Comments By Joshua C.

Your not seeing the big picture here... just cuz you can get a new dispatcher doesn't mean they don't talk... if you **** one off to the point where he/she gets really mad and the type to hold grudges then you just committed career suicide Cuz that dispatch will let your dispatcher know what type of driver you are.. kind of like one cop helping another cop... your best bet is to apologize and move on..

I actually don't agree with this. I switched boards after one month and it was the absolute right thing to do. Have had literally zero issues/flare ups going on 7 months now. Making way more money and being both appreciated and treated with respect. I've never looked as myself as the lowest on the totem pole or just another drive. From what I was told by the in charge of claims, he gets hundreds of them all time. I've had zero accidents and zero citations. I understand my position in the company but by no means do I think or look at myself as some peon peasant. Not even close. A good strong reliable safe driver is a huge asset to any trucking company. That's how I look at myself in this businees.

Ya know, I'm not a jerk but Im going to be real with you. Don't you ever disrespect your supervisor again for any reason. You're a grown man, act like it and stop acting out of emotion.

Ill tell you this, I like my dispatcher a lot, but at the same time I hate snotty, rude students who are disrespectful. I would choose my dispatcher over any student. If you were on my truck and I found out that you talked to my dispatcher in that fashion your ass would be hitchhiking home from Mile Marker 65 on I40 in New Mexico.

This is coming from a Prime Instructor/Trainer -- learn your place on the totem pole.

Now that we addressed your embarrassing, childish ways I can answer your question.

You don't get paid at home or to drive home under a load. He actually did you a favor but you're too new to realize it. You also had taxes kill the paycheck and weekly payments that you owe Prime. It's very easy to see you going negative.

Seriously though I've been a part of TT for a long time. What you did was the absolutely the dumbest thing I've read in a very long time. Learn your lesson from it and apologize to your dispatcher for your behavior. You're lucky you haven't gotten fired yet, though I wouldn't be surprised if that's pending.

I think this was rather abrasive and uncalled for. He's here venting and you saying is the dumbest thing you heard in awhile is very disrespectful. Just because he's the lowest on the totem pole as you say doesn't mean he's not a person, and that how he feels is irrelevant. I guarantee you wouldn't have dropped me off in the middle of nowhere if I had words with my dispatcher. Good luck trying

I am still in tnt training and my trainer and I took our home time this past week, last Tuesday to this Tuesday. Let me rephrase, I was supposed to start my home time last Tuesday, what actually happened is I dropped a load tues morning at 10 am and sat waiting at the receiver til 4pm for my next load to get me home seeing as I was still over 600 miles away. At 4pm I messaged my dispatcher to find out wth was going on. He then sent up a load going further east that didnt even pick up til the next morning and didnt drop off til friday. Once again I messaged him stating that both my trainer and I were supposed to be starting our home time, tues for me and wed for my trainer. He replied that it was the best he could do. I sent another message stating that I had already made plans with my family to go to an amusement park wed and that I had already payed for a hotel because my hometime was set a month ahead of time and that I hadnt been home since starting my training with prime 6 weeks prior. Once again he sent a reply stating this was the best they could do. At this point I was pretty heated so I sent a reply stating that I would expect him to reimburse me for the money I had spent on the hotel and that this instance was probably one of the top reasons they have such a high turn around of students quitting while in training. At this point I figured he was getting peaved because he then sent a reply telling me to deadhead home and for my trainer to drop the trailer in Springfield and bobtail to his home. At this point it was already after 6pm, needless to say I had to drive over my 14hour clock in order to get home and I didnt get home until 2am wed morning. I received my pay stub last night knowing that I wouldnt make much because the only miles I drove last week were the miles I drove home but I thought I would at least be paid for those miles. Instead I got a 0 mile pay and was charged for my training which equaled a negative pay. WTF? Is this right? Now I was supposed to be back out tuesday and instead I have been sitting at home waiting. They sent my trainer out tues but no where near me. Supposedly, after he drops off this load he will be dispatched by me so I can get back on the truck but at this point it already screws me on my pay. I talked to another dispatcher and he said I should still get paid my guaranteed min pay of 700 since I was supposed to be on a truck at the beginning of the pay period and that if Im not I need to bring it up to human resources. WTF? Is this usually this much of a pain in the ass? How did I get stuck with a crappy dispatcher?

Honestly I went into psd and tnt not expecting any home time till it was over with. I ended up getting about 4 days after I got my cdl and ran team for about a week. After that, I didn't see home till about 2 and a half more months.

After you get your own truck, always on time with your loads and don't hit anything, I've had absolutely zero issues requesting home time then it being granted to me. First day during orientation they basically said you wouldn't be going home for a couple months. I think they know from experience that it is critical for a student driver to be learning and getting better everyday before they assign you that shiny new truck.

I'm sure you won't do it again, but I wouldn't have already paid for a hotel and had the date set in stone with this job/dynamic. So many things could keep that from being a possibility.

Prime is a awesome company and I have nothing but great things to say about them, but anyone that has a family and life outside of the trucking lifestyle really has to know that this first year is about sacrifice. Lots of home everyday/weekend jobs after that first year. Your going to work off that cdl cost trust me on that. I had to switch dispatchers early on and it was the smartest move I made. Been with the same one now with zero issues almost literally. First one I didnt click with at all and I asked to move boards and it was granted.

Well, I'm a guy first of all lol! I get that a lot though with my name. I wanted to teifecta, but for in my head to much the first time in the blindside parallel.

Today i got the drivers side parallel, hit it first shot.

Sorry man. Yeah the name threw me off. Great job none the less.

Yo so I have another question for all you "experts"

I really want to start this trucking thing ASAP. My local community college has a CDL program with classes year round every 2 weeks that are 5 weeks long Mon - Fri 8-5. I figured I could do that in between the fall and spring semester and then use the flex 1 (first half only classes) to save up some fin aid money to have a little nest egg of savings. Once that's done I can start a career in trucking without having to do THEIR cdl training and be contracted in (although I'll prob stay for at least a year it opens up the window to MORE companies I can start with)

That's 1 option, option 2 is to go through company sponsored training, be limited to those companies and also be stuck weather I like it or not for a year, I don't foresee that being an issue but it's the principle of the matter.

My question to you guys is, is either option better for me to get a job. Is it just as easy to get hired with having obtained my cdl through a 3rd party such as my community college as it is to go through a companies sponsored training. say I still wanted to go with prime, would my chances of being hired with them be equally as good if I had my cdl already vs going through their schooling?

I'm afraid to spend that money only to find it be harder to get a job. The lady at my college says they have companies all the time asking for new cdl grads and they haven't had any students complain about trouble finding a job yet. To me that's standard recruiter talk because if she said "no you'd do better at a company sponsored course" the college wouldn't get any students.

So I want to know what you guys think, should I get my CDL through my college in their 5 week, 5 days a week 8-5 class or should I go with company sponsored school options.

Also please tell me why you pick that choice.

The cost of my local college is not an issue because I have a trust fund that pays my tuition so no need to factor that in for my situation.

Yeah I agree with these guys. If I would have had my cdl paid locally i for sure would have done it. You could go straight to tnt with prime making 700 a week and possibly more depending on how hard you run. I was done with psd in about 3 weeks but it was 7 days a week, sharing that truck with someone during both psd and tnt. About 3 months total. I talked to a trans am driver the other day. He went to a school then went to trans am. He had his own truck in less then 2 weeks. Prime you'd have to drive with someone for about 2 months or so.

Did you trifecta? On your backing test did you have the alley dock or the parallel?

Short of heading to the DMV in the morning and making it officially official, today I became the very proud owner of a class A cdl!

Thank you to everyone for the kind words, encouragement, and motivation! Thank you Brett and crew for the high road training program!

Awesome. Very well done. Primes psd program is no joke. You set a good example for the other females.

The first part is a common posting here and on many other boards. After that is the explanation from a Fleet Manager

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I am tired of getting skee-rooed by this company! I drive a scheduled shuttle run that gets me 512 miles daily, four days on, two off. Plus being home every day. But they don't tell you when you get cancelled! I went to the T-call window, ready for my run. The clerk said "Sorry, you got cancelled!" Well, can't they tell me this before I get dressed, pack a lunch and drive 30 miles to the terminal! Nooo - they don't have time. The the clerk looks at the actual schedule - ANOTHER DRIVER'S LOAD WAS CANCELLED, AND HE GOT MINE - and I have the honor of staying hoe and not get paid. How can I make a living this way? I'm not sure if going back to OTR or looking for another company who better takes care of the drivers is the way out of this junk!, I'm going to post what happened to me on Trucking Truth, Trucker Report, CDLLife and LifeAsATrucker to warn people away from Swift!

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(The previous paragraph is a common reaction by people. I called the office and (not my intention) ended up talking to the fleet manager)

Turns out I have not been set up in the phone-mail system where I could call in to see if I'm scheduled or cancelled - the phone call that saves lots of time and aggravation. The FM apologized and would get me set up.

The load swap, where "my" load was given to another driver is actually a rotation thing. On any given load that is cancelled, there is a rotation so that we all get cancelled in turn. That's a great advantage if one lane gets lots of cancellations, hurting that one driver, the "joy" is spread around instead.

If a load is cancelled, and the driver ends up not driving, they get a cancellation pay of $100. The round trip is worth $184 to me if I drive, so for 80 bucks I get to stay home. Better than a poke in the eye, at least!

So before you go ballistic, try talking with someone, or making a phone call. You might get an explanation that makes sense!

4 days on 2 days off and also home everyday? That's a very nice gig. I was told that Swifts walmart dedicated routes in the Florida area want one year experience. I'll have several options for a home almost every night by then though.

...in a Prime LW governed at 62 mph. A perfect storm of dispatches and deliveries. Technically the 4473 is over eight and a half days, but I doubt I top this (in a Prime company truck anyway).

Last week was only 2300 but the week before was 3400. Loving these miles! I'm definitely looking forward to home time though, getting run a little ragged.

Man. That's a busy week

I'll say one more thing to. All The Talking to other people, reading these forums, and speculating kind of helps in a way I guess. But when I commented on your other post and said trucking is a hands on sport, it's because it is. There isn't any getting around not knowing or being able to do much in the beginning. It's all repitition. Just like learning a instrument or becoming proficient at anything really, it's practice practice practice and trucking isnt any different. If you can swallow your pride for a couple months and be a willing student, before you know it you'll be driving a big semi down the interstate and backing at a truck stop. Fear and anxiety lessens as you become more proficient. It just takes time