Adam Brenneman Named TMC's Trainer of the Month

on Friday, April 9, 2021 in Awards & Recognition

Adam Brenneman has been named TMC’s Trainer of the Month for February 2021! While in college, Adam managed a restaurant and then went on to manage a grocery store for 17 years. His brother, who worked alongside Adam, mentioned that he was going to become a truck driver one day. The sibling coworkers ended up getting their CDL’s just one day apart.

It has been three years since Adam made a career move to the trucking industry and chose to drive for TMC. When he started out, he found himself seeking advice from others so he could become successful in his career. After a year of driving his own truck, he realized he had naturally begun offering advice to newer drivers. That’s when he decided to become a driver trainer.

Being a driver trainer interested Adam because he wanted every student to learn the right way and to never cut corners. He spoke about one experience with a trainee, in particular. As they were getting loaded at a shipper, the TMC trainee became fascinated by how quickly a fellow driver from another carrier got his load secured. As he watched, he told Adam that he really wanted to be like that guy. However, Adam gave a sobering response. “It’s not a race and you know what? You did all the right things securing your load; that driver didn’t.”

“Adam has done an exceptional job working with his trainees over the past year. All 10 of his trainees he worked with made it to their own truck and eight of them are still with TMC today. Adam attributes his success to focusing on patience, safety, and treating people the right way. He definitely has the right goals in regards to how he trains drivers. Join me in congratulating Adam on his outstanding achievement!” -Jeff Geist, Adam’s Training Coordinator Manager

Any new driver would be lucky to learn from Adam. He is patient, laid back, and manages his truck well. To his future students, you have nothing to be nervous about. Adam is willing to unashamedly share stories of his failures to ensure his drivers won’t make the same mistakes. He simply suggests that his trainees’ listen to everything he is saying and try to learn as much as you can in those five weeks.

To anyone who wants to become a driver trainer, or are wondering if it would be the right fit for them, patience is a must. Adam’s biggest piece of advice to future trainers is to make all your trainees feel comfortable from the start and do it for the right reasons. That will help your students learn faster and learn more before they get the keys to their own black and chrome truck.

Adam thoroughly enjoys seeing his trainees become successful drivers in the industry. He has had a handful of students who call him just to let him know what an impact on their lives and they appreciate all he did for them. If you’re a new trainee, set attainable goals before you begin your trucking career and you will be one step ahead for a successful journey. Adam’s favorite aspects of the job are learning other people’s stories and what their goals and ambitions are.

Congratulations, Adam, on this impressive accomplishment of being named TMC’s Trainer of the Month for February 2021!

***

Driver Trainers are vital to the TMC Training Department, and each month a trainer is chosen who demonstrates the outstanding qualities TMC looks for in one who prepares new drivers for their career in trucking. The Trainer of the Month recipient is chosen based on their safety record and the safety performance of their trainees, the number of drivers trained, and the retention percentage of those drivers.