I completed my flatbed training at the Millington school on 4/07. I was told that the only flatbed mentor available was a smoker. I dont smoke but, I was ancious to get started so I agreed to the mentor, and BOY was HE a SMOKER! Easily, 3-4 packs a day! But that was the least of it. He was ex Navy, and a White racist piece of sh! T. Mind you now im a 45 yr old 6'2" 350lb former gang member out of L.A. I've been around some of the worst (and I mean worst) people you could ever want to come across. This dirt clod was the absolute meaning of sub-human! He had no business even being around humans, let alone a mentor! He degraded women in a way that would make satan shiver. He told stories about his sexual conquests, and Naval career that youd have to be braindead to believe. The more he talked, the more he smoked (coughed). I tried to stay focused & learn this trade, but each day he pushed me closer & closer to mayhem. When we would stop at places to eat or wait on loads, he would try to pick up waitresses or sluts to bring to the truck to screw. He had the audacity to ask me (tell me) if he scored, would I mind hanging outside the truck until he finished? He could'nt teach me how to alley dock because he could'nt himself. It al came to a head after a drop we (I) did at an Army base in South Carolina. It was around 90 degrees and we had a full tarped load. He told me he wanted me to untarp it alone to get further experience while he sat inside the truck with the a/c. When leaving I asked could we stop on the way to the Greer Terminal so I can get me a bottle of water because I was dehydrated & dizzy? He told me No! Can you Believe It?! I had to start praying to keep from killing him. When we got to the Terminal I told the DM that I was not getting back on the truck with him. And I told them why, and they agreed. They then teamed me up with a mentor who was about 5'2" tall, black, but with a shortman complex about 7 ft tall. He spent the next 2 wks trying to prove to me that despite his size, he could handle the truck. My next mentor was cool but he only had a week before he was going on vacation. He was Black, and he taught me more in 1 week than I had learned in the previous 4. But I still could'nt back up safely & I expressed this to them upon completion & they blew it off. (note: after the Navy idiot I quit flatbed & went van). I had had a full 6 wks of training, but they doctored up some paperwork, had me sign it, and put me in my truck. For the next 5 months if I got to a drop & could'nt pull up & straight back it to the dock, I would look for a Swift driver to do it or pay another driver $10-20 to do it for me. My clutch went out at the terminal in Tn. I was there 2 wks waiting and had asked if I could be included in the backing class & was denied. I did'nt get paid for my down time while there. Also, Swift had started messaging me at least once out of every 3 trips saying they needed my bill of ladings to pay me. I turned in all my paperwork on time. So they were stealing my money once or twice a month. When I complained to my DM O. Banks he gave me his canned DM lines. So when I finally made it to my terminal I had had enough of this$300-500 a month job and turned in all my stuff at the window. They sent me a load over the Qualcomm while I was cleaning out my truck. I ignored it & now its on my DAC as a "no-show", and with that and less than 1 year driving I cant get a job with this CDL doing nothing! And, I still owe them $5,000!
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