Comments By Carter

What does your trainer teach you when going from 9th to 10th? I've been making the shift at about 48 mph which is around 1400 rpm because it seems to be too doggy at less than that. And how do he teach you to apply the turbo? 15 or less psi?

Still 12-1300 to go into 10th. It took (is still taking) me a bit to get comfortable with it as was always at least 1500 in school. When it happens correctly, it is "smooth like buttah." My trainer is just preaching that I need to be patient, don't rush into my shifts, it isn't a race car.

To be honest, he hasn't said a single thing about the turbo. We have never discussed it. Hmmm... curious.

Congratulations!

They used to have it as a set pay, but they found trainees were being lazy and would milk the pay. They used to give 500 a week but when they did that some new drivers would only drive 4-5 hours a day because they made the same regardless of how hard they worked. 

I'll bet money that these are the same wonderful folks that complain about how crappy their dispatcher is and how much the company sucks because they don't "make no money." Nevermind that they won't drive at night, complain about any load that isn't cross country and have to personally inspect every truck stop on their route to check for quality accommodations.

I'm done with this soapbox, anyone else need it?

Also, you may need to start in a lower gear depending on how heavy you are and the grade of the hill.

At the end of the day, though, Steve is correct; hold the brake, slowly release the clutch until you feel it tug just a bit than release the brake. You should be golden.

Hey Snow. While it is not impossible, depending on where you live, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to get a local job right out of school.

My understanding (limited as it is) is that it is so expensive to insure someone with less than a year of experience that missy local companies simply can't afford it. Add to that many former otr drivers with tons of experience and good driving records want to start being home more often. Local companies will gobble them up as they are in demand.

So, between cost to insure and supply and demand of experienced drivers means you may have a tough time cracking that egg. Good luck to you though.

Oh, and welcome to TT.

I can definitely see myself running out of hours if I make it to Orlando where my daughter and new grandson live.

And Daniel, I'm sure you can put that to good use. I just missed you in SLC last week. Would have liked to have said hello as your descriptions of prime were one of the reasons I looked into them.

For some reason, the shifting is coming along quickly(ish). I've done well enough that Satan has taught me how to float and will let me do it when we are empty.

He still threatens to buy a shock collar for those times that I let the rpm's go over 1300 before shifting, or when I forget to go back to 10th after downshifting to 9th...

I do still stall occasionally because I forget to go to low and try to take off from a light in 8th gear. Yeah, that sucks.

Remember kids, the selector is your friend. Don't forget to use it.

Lol dude! I'm only 2 weeks in, let me wallow in the misery... just kidding, it isn't miserable, it is simply more challenging and demanding then maybe most people think, even after reading all the veterans telling us how demanding it us.

I look forward to doing the occasional reset in a part of the country that I never would have visited otherwise. I've already met some genuinely good people that I never would have if I stayed in my old comfort zone. Soon, I hope to be able to reconnect with friends that are scattered around the country and make new lifelong friends all because I was willing to take a chance and push through the parts that were harder than I had originally imagined.

It is a rewarding choice and I hope to become really good at it some day (once I quit cussing every time I miss a shift at an intersection).

I have no personal experience with it. My trainer leases and he seems to prefer it, but if you search this site for "lease" you will find that it may not be all that it may seem. My choice is to avoid it at this point.

Sure Ryan. I came in with my cdl already in hand, so I'm not one to comment on their cdl program. I will say this about the company though; in my limited amount of time with them, I am very impressed with how they conduct their business.

If they told me something (from my recruiter, to the people in orientation, to my trainer) then that is what happened. They shall have one of the longest training programs I've seen. This could be a positive, or negative, depending on your point of view, but the way I see it is that you will be in control of an 80k lb rolling building that folds in half at 60 mph (thanks to Brett for the analogy). Don't you think you should get as much training with an experienced person as humanly possible before taking that on solo? The fact that prime agrees tells me a lot about their organization. And they pay well to train you.

I actually made more than I was promised because we ran more miles than expected. When was the last time a company paid you more than they said they would?

I'm sure that others will have great things to say about their companies, but right now, in my honeymoon phase, I don't think I could have picked a better place.