Layover.com: Ready for the Road?

Ready for the Road?

Welcome! This is your personal online trainer. I will strive to provide insightful and 100% accurate information regarding questions you have about the first few months in the life of a new driver--from driving tips to industry policies. Get in on the action. Email your questions to me.

I am a recent grad from truck driving school and leave in 15 days for orientation. I have selected Werner trucking from a very short list of companies that hire on recent grads. I am ex-Navy so being away from home is nothing new to me. One of the things that no one in the school seemed to talk about was preparation for beginning this new career. For example, how much should a new driver allow for meals, should I expect to put lunchmeats, etc. in a cooler or refrigerator? I hate looking like an idiot so could you help me out with the basics?

OK, the basics are really not too easy to prepare for when you are ready to hop on trainer truck for the first time. Normally, you will get sent to one of the major terminals in the fleet. This can either be nearest to you, or they may pay travel to a terminal that has trainers in abundance or more heading out that way. Trainers are 100 percent luck of the draw and you can end up with a real mentor or someone who is simply out to add to their bottom line or one who will not be able to teach you much more than you have already been taught in school. I used to really “talk up” and praise trainers and training, but the fact is that most trucking companies have really bought a line of goods and use the “team training” concept. Team training is something that I do not endorse for anyone other than someone who is going to go out and team drive when they are done with training. If you paid good money to learn a trade and the person who was supposed to be training you was asleep when you were awake and awake when you are asleep, what exactly is he or she training you to do? The preparation advice that I give people going into this these days is “get ready to be really disappointed in your training experience.” I hate to be that way, but this has just been my experiences and the experiences of a log of people who I have talked to over the years.

On the food and eating, there are lots of ways to save money on the road, but there are even more ways to spend it. If the trainer carries a cooler, he should share the cooler space with you. I suggest bottled water because it’s cheap (when bought somewhere other than truck stops) and lean meats and whole wheat breads and snacks. Living out of the truck will be the easiest cheapest way. If your trainer is a truck stop eater, you will really have a hard time living for under $150 a week eating in truck stops or eating fast foods.

The main thing that you need to know is that you need to go into this with self-preservation and grit to see this through no matter what. You have to document your time in this and be honest with your company and yourself. You will be amazed what some trainers do! My golden rule is that as long as the trainer does not do something illegal, completely dangerous, foolish, or irritating to your senses, stick it out! Document what you think is bad and the things that you think are good! Trainers are not necessarily doing things the right way and when they do things that are not in line with what you have been taught is the safe, legal way of doing things, they may not even know it. As long as the trainer does not fall into the above category, put up with it to get on your own truck to be able to run things your way. The trainer is the captain of his ship, and to a certain extent the “gate keeper.” You will some day be the captain of your own. You know the safe legal way of doing things and if you can put up with the life on the trainer truck, you will eventually get your own.

Newbies - Tips From the Trainer

Ready for the Road?