Can anyone advise, with recent knowledge (best article I could find was from 2015; manual transmission days LOL), which companies do not team drive during training/mentor phase?
I think it is best practice to have trainee/trainer driving and the other to be in the passenger seat learning/coaching for this 3-6 week period; can’t learn much with the other sleeping in back. Thanks for help
I agree with you 100% on training from the passenger seat and not team driving. I was a trainer for over 20 years and I always taught from the passenger seat and never had a trainee as a co-driver position. It is hard enough to grasp a new company’s policies, rules and getting experience without the stress of operating the truck while your trainer is sleeping. I hope someone will join to help you with all your questions.
Jarrr, when you get with your mentor (“mentor" sounds like Swift, where I got my first truck job) you know about 70% of what you need to know as an OTR driver. Yes, your mentor will be in the passenger seat for the first couple of weeks. By then they will know whether to trust you with their truck on the road. That’s a non-graduation step when they leave you alone at the wheel of their truck rolling down the miles. During that time of training they are right behind you in the sleeper if you have any questions.
After a few weeks in my training period i wished my mentor wouldn’t bother me at delivery & pickup times, but they were up and watching me (in a good way). Don’t sweat having the trainer out of the way - you probably won’t need them or even want them after a while.
If after a few weeks you don’t have the confidence to drive without someone watching over you, you’re in the wrong career.
Also, I’ll let you in on a secret: you get that “training pay", but the mentor driver gets all the mile$ their truck rolls while you learn to drive and they sleep. Sweet deal.
Knight Transportation still does absolutely no teaming while training. The trainer is in the passenger seat the entire time. They may drive for a couple hours after your shift, which is a good time to sit in the passenger seat and pick their brain and observe.
Training is two weeks if you successfully completed top gun, 4 weeks if not.
Melton also has the trainer in passenger seat for the duration of training .no team driving