Posts Tagged ‘Truckers’
Recruiting & Retaining Women as Truck Drivers
Women have proved to be reliable and efficient truck drivers, but recruiting, training and retaining them effectively in the trucking industry offers unique challenges. During the recession, when loads were scarce and the driver shortage mostly vanished, carriers had little reason to rework their employment process in a way that would speak to woman drivers.
Now, however, trucking insiders predict a massive shortage of drivers in the wake of the federal government’s new Compliance, Safety, Accountability safety-measurement program, which is expected to oust low-scoring drivers from the employment pool. That means higher-scoring woman truckers and women interested in becoming truckers will find themselves popular with carrier employment recruiters, who need to do their homework and find out what makes a female job candidate choose one carrier over another.
Women drivers are recruited by some carriers at levels exceeding 25%, but currently comprise only 5% to 6% of the driving population. Unfortunately, few woman drivers are able to withstand the manner in which their training is conducted — and those who do realize quickly that the recruiters played up the romance of the open road and glossed over some significant drawbacks for women.
I believe it is time to fully address these things so the trucking industry can move forward, and my first piece of advice for recruiting women is: “GET REAL.”
This is not a “pedicure and nylons” profession, and the female counterpart to the fabled “Knights of the Road” is not “Truck-Driving Barbie.” Explain the hardships inherent in navigating 80,000 pounds of metal through congested traffic, the danger of sleeping in the cab at unpoliced truck stops, and the sheer inconvenience of not being able to shower every day. Downplaying those things increases driver turnover when the truth hits home.
That is not to say that Pretty Girls cannot drive a big rigs, but trucking is still very much like the wild west & the unsupervised nature of the work presents personal safety issues that must not be glossed over.
Potential and new-to-the-profession women truck drivers need to be able to seek advice from other women in their company, and that support also should be available on an industry level. Perhaps American Trucking Associations and/or individual state trucking associations could provide professional support and information systems for female drivers and direct them to carriers in their area with good track records for recruiting and retaining women drivers.
A vital part of retention is understanding women drivers’ needs and remembering that it’s most often a single woman, not her married counterpart, embarking on a truck-driving career. Things important to a single woman driver differ from those of single male, married male and married/significant-other team drivers. Often as not, a single woman driver not only manages her truck from the driver’s seat, but her household as well — particularly if she’s also a single mother.
Unlike a married man driving solo, a single woman trucker generally lacks a support system at home a phone call away. Indeed, many times she is the entire support system for her family while she is on the road. An employer who wants to retain her services as a driver must understand that she needs to be more flexible when taking home time and might even want to take it at different locations in order to visit grown children, grandchildren or to deal with elderly parents.
Training also is critical for retaining women drivers and should begin prior to the classroom with recruiters giving female recruits an accurate depiction of all aspects of a life in trucking, ensuring that only informed and truly interested women enter training.
Because truck driving is still a mostly male profession, trainers tend to use techniques designed for men. As more women enter training, trainers need to incorporate the cultural lessons of the 1992 bestseller “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.” While women do need the same driving and compliance training provided their male counterparts, they also need gender-specific training on the personal challenges and dangers inherent in life on the road.
For example, being women means we are far more susceptible than men to personal attacks. Carrier trainers need to discuss and address these dangers head on, instead of avoiding the subject because it’s “sensitive.” Night parking in well-lit areas, companion dining where possible, locked cabs at all times and emergency response training all should be a required part of classroom training.
Carriers also must establish supportive policy to protect their women drivers. Unfortunately, the risk of attack for women is not confined to outside sources. I personally know women who were assaulted by male drivers who were their co-workers with the same carrier. This risk is particularly great in mixed-gender team situations. Some trainers & other authority figures will often “show up” at orientation centers to sort of “troll” for incoming single females who are vulnerable & looking for a friend. Incoming women entering trucking must educate themselves on how this can set them off on the wrong foot & derail their long term success as truck drivers.
A company must have a strict policy against sexual harassment that extends to any and all encounters with women drivers who are co-workers. An abuse reporting procedure also must be provided that is confidential, responsive and reacts quickly to investigate and resolve issues.
Too many female drivers are lost from the industry in the first year because of misleading recruiting, shallow training and carrier failure to address personal safety issues. That’s unfortunate because women truck drivers are usually meticulous, safe and take great pride in their work — and because truck driving can be a rewarding profession regardless of gender.
Women who stay in trucking do so because it provides a freedom most haven’t experienced before and an opportunity to take pride in a job that’s critical to our economy. Women can be a large part of the solution to the upcoming driver shortage if carriers are willing to adapt their recruiting and training programs to address our cultural and personal differences.
Until big trucking can free themselves of the denial that is hurting women entering trucking & “GET REAL” I have taken the initiative to utilize you tube for series of videos that use tough talk about real issues for those entering truck driver training. “Advice for Women entering Trucking” is just one of many more to come on this topic to keep women safe by educating them before they are harmed in truck driver training.
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Social Media & Women Truckers – Part 2
“Social Media & Women Truckers – Part Two” focuses on Violence against Women in the Trucking Industry & notable Social Media campaigns that have changed the rules on humanitarian issues and activism.
Being successful in social media does not require a sales team, a research and development department, a marketing firm or “guru” but it does require effort to make a commitment to positive transparency.
Taking action to respond and interact can be time consuming BUT it can be executed rather effectively from just about anywhere with the use of smart phones.
Managing a Facebook and/or Twitter campaign during a lunch break via cell phone is very much a reality. Therefore, never underestimate the velocity of an individual as opposed to an organization. There is no way to gauge how far the message can travel and you never know who is listening. Furthermore, never ASSume anyone at all is listening or cares about what you are saying.
As an industry there needs to be more accountability aimed at government funded truck driver training fleets for the conduct that occurs. Very little is expected of truck driver student candidates to behave as good citizens YET many do take the initiative to try to raise the standard, only to find themselves being retaliated against for speaking up about driver abuse.
In other areas of trucking which requires experienced drivers there does not seem to be any recognition of how truck drivers are trained and why many do not make it past 2 years in the industry.
Even trucking professionals do not seem to understand “Where truck drivers come from?” in the here and now. The enormous turnover rate in training fleets affects the quantity of experienced qualified drivers who would apply to private and specialized fleets.
Until the entire industry holds those who are doing this accountable, you are all culpable for what is going on out here on America’s highways.
*** Relevant links (Gold Letters) in this powerpoint will help locate additional information ***
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Are Truck Drivers Really the Problem?
I’m required to work 70 hours a week and if I’m lucky I get one day off…away from home. Many others complain about working 40 and only having 2 days off. If I text and drive it can cost me my career, yet you can do it and it just costs you a fine.
While I am doing my best trying to find a safe place to park for the night so I can get my legally required 10 hour break, you are kicked back relaxing and watching TV while you have your RV parked at the truck stop.
When I stop to put fuel in my truck, I have to wait in line while you hold up the line playing lottery scratch offs, I’m on the clock, you are just having fun. When you are snuggled up in your warm bed in the winter, I’m freezing my butt off because my truck is considered a nuisance to people like you, so I cannot idle it to stay warm or to keep it cool in the stifling summer heat.
I help to provide this country with everything it needs to keep functioning on a daily basis, while you seem to want to interfere with every aspect of my job, however you would be the first to complain if me and my coworkers decided to stop doing our job.
So please answer me this question America, how is it that the American truck driver is considered a second class citizen, one that should be banished from public view?
You regard us with no sense of importance; animals in fact have more rights than we do. You continue to take away more of what little rights we have left and then claim a moral victory under the guise of safety for the American motoring public.
We make sacrifices to keep food on your table, gas in your car, clothes on your kids, and a roof on your house. All the while making it harder for us to provide our own families with any of those things, I guess somewhere in your sense of humanity you find it fair, you somehow feel you are entitled to label us, mock us, and degrade us.
Then you wonder why many of us want nothing to do with you when you come up and ask us for help when you are stranded on a highway in the middle of nowhere………so ask yourselves, are America’s truck drivers really a problem, or are we an asset?
J.Haggard
11-11-10
Jason has been in the transportation industry for the last 15 years, he spends much of his time communicating with state and federal officials regarding laws that adversely effect the everyday life of professional truck drivers. He has worked as a company driver and as an owner operator hauling everything from boats and produce to furniture and Department Of Defense freight. He is also a strong supporter of Jason’s Law (named for Jason Rivenburg) and educating the general motoring public about how to safely interact with commercial trucks on the road. When not in a truck or dealing with trucking related issues he likes being Dad to his two children, working in his small electronics repair business, or fishing Minnesota’s many different lakes.
** R.E.A.L. stands for Reaching Out, Encouraging others , Achieving personal Success and Leadership **
We encourage all drivers to utlize social media as a method to raise the standard in the trucking industry and thank Jason for permitting us in reprinting his facebook note for the public.
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Social Media & Women Truckers – Part One
The “Social Media and Women Truckers” seminar at the 1st Annual Memphis Truck Expo was not only to educate those in trucking on how to get started with simple basics, but also to fire a warning shot across the bow of those who have not removed the cotton from their ears on how truck driver abuse is beginning to catch up with the trucking industry.
Social media has been an outlet for a number of topics where outrage and a demand for accountabily have been raised. The timing could not have been worse for trucking as the economy, CSA2010 and other climate change regulations have impacted profits. To the neglected industry of trucking, the backbone of America, having drivers be able to speak for themselves outside of their cabs for the first time must seem like the perfect storm.
Driver abuse by carriers is being exposed in an way that has some professionals listening and some carriers suspiciously quiet. Individual drivers are speaking up by using social media and people are listening.
Driver recruiters claim to be having a tough time finding qualified candidates but they seem to be missing the point on how misleading advertising and poor treatment has made drivers feel manipulated. Perhaps it is time for carriers to review how cost-effective their comission packages & advertising budgets are being used to lie and mislead drivers? Does it make good business sense to buy endless print ads and radio commercials when active social media truckers can debunk your claims in 140 characters or less?
Social Media requires a committment to positive transparency and it is a bumpy road getting started if you have lots of potholes in your driveway.
The supply chain and logistics community have been for the most part separated from the driver population until the advent of social media and as it turns out, truck drivers are filling in some of the blanks on how their crucial part of the transportation sector actually works. It is not always pretty.
In the preview called “What are you Sponsoring?” , the persistence to control the message set the stage for a social media experiment which was a success. Integrity is all you have BUT if you have been absent of that in the past, THE GOOD NEWS IS: It’s never too late to get some.
I encourage individual drivers to start learning more about social media and begin networking online with other active groups of social media truckers. I hope this slideshow series will motivate the problem solvers.
The issues related to violence against women in the trucking industry have been introduced on this site , on Facebook and on Twitter. I will continue to expose this problem and the carriers who permit it to occur.
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Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) censors protest comments to his Female Trucker campaign ad
Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) , the Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has sunk to a new low by using a female truck driver in his new television ad campaign called “Joyce“, without addressing the national truck parking issue.
The ad features female dump truck driver Joyce Fisk of Knife River Corporation, Fisk testified (SEE TESTIMONY) before the Federal Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the need for long-term federal highway funding in March 2010, and made valid points about the dire need of prioritizing infrastructure projects.
What is not addressed in her testimony is the need for safe parking, which is not an issue for Joyce Fisk, as she is a local driver. Safe parking is a critical topic for “Over the Road” truck drivers who support “Jason’s Law” HR 2156 and companion bill S971 which was introduced by Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY)
Hope Rivenburg, the young widow who has in addition to giving birth days later to twins after the murder of her husband, has worked tirelessly attending trucking conventions, fairs and personally making phone calls to get our elected officials to address the truck parking crisis. Mrs. Rivenburg has made a series of trips to Washington D.C and while many trucking publications and organizations have used her husband’s murder to sell their memberships and magazines. Very few have put forth the effort to pick up the phone themselves to call legislators on behalf of this bill to make it a priority in the way ordinary individuals have done over the past year.
Still, despite our efforts Hope Rivenburg has received little more than a blow off from many of our public servants involved in transportation and infrastructure funding. In the past few months numerous calls have been made to Congressman Oberstar’s offices for information regarding why “Jason’s Law” is being ignored while other infrastructure projects are being funded. Addressing truck parking creates jobs yet we are facing truck parking closures in many states and Congressman Oberstar seems oblivious to this.
Named after slain trucker Jason Rivenburg, “Jason’s Law” was introduced by Paul Tonko (D-NY) after the senseless murder for a measly $7 which was visible on Jason’s dashboard. Jason was early for his appointment to deliver milk but could not be unloaded until the following morning. He parked in an abandoned gas station where he was shot and killed, leaving his young pregnant wife to deliver twins days later, leaving her with their three fatherless children.
The murder of Jason Rivenburg has grown to be a symbol of the neglect and disrespect truck drivers experience while trying to maintain federal driving regulations in order to keep America’s store shelves stocked. Crimes against truckers continue to grow, rest area closures and increased criminal activity in truck stops have created an atmosphere where truck drivers are sitting ducks because they have few safe places to park and rest.
We have asked Congressman James Oberstar staffers for a clear understanding on numerous occasions why this bill is being ignored and the truck parking issue is not being addressed while other roads projects are moving formard. NATSO, The National Association of Truck Stop Owners has failed to sufficiently recognize the problems that exist on their properties. A recent story about serial killers on the front page on USA Today seemed to infer that the rest areas were less safe than the travel plazas, which is not the case.
To add insult to injury, censorship on the Facebook page of Congressman James Oberstar began this week when comments were removed repeatedly that asked why truck parking and specifically, “Jason’s Law”, were not addressed in the “Joyce” television ad campaign. Comments have also been censored from YouTube where the ”Joyce” television ad is being featured. Let me remind the Oberstar campaign that censorship is a social media no-no and there are a good deal of truck drivers who participate rather effectively in social media.
Congressman James Oberstar is the Chairman of the House Committee for Transportation and Infrastructure, yet safe trucker parking is not on his agenda. We do not support James Oberstar as he appears to use tactics which will gain him votes, without addressing our concerns for safe parking or acknowledging the problem of increased crime targeted at truck drivers who move America’s freight.
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What’s the problem with the CR England?
Some trucking professionals like to tout their collective careers by adding up how many years all together they have in the industry with colleagues and count this as experience.
Few of them have ever operated a commercial motor vehicle, nor have they been enclosed in a small space with a total stranger and harmed.
This weekend I took notes on a Woman’s story that had elements eerily familiar to many other women I have interviewed over the past two years. I published her account on the Facebook fan page called “Real Women Truckers’ in a note titled “Abandoned CR England Driver“.
The real hero was a male driver who met this woman as she was trying to reach out for help from her training employer, CR England. He witnessed how she was being treated and circulated it on facebook, he also sent an email to CR England.
There was immediate shock when the entire chain of events was shared, especially from others who work in areas of trucking not related to truck driver training.
I was advised by these true professionals to share the story in Linkedin and in any way possible to get action.
What is odd is that right after the Dan Rather Report series, it was CR England who posted the following remarks on twitter with this post.
“Dan Rather was wrong! Trucking is a great profession. Go to truck school and see the Country. “
The link with that tweet led to an article called “10 Reasons to Choose Our Trucking School” and they mentioned the Dan Rather Report in the post. I say odd but in reality this is typical hyena trucking capitalism. I have seen it time and again, whether it be stealing content from another trucking blog or an organization trying to use an issue they had absolutely nothing to do with advancing take credit and utilize it as a membership drive opportunity.
One of the top reasons listed by CR England on their blog mentions the Smart Way EPA partnership which ironically is a post I recently made about this sham program and how it affects employee drivers and lease Owner-Operators. ( Read: Smart Way or Dumb Way – Examining the EPA Partnership with the American Trucking Association ) The particular incident with the CR England student though had to do with violence against women in the trucking industry.
There has been an outpouring of concern by male and female drivers and it has been been phenomenal but what about the carriers? Where is the accountability?
Under no circumstances should they be able to put a person off a truck and leave them! Even if it becomes violent, carriers are responsible to provide a safe training atmosphere… end of story!
YOU HIRED THEM, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO GET THEM HOME SAFELY!
This woman simply wanted to work like so many others who have been cheated out of a dream and a chance by the trucking industry’s mismanagement!
Who was disturbed by this story? Professionals with a quarter of a century in the industry, a parent with Daughters, A representative of a Fortune 500 company listed in the top 100 companies to work for, Social justice attorneys, countless people on twitter and a good community of drivers on Facebook who shared the story over the past few days, many who shared CR England horror stories of their own. So what does that add up to ? Um , let’s see … ( 25 cents + plus kids + 500 +100 + all those other people = more collective experience with a conscience than the collective experience of those without it! )
I am asking the trucking community for assistance in this matter to examine their collective conscience on the astounding denial that exists in this industry. It should come as no surprise that the transition to CSA 2010 will require an environment of greater professionalism yet here are some of the accoutability items that continue to be rejected: Violence against women entering the industry, Crimes against truckers from lack of parking and Criminal activities in exisiting parking areas such as human trafficking, drug activities, and frequent disturbances that affect restful sleep.
The National Association of Truck Stops (NATSO) and the major trucking carriers have evaded responding adequately to “Jason’s Law” which is more than a safe trucker parking proposal; it is a statement about the conditions these powerful lobby groups and trucking carriers have permitted to occur by inaction. If you treat people like animals, they begin to act like them.
There is a climate of ignoring crime and disrepair yet blocking any sort of competition, it is a battle to maintain an oligopoly at the expense of drivers.
While national news from the state department has made human trafficking a priority, groups like “Truckers against Trafficking” have not been embraced by NATSO despite their locations being centers of trafficking activities.
It is not organizations leading the charge to raise awareness of these issues, it is individuals taking action. Truckers have had a part in saving trafficking victims from truck stops. Trucking publications have noticeably snubbed Jason’s Law, human trafficking issues and violence against women in the trucking industry yet most of the activity takes place at truck stops!
While there is applause for such campaigns as “Highway Heroes” , no campaign currently exists to encourage better conduct among the driving population. We have trucking heroes but the industry wants to choose which topics to publicize. Is it any wonder that the the Homeland Security program called Highway Watch failed? A program which asked drivers to be the eyes and ears to protect America from terrorist activities? This very same industry that does NOT embrace human trafficking awareness information, does not make a priority to fight for safe and adequate parking for it’s own, it does not encourage personal safety training or offer guidance to expendable student drivers. Thankfully, individuals are taking action.
Watch this Video from “Truckers Against Trafficking” about kidnapped teenagers being sold at truck stops , Human Trafficking Video , the heroes are not NATSO , they are individual drivers who care about humanity and grassroots volunteers who put forth time and effort to make a difference.
I do not believe every person in this industry does not care, I believe that they are insulated from the truth of what is happening at the indoctrination level into this industry. The story of the Abandoned CR England Driver is a snapshot of a system that does not care about the human factor in the supply chain.
Understanding what we drivers experience on the road, what is taking place in the training fleets, learning about the crimes against truckers due to the parking situation, coming to grips that human trafficking is occuring in this environment, my hope some will take the initiative which is the first step in getting out of the cycle of denial in which the trucking industry dwells.
Good citizen truck drivers are taking the initiative to clean up this industry so how can the industry continue to justify the way they bury their head in the sand about what is going on at the entry level fleets? These things are all connected and I’d like to see some concerned professionals step up and speak up about what is right and wrong. The court of public opinion outside the trucking industry understands that what is going on in trucking is wrong. What we lack is a few courageous people to step up and IMPLEMENT a plan NOT a PR Campaign or we will go nowhere.
The problems persist in training fleets due to poor in-house support on crisis situations where the knee jerk reaction is to blame the victim, poor communication, antiquated logistics software applications, no follow-up and predatory recruiting. The tracking of the freight is state of the art but the human beings who move it are expendable.
Good trainers quit because the bad targeted recruitment, there is a shortage of female trainers because of this. In the CR England post this woman was assigned to training situations with drivers who were not trainers and had only a few weeks or months driving experience! She also had the opportunity to become a trainer herself yet she admits she was not taught to back the truck or even adjust her tandems. This lack of seriousness in the training programs should alarm EVERYONE!
There are carriers who have attempted to curb the way they handle the personality disputes and personal safety issues but they have yet to dig into the core issues with a vengeance. We can easily determine who is doing it and eliminate them but instead we have a climate where untrained in house staff do and say things to encourage the abuser to continue.
By this remark I mean that often abusers lay ground work to “cover their ass” in advance and if personnel is not trained to recognize this they are part of the process of aggravating the situation and possibly making the carrier more liable. As with Nancy’s story, by the time she made it to the HR department she was the villain and the meeting was handled like a criminal in a debriefing session. This is very common in training fleets due to the volume of turnover but it is not unique to trucking.
Industries still operating in the dark ages still place you in the center of the bulls-eye if you dare visit the HR department where often you will be targeted, retaliated against and eliminated.
For drivers, generally the DAC is ruined and the women who experience what Nancy did are given a bad reference so they cannot re-enter this industry. Among women drivers this is very well known and it is only now that some concerned men are becoming aware of the problem. Many erroneous DAC reports have been filed on women truckers who reported harassment or refused to comply with some form of misconduct from the employer.
Question: Who do you think are the biggest foes women drivers?
Answer: Women who work in-house in the trucking industry.
WHY? Because predators make a point to befriended the outer circle of a target. Part of the challenge to these people is to gain respect and trust. This makes it very difficult when they are accused to have the friend remain unbiased.
A disenfranchised person, especially a woman who is desperate for a new life is a perfect target to isolate. Ask any criminal profiler, women like this are preferred targets for crime and violence because no one is looking out for them and it is easy to destroy their credibility if they report being abused.
“Acquaintance-Rape” scenarios occur when a person lets their guard down and the victimizer knows it. If the victimizer has made effort to buddy up with in-house staff this aggravates the situation because they have laid the foundation to discredit the target in advance. This goes on frequently for women in truck driver training; the stories I collect are almost verbatim.
In my own story I became aware notes were being taken about me and entered into the company computer. This meant when I called in distress, I was being prejudged and treated according to the perception made about me on a computer screen. I was not a person; I was an employee number, a gender and an ethnic race with comments about me.
While many carriers say they have a toll free number and emergency system to remove a trainee from a bad situation, the truth is that these systems often do not work. Especially on night and weekend shifts which is when most issues occur. Poor communication during shift changes aggravates these incidents and often the ball is dropped when the regular weekday staff comes in. There is no oversight, no cross check or follow up.
Misleading Advertising Harms People
Poorly prepared females who have been misled into this industry often think they are welcome with open arms and that trucking is one big rootin tootin party. That image that is part of the problem not only for the women entering trucking but for the inexperienced men entering trucking who think all women truckers are “good time sally”.
There is no path to lead any student successfully from CDL training, into reliable training and into a long-term carriers that require stable experience to meet their qualifications standards. For students, it is a crapshoot but in-house staff can help alleviate much of the trials by being better trained for a crisis. UNLESS this is occurring on purpose?
“We always kept the experienced drivers housed away from the students so they won’t tell them what’s going on “- Quote from a former Driver Liason
Normal corporate structure employees generally have some sort of training to work in environments with the opposite sex yet it is non-existent in truck driver training where total strangers are supposed to live together in a room the size of a closet.
These are people who are expected to follow the letter of the federal law yet many have never worked with opposite gender co-workers. What is acceptable if no one advises them? Combining a former construction worker and a former longtime housewife with zero guidance? She was recruited at her local workforce office and received paid training compliments of the American taxpayers, if she gets harmed during her training are we to toss her off on the side of the road because she has no “Street Smarts”, she deserved it?
What about the Wife of a truck driver who is not made aware that a female has been put on her husband’s truck and an affair occurs? I understand that CR England may have a waiver that the Wife is supposed to sign to give permission but this policy is not always followed. Alienation of Affection = Interference with Marriage lawsuits and they can be costly. States such as Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota and Utah and North Carolina still permit cases where allegations of emotional harm are caused by a third party to the marital relationship. Wait? UTAH? CR England?
How about suing the carriers whose negligence permitted the situations to occur?
No training in conduct says ”we don’t care who gets hurt, not on the highway, not in the truck, not in your home“! Having a supervisory staff that is 20 or 30 years old who have no life experience to answer phones for crisis situations is a huge part of the problem. If your staff has no idea how to deal with a crisis they should not be in supply chain logistics!
The human factor that is required to move freight is grossly absent from trucking. Someone who cannot handle a human crisis should not be permitted to speak or treat a victim of a trauma. If they cannot recognize a predatory behavior or complete their job in an unbiased manner they should not be placed in a position to deal with people in any capacity.
Predators can be engaging, charming and they aim to make friends with those who can help them when they are accused. That way no one will doubt one word they say. Predators are not always men, women can also be predators, control freaks and understand we have a growing Pink Collar Crime population.
Hundreds of students each week are being recruited and churned into truck driver training fleets right now and there is a shortage of good trainers because poor recruitment by the trucking industry, trainers who have lost their jobs FINALLY from their misconduct and because some trainers have been accused of doing something that was false or misconstrued.
These are ALL management failures from poor management guidance and lax policies. These are human nature issues that exist in an industry that puts two or more people in super heated training atmosphere and offers little support. There is a whole lot of drama occurring in this training atmosphere which is unsafe for the motoring public as well as the occupants of the truck.
As a trucking professional how do you feel knowing that people who have harmed others have been insulated by your industry and are permitted to drive anonymously state to state? We need some real men and some real women to step up to the plate to make a broad statement that we are not going to live in denial and we are going to fix this.
We need a real plan to take action, not a PR Campaign and phony facade. I believe the problem is so great now that many of these carriers don’t know where to start. If you do not take action, you are collectively condoning, violence against disenfranchised women and benefiting from it which is no better than a human trafficker in my opinion!
This is a national problem because the carriers involved are very large truck training carriers that travel all 48 states, right in your backyard.
Following my post about the Abandoned CR England Student, I was contacted by someone who wanted to make law enforcement nationwide be aware of this neglected trucking issue. I personally would like to have truck stops create a safe haven program which would benefit the human trafficking campaign, domestic violence victims and situation like the one Nancy encountered.
Let’s face it; there is more criminal activities at truck stops represented by NATSO than at rest areas or tollway parking areas.
Last night I watched a show about Father Murphy a Wisconsin Priest who sexually abused as many as 200 deaf boys in his care. The little boys are now old men and still trying to get justice. These little boys went to the police and were sent back to this priest to live with him! People get hurt from collective inaction.
The problem with CR England is a problem with all of those who “KNOW” but do nothing, even though the little deaf boy is jumping up and down in front of you begging you to hear him!
Additional Reading:
CDL Trainers should be held accountable for their actions
U.S State Department – Human Trafficking
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Smart Way or Dumb Way – Examining the EPA partnership with the American Trucking Association
The Environmental Protection Agency partnership with the American Trucking Association for a “Greener” Tomorrow may look, … well “Green” to outsiders and paper pushers but how does it affects human beings?
Most people could care less about truckers whose job requires them to live without luxuries like daily showers and toilet facilities in order to provide comfort to everyone else. Think about that for a second.
What if you could not take a shower, use a toilet or wash your hands when you wanted to and you had to perform your job everyday in these conditions.
Not only that but you had to sleep in your car and you were not permitted to use the air-conditioner in the summer to sleep OR use your heater in the winter.
Remember Old Ebenezer Scrooge in ‘A Christmas Carol” interrogating poor Bob Cratchit for needing to stay warm as he toiled away at his desk?
Morals and Ethics sacrificed for profits and awards is what you find when you scrape past that façade of the ATA partnership with the Smart Way EPA Program, not solutions for the environment.
Would you feel you were a safe driver in these conditions? How would you feel after sleeping in your car when it is 90 degree outside? Imagine you will be expected to cover 500 or more miles the next day to deliver a load of childrens blow up swimming pools and they had better be on time!
Rhianna Weir , writer for the Madison, Wisconsin trucking examiner wrote an article this week aimed at the non-trucking community that Saturday July 24, 2010 people take an hour out of their day to sit in their car, which is about the same area of space found inside the sleeper section of a semi truck. Challenging them to idle their car, SUV or pickup truck for no longer than five minutes and then try to relax for just one hour.
The first thing the non-trucking community needs to understand is that the American Trucking Association does not represent drivers; it represents carriers who are interested in profit not people. They are interested in media coverage to appear compliant and interested in formulating an image that seems genuinely concerned but these are strategies, anything that could affect profits by way of capital expenditures is not going to be embraced.
When public pressure gets turned up on safety issues a “partnership” will soon follow which helps control media creating a favorable image, a compliant and obedient image and this takes the spotlight off of the real issue.
In trucking when this happens it is the drivers who suffer because no one properly represents them and the nature of their job makes them unable to fight back.
Bill Hutson, a driver for 30 years and founder of a non-profit called Table Talk Ministries aptly puts it, “No matter how you squeeze a turnip a trucker pops out” and this seems to be the strategy of the ATA when they applaud themselves and the carriers they represent in their partnership with Smart Way Transport.
In this video from “Big Truck TV” it is clear that the ATA created this partnership for a very deliberate purpose but if you are an actual truck driver this video might make you vomit.
The truth is that some recipients of the Smart Way EPA award who are truck carriers represented by the ATA are able to reduce the idle emissions by inhumane and unsafe practices such as harassing drivers, charging drivers to idle but not providing solutions such as “Auxiliary Power Units” commonly referred to as APU’s .
These carriers are permitted to get way with saying “we are testing them” but they are not required to provide them despite rebates and other incentives like those which are funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The federal Department of Transportation regulations require 10 hours of rest for every 11 hours of driving. During these times, truck drivers often idle their engines to rest comfortably as would any other normal human being when they sleep.
Trucking idling laws fail to consider this and that many truckers are employees and do not have the option to buy expensive APU equipment and install them. Lease Owner-Operator truck drivers also generally have in their contract that they are not permitted to “alter” the trucks they are making payments on and this includes installing an APU. Smart Way EPA lets carriers receive awards who DO NOT provide solutions for employee drivers, this is unsafe & inhumane.
Performance scores are listed on the Smart Way Transport web site , a higher score or more favorable score would make a company more attractive to prospective shipper partners who care about environmental impacts and their own reputations but what if the carriers were reaching the score levels by inhumane means?
Smart Way encourages carriers to improve their score by adopting various fuel-efficiency and emission control technologies, policies, and strategies to their fleets but do they understand how these methods are practiced before they throw their annual shindig in Las Vegas, Nevada to hand out awards?
With so many states adopting new idle restrictions it seems that getting a photo opportunity accepting a Smart Way EPA award for a press release would be a trucking fleet President’s wet dream.
According to the SmartWay Transport web site, “A score of 1.25 represents outstanding environmental performance. These Carrier partners are already utilizing most of the commercially available fuel saving strategies and are actively evaluating the latest emerging technologies. Partners with scores of 1.25 are awarded the honor of displaying the SmartWay Transport Partner logo, EPA’s symbol for superior fuel efficiency and environmental performance.”
In practice, from a driver stand point, “fuel saving strategies” comes out of the drivers pocket. Being charged to idle or harassed for idling is one strategy used by some of the carriers who appear as award recipients on the Smart Way EPA website. Trucks drivers suffer with a fan if possible or pay for expensive motel rooms if they can find one that has truck parking, most do not and if you have a pet you are in really big trouble.
Now the first assumption is that if you have a pet in the truck you are exempt, that is not true in all states and if your company has idle restrictions they might still charge or penalize you for idling your truck. It is actually illegal in most states to have an animal in a hot vehicle but not illegal for an employer to do this to their employee. Also, driver’s do not have the option to put say $20.00 in the tank and use the receipt on their taxes for the fuel they burn in their company truck. Seems weird if fuel cost was all that mattered but even if the drivers were paying from their own pockets, the idle calculations still occur and maybe this affects qualifying to awards, just sayin..
Trucks drivers who are employees, which many fleets are on the Smart Way list are generally issued trucks to drive. It would make sense that if there was a limited amount with APU’s or bunk heaters, they would go to solo drivers who must park at night. Unfortunately it does not work that way. You can beg, plead, threaten, turn in hospital receipts from getting sick from trying to not idle and it will do you no good. More often than not you will be harassed verbally and over the Qualcomm about idling your truck with a complete disregard that the temperatures outside are so extreme that it would be unsafe to NOT idle your truck.
I suspect that measurement of idle time internally at trucking carriers may be linked to the SmartWay program so that they might qualify to be award recipients so let’s examine how this is being manipulated. I have copy and pasted and explanation from the website “The Rip Off Report” of how idling is calculated on each truck from “Baldy” of Pensacola, Florida.
He writes: “The onboard computer or “Qualcomm” measures engine running-time, speed-time (overspeed), and idle-time (among other things) and breaks this down into percentages. When it says that you are 30% over-idle, it means that 30% of the engine-running time was idle-time. Turning off the engine does not decrease the idle-time. It only keeps it from getting larger. The only way to lower the idle-time is to run more miles (run-time) than you sit idling (idle-time).
Example: If you cranked up your truck just after the weekly reset (mine was on Monday morning) and idled for 30 minutes without moving the truck, and then turned the truck off for the rest of the week, your idle-time for that week would be 100%. If you did that, and then ran down the road for 30 minutes before turning it off for the week, your idle-time for the week would be 50%.”
In a nutshell every second the engine is on it is calculating idle time against the tires rolling on the ground so even at a stop light the meter is running. If you are a solo driver running 5 or 6 days a week and you can drive 11 hours a day, you still have to remain parked and still a good deal of time.
Trucks have very little insulation, a fixable design flaw and like technology advancements like I brought up in “My Green Idle Idea“, the trucking industry does not embrace anything that costs money when they can find a way to make drivers pay for it.
The general public does not like truck drivers, they are afraid of them and they do not understand them so it’s perfect to pull this kind of crap because no one will bat an eye.
Fuel Saving Strategies noted by SmartWay should be understood to mean that a truck driver who is an employee or Owner-Operator who either is not provided a solution for idling or is forbidden to purchase an APU unit for their truck is actually paying for the carrier’s trip to Las Vegas to accept the SmartWay EPA Award. How do you like them Apples? The average paycheck per week being about $700 for driver in some companies I have heard as much as $300 has been charged to a driver from a single check. That’s a lesson most drivers do not want to experience twice.
A driver sitting with no load or during a rest period must idle in summer or winter or they can become sick, and most certainly will be operating the truck in an unsafe manner when they can roll again. Carriers who set idle policies do not take weather into account such as the case of the driver who posted about being charged to idle during a snowstorm and being told to buy more blankets even after becoming sick. Read Story Here
Some drivers report having their DAC reports ruined after complaining about being charged to idle or protesting idle policies. Citations given to drivers for idling in states who have adopted new laws are rarely paid for by carriers and with new CSA 2010 regulations drivers remain unclear how this will affect their records.
Until the general “Green” loving public can wrap their heads around how they are being bamboozled with “better air quality” campaigns that cover up safety shortfalls and inhumane practices against truck drivers this issue cannot be resolved.
Let the good times ROLL in Vegas for the SHAM called “The Smart Way Transport Partnership”
The slogan is accurate, “The Smart Way to save money, fuel and the environment” but here is the translation, “Save Money by Killling a Trucker, the Smart Way”.
Additional Reading:
Rhianna Weir Challenge
Preventing Truck Drivers from being Comfortable Underway Again
Smart Way Transport Partner List
Smart Way Award PDF
Fleet Owner – Smart Way names Excellence Award Winners
Rip Off Report Charging Employees to Idle
Smart Way Carrier Score Explanations
Related posts
Practical Truck Driver Training Solutions – Part 3 Personal Responsibility
Personal Responsibility is the ability to take care of oneself by means of, keeping healthy, managing ones emotions, keeping a sound mind, treating yourself with respect, and etc….
Being a trucker requires organizational skills. It requires common sense and it often requires two people to run one truck in an orderly fashion.
Many times a non-driving trucking spouse or partner maintains paperwork, audits settlement sheets, navigates and may be in charge of locating, planning & booking loads if they are owner-operators.
The non-driving spouse who rides along or manages to co-pilot from home contributes a great deal to the success of a professional driver.
A single person is expected to all of these things alone and the consequence of paperwork errors, miscalculations in a logbook or navigation can be costly. They can also affect your career.
When someone is considering entering trucking they should ask themselves and be honest.
Do I have good organizational skills?
Do I often rush to get things done and overlook details?
Can I read a map without a GPS system?
How do I react in severe weather?
Frequently, recruiters say nothing to student truckers about the intense logbook rules & regulations that are required to operate a commercial motor vehicle. The logbook can become a great source of stress unless you take your time to learn how to manage it accurately & legibly. If you cannot write well or do not have some math skills you will have problems in this industry. Even as many carriers are moving to paperless logs, you do yourself a great disservice by not understanding how to manage a logbook to use your time effectively.
Speaking as someone who used to audit hotels with many revenue venues on a daily basis I will tell you that the logbook truckers must complete on a daily basis took at least one year for me to fully grasp. This is because you are generally completing it when you are dead tired and your thoughts are scattered. Mistakes might be simple addition errors but they can be time consuming to correct. Truckers are constantly under time constraints. Falsifying your logs can mean your CDL. I personally suffered the most violations while I was taking advice from my trainer and a former trainer that I teamed with for one month.
Learning to do your logbook is a very important component to becoming a truck driver if you wish longevity. People, who grandstand about how they cut corners, run two books etc. are idiots. In the past this was expected but now it will eventually end your career. Even if your dispatcher is pushing you to “Do a favor” you will be the one to suffer, your dispatcher will never go to bat for you if you have falsified logs to do a favor for him or her, NEVER! , So don’t do it. Turn off your phone at night and make them put all favor requests on the Qualcomm.
The reality you should take into account is that hours to work are controlled because of the logbook and federal regulations. You are permitted to drive 11 hours per day not to exceed 70 hours in a week. A seventy hour work week? Do the math before you commit to a loan and understand this so you better estimate of how much you can make as a truck driver. That is 70 hours you log and there are indeed tricks to not burn up your hours while you are waiting but you are still probably not resting. These are long days.
You will be paid CPM “cents per mile”, therefore at the maximum per week running legal you should be able to estimate if you can survive on this low pay during your student phase. You will not be paid to sit in traffic, yet it is burning up your drive time. You are not paid to sit at shippers and receivers which can be many hours. You are not paid to fuel, wait on repairs, climb in trailers, sweep out debris or complete your logbook. Can you feel the tension building?
In some student fleets the pay is as low as 13 cents per mile. Most student fleet trucks are governed engines that only go on average 66 -67 mph, another control to your miles. All things being perfect this is barely enough to buy food and afford a cell phone. You should clearly understand this.
Right now there are many 4 year drivers who are making 18.5 cents driving team freight, this is because many companies who require experience are not hiring but a recent CNN Money reports the return of the mythical driver shortage reaching 400,000 by 2011. Here is my analysis of the Truck Driver Shortage
There are many drivers who are trapped with not enough money to buy their own trucks, no suitable options to move up the food chain & 100′s of new students arriving each week thinking there are tons of jobs awaiting them. If you are a new trucking student expect to feel unwelcome, but don’t take it personally.
What about your temper? I find most people who seek this job are independent by nature, loners and very strong willed. While working alone may seem like a great idea, truckers are often in stressful situations. You should aspire to become a professional driver. Not a unprofessional driver.
Are you a good traveler or do you get annoyed easily with delays?
Are you a good driver?
Do you suffer from road rage and act out on the highway?
Do you have trouble with your temper in stressful situations?
Do you permit others to upset you?
Most everyone will have to say yes to at least one of these points but a professional driver has disciplined control of their emotions to not tailgate, cut cars off because they cut them off, not weave in and out of traffic and to monitor weather knowing when it’s okay to roll and when to shut it down.
Venting on the CB is one thing but acting out on the highway is not impressive to anyone, it is dangerous and stupid. If you have these tendencies you should truly reflect and determine.
Can I change these things to be successful in the long run?
Committing to becoming a professional driver means your conduct on the highway AND with others when you are working should be PROFESSIONAL.
As a trucking student you will see a good deal of juvenile behavior in these huge carriers that train students. The turnover is so great that no one expects you to be around next week. You are little more than a one cow being herded into the pen. You may feel warm and fuzzy during orientation day but once you leave the terminal you are a number on a screen.
The training environments in these mega carriers have little guidance and they bring people from all walks of life looking for new carreer. There are people who would like to provoke you endlessly, get you involved in their personal dramas, and give you false information just for the heck of it. Some will pry into your life to create a drama and this includes some trainers, dispatchers & supervisory staff.
The reason my Student Trucker Horror Story is long is because every person I knew going through training was having one endless drama after another during their training and most of it was occurring because there was a complete failure by our company to provide any guidance or support.
It was as if a few inmates had taken over the prison yet in the hallways the management wandered about with a blank stare. It reminded me of the movie “The Stepford Wives” waving at each other as if nothing was wrong. The distress of the students from a lack of accurate information, communication & follow up was and is inexcusable. It was surreal to me that so much suffering could be occurring in one place that operated on denial auto pilot.
As a student you will be subjected to some people who engage in petty gossip, stay away from them. If you choose to “Hang Out” you will find that simple conversations often turn to sex, sometimes women see it as harmless flirting but as a student trucker you can get yourself into seriously bad situations.
You should realize accepting help as a student female often means there are “strings attached” even when the person says there are not.
Protect your privacy:
Don’t talk about your former job, education, marital status, income level , DO NOT talk about how many miles you are getting & DO NOT believe they are getting as many as they say they are. There is a lot of jealousy and because everyone is paid very little there is an element of desperation. Other drivers are always trying to see if the grass is greener on your side of the fence. Do not get into these conversations.
Its okay to listen and learn but do not engage because the conversations generally deteriorate into contempt and that is when the gossip starts. Listen & Learn of what to do & WHAT NOT TO DO with regards to accidents and incidents Realize that everyone will tell you, “Oh my way is the best & only way” That is 100% Baloney!
There’s more than one way to skin a cat and you will meet a lot of loudmouths who have plenty of advice but are failures in the execution of the job.
If you are adaptable, have the ability to listen, learn and you can hold a vehicle steady that’s the first step.
DO NOT try to form any Romantic Relationships in the first year or so, most end in heartbreak or disaapointment but the real loss is your chance to be taken seriously and get your much needed experience. You may meet several people in your first few months trucking that you like on a personal level and impulsively you decide to team up, after all the most effective teams are married couples. More often than not the following occurs:
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They turn out to be already married
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They have several people they “see” while they are on the road
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They are unsafe drivers and you cannot sleep while they are on duty.
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They expect you to drive, be their secretary, mommy and cook.
Once you decide to get on a truck and develop a relationship as a student you are generally taken less seriously from this point on. You are viewed as a “Truck Hopper” because there are women who go to truck driving school simply to meet men. As a single woman entering this industry, you will have to work harder to prove you are not a “truck hopper” because unfortunately there are those who cannot believe a woman can actually find peace working alone and not be a man-hater.
Mixing the two learning to drive a big rig and developing a new relationship is generally not a confidence booster. Often the man begins to feel threatened as you are becoming more confident and a power struggle ensues. If you truly want to drive you can derail your career very early by not understanding this concept. Get your experience FIRST! Then you can have more freedom than if you get dependent during your learning period and forgo some of the teaching you should have had.
If a veteran owner-operator, or other veteran driver encourages you to quit your training company to team with them you should realize that an O/O cannot get insurance to let you drive so this is actually a trick to get a sex partner trapped on the truck. Quitting to run team with someone you do not know or have never lived with is a really dumb idea also. If it does not work out, chances are you cannot go back to the training company you left. Also, starting out as a couple and never learning how to operate the truck on your own can mean you have shot yourself in the foot. This will place you at a disadvantage should you decide to go on your own later.
Sexual harassment is going to happen in trucking and in other jobs. We need to get educated. If you have a thin skin, find another line of work. But you have a right to be trained in a safe manner.
Men in trucking often have not worked around women before so you should expect to hear things you have not heard in your former work environments. Everyone in the trucking industry should have increased training BUT it is often women in support positions who are the greatest harm to entering female students. These are often the culprits who cover up abuse by a few guys who harm many. This is frequently because these women get a good deal of flattery, flirting and sometimes more and feel compelled to protect the offender at the expense of the targets of abuse. This is one way a hostile workplace is created and can be manipulated by a predator in bully organizations. It is a huge problem in trucking and especially for female students.
Mind your mouth, and your manner of dress as a student. You are being watched by predators who know most will not make it. They are looking for someone vulnerable, someone eager to learn who needs a mentor. They are looking for signs in the way you talk and dress to see how to win your confidence. Whether you engage in consensual sex or succumb to badgering after getting yourself in a dangerous situation you should realize you were a mark the moment this person set eyes on you. Stay away from “Mr. I know everyone and I can hook you up” unless you want to be used like trash.
Understand that the Human Resource department is a last resort. Do not make threats to sue and mouth off, you are only setting yourself up to be retaliated against and this may happen anyways. Instead, document with email correspondence in a professional manner and create a dated paper trail.
If you have an incident that requires the police call them, get a report and do not let your company off the hook if they say they are “investigating it”, chances are they ARE NOT and delaying, follow up is crucial. They drag things out on purpose and delays to file formal charges only make you look bad.
If they tell you there is no statute of limitations to file a harassment claim they are lying and be aware all information you provide them of the incident they will twist and try to make it seem you are guilty or mistaken. Phrases like “we are investigating but we don’t have to tell you the outcome” may sometimes mean they have simply let the predator go on to circulate elsewhere hoping you won’t find out or run into each other again. This is frequent in trucking. Beware of the friendly “Let’s all work together” & “we are stronger when we are united” cheerleaders. Place a time limit and follow up. In this industry these are specific blow off phrases I have heard time and again by people who participate in covering up abuse.
Sexual Harassment is really not taken seriously and cases are rarely won. The truth is that truck driver training fleets that have non-existent harassment & conduct training, trauma preparation, or follow up are willfully negligent. What the trucking industry is doing with the provocative way they treat victim’s amounts to Psychological Warfare and many drivers show signs of “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder’ (PTSD) after they have reported an incident to their HR Department. Victims are generally treated as the guilty party rather than the offender.
Certainly give them the benefit of the doubt to resolve the issue internally unless it is serious violence or a rape. Make sure you call the police to make a report. The trucking companies are always looking for a way to make you look guilty for dropping the ball. DO NOT let them tell you that you “brought it on yourself”. If this happens GET A LAWYER! NO ONE deserves to be raped or beaten for any reason whatsoever!
If you begin to experience nightmares, or other symptoms from the incident itself that are unresolved or retaliation after you reported it go to your HR Department for a form of first injury to file a claim for PTSD under workman’s’ comp. If they try to tell you that you cannot file or it will not be allowed demand the paper firmly but politely. Get their name and every single person’s name involved that you speak to regarding your issue.
Carriers seem to react with a better attention span to workman’s comp claims rather than lawsuits. It is truly the bully organizational structure that has permitted this conduct to permeate the trucking industry. Some experts who study bully organizations feel trucking carriers who begin to experience an increase of PTSD claims due to their poor handling of harassment for both men and women they might begin to correct their training atmosphere, eliminate the predators and create a safer environment. Locate an employment lawyer just in case; the internet is beginning to have plenty of trucking harassment cases which show this is a pervasive problem that is willfully ignored.
Women are trained from childhood to not only judge each other but remain silent when they witness something they know to be wrong. In the trucking industry this will be the toughest obstacle to recognize and overcome.
If you do get a female trainer expect her to be tough and appreciate it. But you should not have to be her monkey, her audience for her lovelorn confessions or have to be subjected to unsafe driving such as tailgating, exceeding the speed limit or breaking the law in any way shape or form.
Is it true that some Women feel they are a service to others when they remain silent when they are in the position to protect?
A female trainer should not only teach you how to operate the truck but hopefully give you personal safety tips like how to secure your doors at night with the seat belts and so on. You both should take personal responsibility upon yourselves to know, YOU STINK!
Having to live in a truck with another person and not being able to shower each day makes for very smelly living. You might be able to tolerate your stench but it is new to others and it might be so offensive they may refuse to continue to drive with you and give no reason. Make sure you use personal wipes on EVERYTHING daily to stay “Fresh” and dispose of them. Sadly, there are many people who need this spelled out. Wipe all your cracks liberally! Large people have to understand that they sweat more from places others do not. Even skinny people can smell like ass after a day or so of hard work and no shower. Don’t be arrogant! Use a pillow for the driver’s seat if your butt sweats and remove it out of sight & in an airtight bag when not in use. Keep your bedding clean and clarify the potty stops.
Couples might feel comfortable using a porta-potti on a truck but with a trainer you just met, especially of the opposite sex, I doubt it. Sometimes asking to stop for the bathroom is not tolerated at all. You should clarify this before you leave the terminal with a trainer or co-driver. This is also a characteristic to watch out for as some may become abusive when you ask to stop to use the bathroom. Try to plan to go around fuel stops whether you feel like it or not. If you are using a bottle, dispose of it properly. I prefer to see urine poured in the grass and bottles put into trash receptacles. Crapping your pants is unfortunately something that does occur in trucking. Obviously do not make a habit out of crapping in a bag, although some slobs do and the stories are … ICK!, but emergencies do occur and many times there is nowhere to stop. You should think about this.
Becoming a trucker does not mean you have to act like an ape or look like one either. On the other hand, many things that people take for granted like fresh water and clean toilets are a treat for the professional driver.
While there are some trainers or co-drivers who are slobs, other drivers are meticulously tidy, respect this and clean up after yourself. Use a bit of baby powder in your hair if it stinks from not washing. Use deodorant and if it is not strong enough find one that is. It is incredibly hard to sleep or drive with someone who stinks and it is very hard to tell someone that you want to vomit whenever they come around.
Your Trainer should not delay to teach you how to back the truck up and dock it, teach tail swing, how to complete your logbooks and what the consequences are for not doing them. They should teach you about chain laws and how to adjust your tandems and how to complete all of these things as if you are alone. You have abour 35 to 40 days with your trainer there is not a moment to spare. Learn everything you can during this time and ask for help if you don’t understand. Some people need things explained more clearly, there is nothing wrong with this.
Your trainer should not by prying into your personal life and YOU should NOT behave as if you are at a singles bar every time the truck stops. Before you leave the terminal with your trainer you should know how to send a distress message from your Qualcomm and understand how to delete it so that the other person does not see it. This can help prevent an altercation on the truck in dangerous heated situations.
Know your fleet manager’s name, phone number and email. Also know his boss’s name, and the boss’s above him. If your company has an “Incident Response Center” or Emergency 24 hour call center, make sure you have the number programmed in your phone. In my situation, I did not know such a department existed in the beginning but once I did they handled getting me safely to a motel and through the weekend but the ball was dropped after that. This is what I commonly hear from male and female drivers who have experienced “Incidents” where they had to get off the truck during training.
They are not being told these departments exist and when they do find them to be assisted, their dispatcher and/or fleet department drops the ball. There is no follow up or lack of sensitivity because whatever trauma that occurred is not handled properly.
If you are scared, GOOD! The students who are scared make better drivers who pay attention and take this job seriously; the ones who aren’t have accidents and often hurt others. They won’t be truck drivers very long but hopefully you can steer clear of them so they don’t take you down with them.
Written by Desiree Wood “Trucker Desiree”
Additional Reading:
Bring it On – Ethics in Sexual Harassment Training
Truck Driver Employee Rights under OSHA and FMCSA
Workplace Fairness – Trucking Whistleblowers