teach them something?[/sarcasm]

Answer:
I wondered when someone else was going to see through SSB. SSB do you even or have you ever driven? For whom do you drive? How many miles have you driven? Now remember you joined in May and were asking about companies to go with so maybe no company would hire you and now you're pissed so you bash anyone who does drive to make yourself feel better. You would be a decent trainers nightmare as obviously you know everything already.
Another bobblehead
SSB stayed at a Holiday Inn and now is an authority
Did you get the handle SSB from you're collection of GI Joe figurines as well or were you actually in the service?
I wondered when someone else was going to see through SSB.

Answer:
Barnes said in another post that he had 20 years in the service, if he did and got out as a staff sgt that ought to tell you all you need to know.
Answer:
I had a trainer like that for a very short time. One night when the BS was a little to much I said a few choice words and called him and A-Hole. He invited me out of the truck so he could "give me a present". I was the first one on the ground and he never did come out to give me my present. I was a little dissapointed with him. Building my expectations up and all.
These people that want to train just to make a few extra bucks shouldn't be allowed to train but unfortunatly there are far to many like that doing the job. I was out of the truck that night because we were only 50 miles from the main terminal. I couldv'e got a new trainer but went home instead. No one needs to put up with it. If you get one like that get out ASAP. Most places will give you a new trainer as quick as possible.
Being female SW you could've put that trainer want to be in his place very quickly. Like Hoss I would if I saw it. Unfortunatly I'm not as big so the outcome may not have been the same. I would do it anyway.

Answer:

No, don't twist my words around. Notice I said OTR - not driving a truck. There's plenty of smart folks who drive a truck, but most of these people run local and get paid by the hour for all hours worked. Or they own a fleet of trucks and have other people working for them. OTR is people working long hours for free.
And notice I also said "most" and not "all". There are some intelligent, educated people that enjoy this profession despite the negatives. You might be one of those people. That's a question you have to answer for yourself.
And you and I both know that the OTR training process is a big joke. It's basically a team operation where the newbie is getting paid slave wages. Drivers for most of the big OTR outfits can become a trainer after 6 months on the job. Do you think a driver with 6 months experience is qualified to teach someone how to drive a truck? I sure as hell don't.
I still think the A-hole guy is doing the trainee a favor. Maybe the trainee will get fed up with him and ditch this so-called "profession" and go to school and get a real trade like plumbing, HVAC, nursing, electrician, carprentry, etc. OTR was once a skilled trade but no more.- Hamilton Carhartt, founder of Carhartt Apparel

Answer:

I got more miles driving backwards than you got going forward! - Hamilton Carhartt, founder of Carhartt Apparel