Mike Garske Named Trainer of the Month for January 2020

on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 in Awards & Recognition

When Mike joined the Black and Chrome family in November 2013, he was an experienced flatbed driver. After graduating from CDL school in 2000, he worked for another flatbed company before switching to dry van. When Mike started at TMC, he was looking to get back to his roots. “I had been doing dry van for a while and I was looking to come back to flatbed,” he says.

If it wasn’t for his own trainer, Jim Green, Mike said he wouldn’t have been a driver trainer. “Since I came in as an experienced driver, Jim asked if I thought I would ever become a trainer,” Mike recalls. “At first I told him no, but during my time with him, he encouraged me to give it a shot.”

Mike officially became a driver trainer after a year and a half of driving on his own. He has always made it a goal to make the transition as smooth as possible for his trainees. “I try to make training fun and relaxed,” he says. “It’s hard to drive a truck when you’re tense and nervous."

One of the main goals that Mike has for his trainees is for them to become better drivers than he is. “I know it might not be as soon as they done training with me, but soon down the road they should be better than me.”

For drivers who think they would like to train, Mike says it is worth a shot. “It’s nice to have someone else out on the road with you, but it’s also important to remember that you are there to help jumpstart another driver’s career. I take that very seriously.”

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 a trainer. 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. Congratulations to our January 2020 Trainer of the Month, Mike Garske!