Comments By Mark M.

Day 11?

Im losing track of days, just training, training, training.

So my fellow trainee had a come to Jesus meeting with the big boss and everyone in training. He wants to stay, and was nice all day.

We got pad time and did parallel parking for the first time, was great actually. I nailed right side, but left side ate me and my fellow trainees lunch. We finally got it the last time we did it, my problem is overthinking and moving steerwheel while rolling.

Gotta clean that up the next few days, test on friday and I REALLY want to get it done and on the road. Im still really excited about this job!

Excellent update, Mark!!!

Aren't those caves awesome ?!?!?

Man, I'm surprised that your trainer even KEPT your fellow trainee AROUND, after oversleeping UNTIL NOON from 0800 planned !!!

Is this common, in Prime PSD to have two trainees? Is this fairly new? Hmmm.... maybe I missed the concept, in the past. I'm gonna have to go watch some of Truckin' Along with Kearsey's videos, to stay in the know, haha!

Sounds like you are doing awesome, man. Keep it up!!

~ Anne ~

Some trainers haver 4 or 5 students!! They have so many students, Im guessing because of high turnover and need. They showed us some financials and said Prime turns down thousands of loads a week because they dont have the drivers or trucks. Not sure whether that is true or not, but if its even partially true then they need all these students.

My fellow trainee has now made 3 comments about how he thinks that my trainer is a racist. Have to talk to the higher ups in the training department tomorrow morning. I hate that this guy put ME in this position, Im an unemployed trainee like him. There is no reason for him to put that on me.

Hopefully its all settled and I can just concentrate on learning and getting past this CDL test.

Day 9

This was a terrible day. We got to the pad around 1400 and was there till 1600. I screwed up every back I was doing, couldnt even do straightline and was getting really frustrated. I know my trainer was getting really frustrated with me. But my fellow trainee was catching more heat, talking trash about how he could do these but then not performing either.

We ended with Pre-Trip Air brake test and in cab, and I knew alot more then my fellow trainee. BUT still not good enough. My trainer said I would have failed it. I ended that day by going to get some Cracker Barrel, got it to go and my order was wrong. Was just in a bad mood all night. Fell asleep hoping the next day would be better.

Day 10

Woke up late, got almost 9 hours of sleep, was pretty happy about that. Got to the pad and we got a spot and started alley dock. I nailed it TWICE, felt so dang good!! We got a new guy for a few days who already has his CDL from Texas just needed some extra training. Great guy. We also picked up a 4th who had a trainer but not enough time with him so joined us.

We learned the steps for the parallel parking and will hopefully do it tomorrow. Hoping to continue to do well with these maneuvers.

So far really helped my confidence with the maneuvers to get one right twice in a row. Felt amazing. Now just gotta nail that pre trip and do all the maneuvers correctly in a row!

Been so busy! Sorry for not posting, been driving and all that!

Day 7

We went to the main facility and picked up a load headed for Clarksville Arkansas, then my fellow trainee drove it down. Stopped at Sams and I gave my trainer a few bucks to buy a few things, was nice. Once we unloaded we found a clean empty and I drove it back to Springfield. Pretty easy day, got some PTI training in as well. Love driving the truck so far!

Day 8

Fellow trainee did not answer a text sent to him by Trainer at 8am until noon. Text basically said we got another load leaving at noon. I was downstairs ready, had replied at 805am. Trainee said "I have nothing to wear, I turned off my phone, Im not ready to go!". Trainer just said whatever sit down and relax, dont worry about the job or training. Picked me up and we went to the caves with an empty to pickup a load at Pepsi down there, REALLY FREAKING HEAVY! 75k total weight.

Once we got the load I drove out of there and parked it at the facility, we did some pretrip and then I went home and relaxed. Actually I have my car here so I went to Target and popeyes, was a decent night off for the most part.

Before dropping me off me and trainer decided to meet at the facility at 545 am, which was a good thing because...

Day 9

Trainer picked me and fellow up at facility at 545am, hooked and inspected by 630am and left for Iowa. I drove that heavy bastage up there, it was awesome. Learned the JAKE brake, learned how to keep speed up and down hills etc. Trainer said I did really well.

DISASTER! - I miss our turn. Trainer instructs me to turn into a parking lot, he thought it was bigger and wider then it was. After redecorating some stones, curbs and decorative rocks, losing a mud flap the trainer got out of the mess. Was so stressed out, but the Trainer was like "Hey I told you to turn into that lot, thats my bad." Made me feel a little better, but really ****ed I missed the turn. Though it did make the point of not paying attention so much to the GPS.

We get unloaded, then drive 90 miles to get the trailer cleaned out. I screwed up my setup on the backup to the door, but fixed it and bam was in.

Drove 10 miles to the picked up, which was 30k pounds of eggs! We were dropping our trailer and picking up a preloaded one, and after getting an OK setup I finally hit the backing manuever, was really happy about that.

Fellow trainee drives us back to Springfield, we arrive about 2am. Rough, long day but satisfying.

Day 6

Met trainer at 8am, he had a student testing at 10am and met him as well, seemed like a good guy. The student. The trainer also seemed really cool, was nice and gave it to us straight. Started out by saying in two weeks you will trifecta your CDL test and we will get you into TNT. That sort of confidence was nice to hear!

From 930am or so till 1430 we did pretrip training and ate lunch. Met our trainer in the cafeteria and he told us his last student trifecta'd and we could go out to either the pad or off campus to practice some backing.

FIRST TIME IN A TRUCK WAS AWESOME! I think Im going to love this job. I did ok, still getting mixed up on where my trailer is going and which way I gotta turn the wheel. I did a few perfect straight backs, one ALMOST clean Alley Dock Back.

So far I like the guy, sells us straight and seems nice My fellow trainee told our trainer that "I should do it my way, it will probably work better." Then failed horribly at doing it. Trainer was unhappy. I just stood there quietly waiting for my turn!

All in all a great day, still very excited to be here. Even more excited that I got into a truck and LOVED it!

Day 4

8am got a class on the Qualcomm and also what is expected of us as students. 9am got a basic tire class, then a quick runover of company vs lease op. 10am we got our hands on trucks to start doing hands on pretrip, was really helpful to me! 5pm we were done and moving on to eating and relaxing

So Day 4 several people were called by there trainers and slowly our class got smaller, was good to see. I didnt get a call on Day 4, which was fine with me because I was learning really well the pretrip on the practice trucks.

Went home feeling good about my choice of not only company but career choice.

Day 5

7am Free Breakfast! 8am Driver safety meeting attended, thats why we got free breakfast. The cafeteria here is really pretty good. 9am Tour of the campus, at least the large Millenium Building, its nice here, alot of amenities. 1030am to 1130am More Pretrip practice on the pad! Lunch 1pm to 5pm More pretrip practice on the pad.

6pm was eating dinner with some other students and MY TRAINER CALLED ME! Yay!! I get to meet him saturday morning.

Several students are already going out on the road for PSD, pretty excited for everyone.

So far this has been a great experience, Ive slept in worse places, and eaten worse food and had terrible experiences with other employees.

Here alls Ive had are kind words, encouragement and pushing us forward towards what everyones goal should be. Get your CDL A and get out there on the road! Im really excited if you cant tell, I think I will really like this company and the job.

Thats it for now, will update more after I meet my trainer and see whats in store for me going ahead!

Hearing some bad stories of 40 students waiting for trainers at beginning of week, talked to a guy who has been here two weeks waiting and that he has just done PTI for 10 days, finally got on the Pad to drive.

Thats not good news

Hey Mark, you wanted to be a truck driver. You are just now learning what it takes. This whole business is performance based. The very best thing you can do right now is to not listen to all the stories circulating among your fellow students. At Prime you guys are actually competing for trainers. Have you noticed how some people are waiting longer than others? The trainers are looking at you guys on the pad and they are picking up on who appears to be the go-getters who have great attitudes and want to be successful truckers. They are also noticing the ones who seem dispirited and uninterested. Hold your head high and act like you want to be a champion at this. You are going to be meeting trainers out there at the pad. They are looking for guys or gals who have a proclivity for success. They make money off of really great students. If they can find a new driver who can do a trifecta on their tests they get some great bonus money for training them.

Stop listening to the whining and complaining. Make yourself available. This is your big interview - Don't blow it!

Stop The Fear And Doubt - Focus On Your Own Success

Oh I have, Im not letting any of that in my brain. Im just moving forward, working hard on my pretrip and making sure to surround myself with other students who want to learn.

Day 3 was done pretty quickly actually!

Got my badge around 1130am, they talked us through the card and when money was going to hit it, when I should activate it etc.

Then at 1400 (2pm) they sat us down and showed us the schedule for the "Pad"/Terminal until we find a trainer, get a trainer or whatever its called.

Hearing some bad stories of 40 students waiting for trainers at beginning of week, talked to a guy who has been here two weeks waiting and that he has just done PTI for 10 days, finally got on the Pad to drive.

Thats not good news, I understand you dont have trainers but get me in a darn truck. I want to practice my backing, and parking and all that. I want a ton of practice, I want to feel as comfortable as I can. Now was he telling us the truth? Who knows. But it sounds terrible.

Now just gotta get up nice and early in the morning to get to Campus Inn from my hotel which is 15 minutes away from there, so I can park my car, so I can get a shuttle to the Pad lol

Its a hard life out here :D

Not much to update, other then I passed all my checks, got my badge and ready to get to that PSD!!

Day 2 DONE!

Today was more paperwork, talking to us about the PSD process and then the TNT process once we get our CDL's.

Then we went to the simulator and did some practice, finally doing a driving test in the sim. I did ok at 88 points, which is passing. BUT I got docked 10 points for hard braking, and I dont remember that. I also got docked 2pts for not using a signal, I remember that I did but maybe didnt hold it long enough?

Anyway next is to get badged and find a PSD trainer, which I dunno, we are hearing there are still people in last weeks class who dont have one yet. So we may have to go to the pad for a week before getting a trainer. Which I guess is fine.

Lotta CBT's still, which are so much fun! haha

I studied my PTI guide, and have been watching the corresponding Prime video, I have most of it down.

I guess they do PSD different then what I thought, I thought it was on the pad driving and maybe some town driving with other students. Here though they literally have you driving a truck and delivering and picking up while on PSD. You and just the trainer. Then after 2 to 3 weeks you go get your CDL and get to TNT training phase.

Im excited, still worried about backing because we havent even seen the inside of a truck yet. But hey 2 days in, CALM DOWN MARK!

Be back tomorrow with another update!

Day 1 - Paperwork, classroom and CBTs oh my

So we started at 9am with just general paperwork, classroom stuff, some powerpoint, getting our meal card and hearing the speech from security.

Once done with that we did CBT - or computer based training. It was NOT fun! But Im almost done and have till midnight tomorrow.

End all that with me going to my hotel to continue the CBT's after I turned in my folder and did the paperwork check and all that.

At 1830 we got split into two groups to do Sim training. So not that great, we spent an hour and a half going over a powerpoint, then 15 minutes at best on the simulators. That really sucked, was hoping to get some more.

Ended that and now back in the room relaxing.

Tomorrow doing the TNT test to see compatibility, then more sim training in the afternoon!

Update more for Day 2!