Comments By New Beginning

To contact a recruiter at prime, here's an email for my recruiter, she was really good.

babrown@driveforprime.com

here's the number

http://www.primeinc.com/

the reason i went with prime is cause they pay you 200 per week while you are in CDL training i don't know who else is doing that.

i have no interest in getting any financial compensation for giving you this info, i am also not eligible for it since i do not drive for prime, but i trained there.

The $200 a week is a loan. After you start the TNT phase $25 a week is withheld from your check until it is paid back. For me I ended up paying back $1000 dollars. During the TNT phase I have grossed over $800 per check just to give an idea of what you can expect if you chose Prime.

I am a new driver and thankfully when I took my test we only had to downshift to sixth gear. I still have trouble finding the right gear when downshifting below 10 mph. I hate when the light changes green and I am going under 10 mph.

Companies usually like about 5 years distance from any drug charge. Wish you would have found this site before you went to school. You could have researched. Unfortunately schools are only in it for the money, otherwise they would have warned you how difficult it might be securing employment so soon after a drug charge. Continue applying for jobs and check out smaller trucking companies. They may be more able to help you than the larger companies. I had the same charge but I waited the 5 years so I could get on with a company that trained to guarantee I would be employable. Good luck.

First, for the,love of whatever God you believe in, do not get into an automatic!!!! This GREATLY reduces your abilities as a trucker. How many companies would you have to walk away from an amazing offer because they don't have automatics? It's VERY easy to shift. Get 3 paper tubes, one for the clutch, one for brake, one for throttle. Get a plunger, that's the shifter. Get familiar with the Addams Family theme song. The 2 claps are the speed you need to shift. It gets easy with practice. Clutch neutral, clutch gear. Your road speed and RPMs will dictate if you get the gear. Example, at 5mph in a 10-speed, 2nd gear. Shift to 3rd at 9-10mph and 1100 rpms. Do it Addams Family theme speed, you will get the gear. Don't jam the shifter either. Think of the shifter as a fabrige egg. Gentle pressure with your finger tips is PLENTY to,get it,in gear. Light pressure with your Palm is enough to get it out.

You sound like my trainer. He says he got into trucking because of the rumble of the stack pipes when the jake break is on (pre-def). I told him I got into trucking so I can get paid to see parts of the country I might not other wise get to see. How can I take in the scenery if I have to constantly look at RPMs and how fast I am going(just kidding, I always look 12-15 seconds ahead). Anyway, I am glad I learned how to shift truck gears. Its like joining the military, only a small percentage of people can say they made that choice and succeeded. Driving an automatic is a choice. If one hasn't started yet, i'm sure a TT Wiki thread on companies going automatic will be started soon(hint hint Bret). Like manuals transmissions in cars, manuals in trucks will become less common. Especially with millinuals (however you describe the generation after us gen Xers). How else can they text and drive if they have to shift gears and pay attention to traffic.

I must say I think the people and program are better than I expected. Im at the end of my first week and only one time was I frustrated. not with the instructors but with other employees. I was in the sim today Backing up...which I really wanted time to do. We EACH had a sim...but outside drivers. ..trainers and even tnt students entered and offer to "help" by controlling my wheel and telling me how to do it. When the 3rd guy asked. .I flat out told him. ."go away. .thanks but no thanks". He wouldn't leave so I went to the ladies room and did not return to my sim until he got the point. Ireally felt it was cause iwas the only woman in the room. .none of the men tried to "help"the other men. we started with about 76 and are down to half I'm sure. Many lied about physicals. .duis..or worse. The drug tests came back today which caused more to leave. Some couldn't pass the written exam.

I don't feel like a number as I saw a couple people suggest. They know my name. ..they smile and laugh. .and they seem to care. Even the cafeteria staff knows or name.

I would have liked a meet and greet with trainers. You are not assigned. .the trainer receives phone numbers of trainees so it is the luck of the draw. If you are lucky enough to meet someone outside who is a trainer. .good for you. Most hanging outside are smokers. .so not really where I want to be.

With respect to comments about rude instructors and lack of class time. .that has not been my experience. ..anyone who wanted extra sim time got it... I think 3 days for one to three hours. Of course maybe I'm justless sensitive than others. ...or from a rude part of the country. Lol

Also..thanks to this site. I passed all 4 written exams the first try. .that gave me more free time and less stress than some of the others.

They seem to give allot of bonuses for mpg..safety and training. .all great. They also seem to take safety seriously. They also encourage husband wife teams add it helps with homelife.

One week down. ..prime seems great so far. Now I need to find a trainer and I'll be on my way ;)

I am 23,000 miles into my TNT phase and so far Prime has been a good place to me. I will admit that 30,000 miles is a long, long time to be housed with someone you have only known for one day, but the experience behind the wheel is priceless. I also was stuck at the Campus Inn for a week. My trainer came out of the instructor training class my hold over week. Disregard what people say about getting a new instructor. Sometimes they are better than being with someone who has been driving for years because they remember what it feels like to be new. I am fortunate that I have a trainer who is patient. It also helped that he not too long ago went through the program his self and he is using his bad experience with his trainer as an example of what not to do. I came into the program expecting the worst, so as to not take things personal. So like you Rainy, i am not too offended by the actions of others. My only demand of my trainer during the interview process was that he not call me out my name. If I am anything other than Vernon at the end of a scolding for grinding gears, scaring the hell out of him going to fast on a ramp, or getting too close to a truck while backing up, that's when we would have a problem. I know TT has helped prepare me for this trucking experience. During my 3 month odyssey, I have experienced a break down on the highway my first week of PSD (hotel living for 4 days), a strained calf muscle (the smokey mountains( scariest driving thus far) and I still tested out with only 5000 miles driven. TNT started with Donners Pass at night while the trainer was sleep, Twin Sisters, and two trips from and to Sacramento to Portland(Mt Asanti and its buddies suck). Along one of those trips another break down when trailer breaks froze and started a fire(thanks to the farmer who alerted us, thank God the trainer was driving then). So far everyone here has nice. From the shuttle drivers to most cafeteria workers, everyone seems personable and friendly. I read on this site alot that you get back in attitude what you give, and staying positive is the best way to get through to others. This is a very stressful business. Everyone is under constant pressure. But I like it. And you have the right attitude so I know you will like it too. Good luck and be safe.

I'm headed to primes school now and want a to thank all of you for advice and great site. I was a little nervous being s woman who wants to drive. ..but you all helped me greatly. ...even though I never posted I read everything here. ...feel confident with the help of the practice test here. Thanks everyone

You will be pleasantly surprised at how many women truckers are at Prime. There are lots of women of all sorts who drive trucks. Sure, not as many as men, but there hasn't been a truck stop that I have been to that I have not seen female truckers. You will do fine. Good luck.

I just started driving an automatic this week. It's a love/hate relationship right now. Love it when I am in heavy traffic, not to sure during other times. The jury is still out on this right now.

One big thing I don't like about it is when you are trying to slide your 5th wheel, it sucks. Had a very difficult time with that earlier this week. Finally got it, but boy was it a chore. You can't bump the clutch to jerk the truck to move a stuck 5th wheel. It seems on the new truck I am driving (new to me), it had never been moved, so did not want to budge.

Ernie

Glad your back riding this horse Ernie. From what I am hearing you will be happy to have that automatic. Do you automatic veterans, have you driven them in winter yet?That seems like the time when having a manual is beneficial. My last post was all messed up. Tried to take part of previous post and use it but ended up stealing it. Hey Errol, is there a tutorial on here that shows how to quote portions of what someone posted with out quoting the entire post. I think I confused myself.

I'll be coming to Swift in a couple of weeks. Do you know if they are training in automatics ? I ask, cuz I am taking my test in an automatic. Thanks

I thought it was required all cdl testing be done with a manual. I should have researched more before I started, haha. I am glad I learned to drive a manual though.

As I look through trucker magazines at truckstops I notice a lot of trucking companies are pointing out they are ordering new trucks and emphasizing automatics. I guess driver comfort is the at top of trucking companies to lure in newer drivers.

I haven't quite mastered driving trucks yet and am really beginning to get annoyed with myself whenever I grind a gear. Some days I drive like I have been doing this for ten years. Other days it's like I just started yesterday. I am curious as to how those of you that drive automatics like them. It seems like automatics would cut down on a lot of stress, especially when going through bumper to bumper traffic. Worrying about rpms, speed, how far to push on the clutch, and how heavy the load is really takes away from concentration on the road for me. The changing shifting points, and the dreaded climbing up hills is so frustrating.

Swift seems to be moving to an "all" automatic fleet as they purchase new trucks. I started driving one back in July. I must admit at first I was not a fan, perhaps my ego got in the way, not sure. Since I am a dedicated driver on the Walmart account, I spend a good bit of my time in heavy traffic, so it did not take me very long to change my tune. Although it took some getting used to it (what to do with my left foot, etc.), I am of the same thought as several other posts, I would not go back. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy shifting, but at the end of a long day I seem to be far less fatigued with the automatic.

I almost went to Swift for my training, but I felt I needed more on the job training so I am at Prime. Sometimes I think I would have been better off with the shorter training cause being stuck in a truck for four months with someone is challenging. But anyway way, is the pay at Swift about average to other major carriers? I also chose Prime because after 6 months I can by out my tuition for $1600, if I am not happy with my situation. My trainer says he doesn't think Prime will be getting automatics anytime soon. But when I get back to the terminal I sure will be asking.