Comments By Jay B.

I was just thinking about these things while daydreaming about a new career. Do most new trucks have satellite radio? I thought I read prime did. Do most trucks have built in tv antennas? I was planning to take my laptop with movies on a hard drive and Netflix as backup but if I could pull in tv stations sometimes that might be cool for news and sports sometimes.

I've heard more bad then good but they are still on my list of possibles! I hope there is some more experienced people to chime in soon.

So I just emailed the Prime recruiter and asked some questions. Maybe someone here has some answers and insight as well. Any other things I should ask the recruiter as well?

Tomorrow is my last day of work for this company so this week has been pretty hectic and I haven't had a chance to call you. I have been thinking a lot about my decision to drive a truck and I had a few questions maybe you could answer in an email.

Do I need a CDL permit before going to Prime's school? I have seen paperwork saying I did and others saying I did not.

When could I start at Prime's school? I assume I would go to the SLC one(I live in AZ).

Do I need a Passport? Hazmat endorsement?

Does Prime have many loads to Tucson, AZ or Sierra Vista? I imagine Phoenix does from what I have heard.

What models of trucks does Prime run, what is the average age of the fleet? I will probably be in the lightweight truck from what I understand. What transmissions are in the trucks? I only ask because I have heard some people have issues switching from 10 speed to 8 and back and wonder if the transmission will stay the same all through training?

I think I have an understanding on schooling but basically its a week(or so) to get the CDL permit and do the simulator training? Then a couple weeks(10k miles?) in PSD training with a trainer, and that time we have the option to get an advance of $200 a week from Prime we would have to pay back? During this time do we run like a team or solo driver? ie does the trainer stay awake and next to you during the whole time? Then back to Springfield(?) to take the CDL test and become a licensed driver. Then back out with another trainer(TNT) for final on the road training until we get to 40k miles. During that time we make $600 a week orr .12 per mile, whichever is greater? During this time do we run like a team or solo driver? ie does the trainer stay awake and next to you during the whole time?

Figured I'd post this... Hello to all those Prime people's, as of yesterday I can now say I am one of you. Now on to T'n'T. First load out of Springfield tonight.

Grats! Hope to join you soon with prime :)

I would love an old truck to fix up and drive around but I don't think I would ever try to run a business with one, especially OTR.

I have to bump this back up, great thread old school! So far this one and Daniels are my favorite threads! It's awesome to see life through the eyes of the trucker abd it's really making me want to make this change in career and lifestyle.

I know mg, I've held a class C CDL for 5 years. Our state passed the law for texting and driving too so now I see everyone trying to hide it, driving even worse heh. The law is stupid though, I've seen people driving with books in their laps reading, maps over the steering wheel, putting on makeup, shaving, you name it. It's not like if some miracle happened and every phone shut off inside a car those deaths would go away. They would just get attributed to something else. Stupid people are stupid. Our saying at work was "make something idiot proof and you will find a bigger idiot".

Heh Justin that makes me think of everything the government tries to stop. War on drugs, war on terror, now the war on cell phones in the car. It always gets worse. As I said I've seen much worse distracted driving from people trying to hide their distracted driving lol. It's illegal to speed too and we see how well that works. Here in Tucson they put up all these red light cameras because of accidents and the accidents went up lol. I don't trust the government to solve any problems, just create more.

I'm afraid the more I see the more I believe the majority of people are just stupid. There is no common sense anymore, it's almost like a super power these days.

A big difference between those 2 companies is CRST is pretty much forced team driving and prime is almost forced solo driving with the lightweight trucks. I looked into CRST but I really want to start out solo after all the training and not be with someone I just met 24/7 for weeks or months at a time.

That sucks! I see why my post might have touched a nerve as well :)

Phones are just the most recent thing, distracted drivers are distracted no matter what hold their attention. I don't buy those statistics either because unless there is an eye witness or they find a half written text on a phone that somehow survives the accident how do they know? I've only been in 2 accidents in my life but both times my phone was in a compartment near the dash and once it ended up under the seat, the other it was in the back seat. My step father just got rear ended last month at a red light for a cross walk, he was stopped over 30 seconds and 3 cars back from the crosswalk and the guy hit him going 40 without even slowing down and gets out asking why the f... He stopped? Some people just don't pay attention.

I've had a cell phone for 18 years, as soon as I got a license my parents bought it to keep track of me lol. I've texted and made calls my fair share while driving over those 18 years and I've never even come close to having a wreck because of that. I've also never drive down the road in a rain storm watching a video... I also think the laws against texting and driving are making it worse. It's one thing to get a text and bring the phone up near your line of sight, quickly glance over, read a few words, back on the road, etc all while keeping everything in your peripheral but now I see people driving trying to hide their phones and they actually look down completely losing sight of the road from any peripheral vision and check their phone. The law needs to be against any distraction but that's harder to enforce.

The real epidemic is the lack of common sense in this world and I wish I knew how to fix that issue...