After being the victim of downsizing and losing a good job I had for 16 years, I decided to try truck driving as a means to earn the income I once had. While out job hunting one day, I saw a Schneider National truck. There was a sign on the back stating "Company Paid Training 1-800-44-PRIDE". Since I wasn't having any luck at all finding a comparable job with the same pay I was earning, I called them and did a short questionnaire over the phone using their automated system. I then received a call back soon thereafter from one of their recruiters. I was e-mailed their employee handbook and offered a "conditional Job Offer" meaning I was hired as long as I passed a DOT physical and successfully comleted training at one of their training academies. I had to sign a contract agreeing to pay $4000 for this training if I didn't complete one full year of continuous employment with Schneider. Since I had an excellent work history, I didn't worry about it and was extremely confident I would have no problem staying with this company for at least one full year.
In March, I began training at the Schneider Training Academy in Charlotte, NC. The entire class went thru classroom instruction and actual hands-on training in the trucks both in their practice yard and on the road. I believed I was learning the correct way to drive the trucks and I felt I was being well prepared for the career that was to follow the training. After a few days, however, I was told by many of the drivers there (the training academy is part of the Schneider Operating Center) that "the rules will all change after the training is over and I'm actually out on the road. This was told to many if not all the students who talked to these drivers during our class breaks. I thought about backing out but was informed that I had already committed myself to the training and would be obligated to pay for it if I didn't drive for Schneider for one full, continuous year.
Four weeks after beginning the training program, I graduated, received a diploma and was given my assignment. I would be driving on the Wal-Mart dedicated route for the London, KY distribution center. Upon calling my Service Team Leader (STL for short) I was told to report to the distribution center and I would be placed with a trainer. I did as instructed and after arriving at the d.C. And having an employee badge made, I reported to my STL and he told me to wait in the driver lounge and my trainer would arrive shortly. After an hour or so of waiting, my trainer did arrive and we talked about what I should expect out on the road and what is expected of me. He then showed me how to use the computer and pull up the information on the loads I would be hauling. While I was with my trainer (his name is Jason) we would run as a team for the most part. The first day, however, he would do all the driving.
Once we had our load information, we got into the truck and coupled with the trailer. We then scaled the load to make sure it was withing the legal weight limits. Before proceeding to the gate and departing, Jason said something that I had heard from so many drivers while I was in training. He said "Take all that crap you learned in Charlotte and throw it out the window. It doesn't work out here in the real world." Now I was worried because I wasn't sure if I would be able to drive the truck the way I had been taught and be safe. As we were going to deliver the load, I could easily see that Jason, as well as all those other drivers I had talked to in Charlotte were EXACTLY right in what they said about the training. I then knew I was going to have to UNLEARN what I had learned. This, of course was nearly impossible and in the 6 weeks of my employment with Schneider, I saw just what a joke this training was. I failed the CDL test twice using the techniques I was taught in training and after a week of intense practice in the yard behind the d.C., I finally unlearned the wrong things I had been taught enough to just barely pass the test and get my CDL on the 3rd attempt. I must mention at this point that I was not getting paid for all these "practice" sessions where I was actually unlearning all the wrong things taught at the training academy.
Now that I finally had my CDL, I needed to get out there and start making money. I had been unemployed for so long I had bill clooectors breathing down my neck and with a wife an a baby on the way, I was desperate. I wasn't sure if I would be able to drive the truck because of all the wrong things I had learned but I was committed to fulfilling the contract I signed and I was, in good faith, making every effort to do so. I was given a short road test by one of the STL's at the d.C. And he determined I was ready to go solo. I received my 1st load and was to deliver to 2 Wal-Mart stores in Tennessee and then pick up a backhaul load to go back to the d.C. The direction provided were a joke. I got lost twice but, luckily, found my way to the sores without any incedent. I then proceeded to pick up my load to backhaul. The road in and out of this place was no place for a tractor trailer. One of the things that I was taught in training was to use only DESIGNATED ROUTES. Well, this was not a designated route and I now realized all too well that what I had been told by so many drivers and by my own trainer was the gospel truth. At this point all I could do was pray that I wouldn't make a mistake and have an accident.
I arrived safely back to the d.C. With my load and was dispatched to take another load. This was another 2 stop load and a backhaul. I followed the directions perfectly and had no problems getting to the 2 Wal-Mart stores I had to deliver to. Little did I know that disaster would strike on my backhaul load and my worst fear would be realized. I had do drive to a farm on another non-designated highway to pick up produce. Since I was pulling a 53 foot reefer, I had to swing the truck wide around narrow curves and pray that there was no oncoming traffic. Luckily, I arrived safely to the farm an pulle the truck in. Now I needed to turn it around. It had been raining all night and was extremly muddy. However, I could not back the truck in from the roadway because it was against company policy as well as ILLEGAL. I was taught in training to NEVER do this. I followed directions in accordance with the law and company guidelines. Now I'm on a farm in rural Kentucky in the mud trying to turn an 80 foot tractor trailer around in a pleace I was taught in training that I should NEVER go. There was barely enough room to turn the truck around to begin with. To make matters worse, the farm owner had a brand new $40,000 boat parked in the only space I can turn around. I used the only techniques I knew and they were the ones I was taught in training. The owner of the farm was spotting me from the rear. I managed to back the truck into the space to turn it around but not before the left steer tire sank deeply in the mud. I sill needed to back about 2 feet so I could turn the truck and get it facing the road. The farm owner told me to come on back and I told him I'm not sure if I should do this because if the truck finds enough traction to pull out of the mud, it might jerk and cause me to strike the boat. He said I had plenty of room and to come on back. I locked in the inter-axle lock differential to maximize torque so I could get unstuck from the mud. I thien eased off the clutch and the truck got traction and then jerked back. I then saw from the mirror the farm owner. He was cussing me out because I hit his boat (so he said). I got out and looked and I did see a small ding but the truck wasn't touching the boat (although it was EXTREMELY close). I then contacted my STL as well as the accident dept.in Green Bay, WI (company headquarters). After completing an accident report with the Pulaski Co., KY Sheriff's Dept. I turned the truck around, picked up my load and returned to the d.C. I went out to this farm with a 53 foot reefer trailer. My load consisted of 5 small boxes of produce that could have easily fit into a compact pickup truck with room to spare. My STL informed me that I was taken "off-duty" and should report on Monday for "remedial" training. This "training" was unpaid. Although there was no apparent damage to the farm owner's boat, Schneider paid him to "shut him up". I then had to spend 3 days on the road with a driver who needed remedial training in personal hygiene. I was sickened so by his odor that I could barely stand to ride with him. After 3 days, this particular driver told my STL I was ready to go on the road again. However, my STL insisted I practice on the yard again for 2 more days and then I would receive a "test". At this point I was a nervous wreck because I needed to make money and I wasn't. My STL capitalized on this to just get me irritated so I couldn't think straight (I think all of you who are reading this can see where this is headed).
Now I have my STL and one of the other STL's out in the yard watching me do "slow manuevers". I was given a task to back the truck between 2 rows of barrels and was told I had to keep the truck within certain parameters (meaning spaces so tight that a Volkswagen couldn't manuever in them) to successfully pass the test. If I failed, I would be fired. I somehow managed to get the truck in line to back straight between the barrels. As I started backing, my STL yells "You just hit a barrel! Park the truck and come inside!" Before I parked the truck, however, I decided to get out an look for myself. I clearly saw that I had not come anywhere near hitting a barrel. I then went insider and was told by my STL that the company couldn't invest any more time and money on me and I was being, as he put it, "let go". I told him I knew exactly what was happening and he replied, "Well, none of that matters, now". I then told him I would not be paying the $4000 for the training and that he might as well tell "Green Bay" not to expect a penny from me. He then told me he had nothing to do with that. I was then escorted off the property. Soon thereafter, I did receive billing for the training and, after pulling my DAC report, that the reason stated for my leaving the company was that I had quit. My advice to anyone thinking about this or any other truck driver training... BEWARE!!! You many be throwing your life away. I can't even get a secured loan because of this so-called "training". I was fortunate enough to get a good job again but it won't erase the negative credit file I have. I'm forced to live at home with my parents along with my wife and son because no one will give me a mortgage or even rent to me now. If you want to learn to drive a truck, do it the old-fashioned way. Ride with an experienced driver who knows what the hell it's really like out there. You still can do this. All you need is a CDL learner's permit and you get that the same way you get a regular one - by passing a written test. Then, find a driver you can trust and who will care enough to let you ride with him or her on the road so you can see what it's really like and learn the right way of even learn that truck driving may not be the right job to get into. Don't sign your life away by taking these so-called comapny paid training courses. You will forever regret it if you do and it doesn't work out. God Bless!!!
0 comments