Profile For Rainy D.

What does a "military apprenticeship" entail? Most companies are going to give vets some sort of benefits. Prime has a 9 month contract instwad of 1 year for vets.

But Coffe, you said you are using the GI BIll right? so what are the companoea offering to vets?

It was true a couple years ago. Diver Driver is a Navy vet and went to local school. JP told him he would need a one year contract so he came to Prime instead. 2 years later, he is still with Prime.

It is about tuition reimbursement. People are getting reimbursed then leaving after a couple of months, essentially getting their schooling for free.

I wouldnt freak about the contract. If you truly feel its the right fit, go for it. I expected to do my year then go local. But i fell in love with my company and coworkers. A year flies by in this business cause you are always on the go. Plus, the "school" is nothing. The real training is when you get to the company. Thats when you truly taught the ins and outs of trucking. So really, the company training is worth a lot.more than the school.

Put the reimbursement in an AMEX high yield savings account at 3% and if you do leave, pay off the contract with it. Contracts differ from company. Mine was prorated, so stay 6 mos and only owe half. Later contracts worked differently here at Prime.

Good luck

Grumpy...its ok. we can joke.

I say we destroy all remnants of Forrest Gump because life is absolutely NOTHING like a box of chocolates. comparisons be damned.

I know...because i have eaten more chocolate than any of you!

Another thing is that companies take things on a case by case basis. For example it was rumored at my company if you jack knifed or used an escape ramp on a downgrade you were automatically fired. It isnt true.

One guy who trained in the summer but was from down south and never saw snow. he jack knifed in the winter. They put him back with his original trainer through the rest of the winter and then he did great. Another guy was trained on a northeast regional account and didnt do serious mountains or downgrades. When he went west solo, he took the mountain too fast and used an escape ramp. He was not fired because he maintained control and didnt freak out...he kept cool. He went back with a trainer.

The reason both of these guys werent fired is because under normal conditions, they are awesome drivers. They never got critical events for speeding, hard brakes or following too closely. they had no other tickets, accidents or incidents, and neither was ever late for deliveries. They communicated well with dispatch. they just needed to tweak their skills.

Had these guys been late, had numerous tickets or accidents....well...that would have been a different story.

Nervous about Going Solo?

That link is full of lots of stupid things I did as a newbie. It will make you feel more competent after you read it. I SUCKED lol

Chris I love your resppnse,

Rainy don’t you dare apologize, you did nothing wrong or improper. You were on point, some folks just don’t get it, or many other life’s lessons either.

Brett and G put it in the proper perspective I think.

Rob if your in St Louis and want to see anything first hand just hollar at me. I pull out of E St Louis. I’ll be back in town monday night until wed sometime.

take a Zytec and use Flonase daily as a preventative

My safety department said we arent allowed to use Zyrtec...so ask your company first

BTW...i got $250 in detention for sitting there and a full 70 to run with. So i was happy to catch up on sleep

Meat loads are the longest. Prime gives us appointment windows and a DDT "Dead Delivery Time" which is the latest it can be loaded. At that point, we start getting paid detention. This is true for JBS, Cargill, National Beef, and Tyson (Trucker You're Sitting Over Night).

The appt can look like 02/23 0100 - 02/24 2359

Always have food and bathroom capabilities on board as some do not have restrooms but porta pots. Some slaughter houses do not kill the "product" until you check in.

After about a year, i stopped getting those long waiting ones and got ones others did not pick up. Therefore my load time was much shorter than it would have been had the original driver picked it up. Now i only get the wait times if my 70 is low and i need a 34 sitting there.

Most times we check in then bobtail to walmart or truckstop or something. They call when the load is ready.

My longest was 40 hours at Ben n Jerrys in VT because the machines broke and they needed to make chunky monkey.

You can also get copies from the IRS.gov site. you need to provide a credit card to prove identity to get it electronically or have it mailed.

That date thing changes all the time. As a USPS employee, it was usually "Must be postmarked by Feb 3rd...or 2nd..or 1st" or whatever the date was that year. But the law said "postmarked" not "received".

One tanker driver i know claimed it was cause the ramp was "too narrow" and his tires drifted off the asphault.

he still couldnt understand it was driver error. idiots.

Turtle said:

They do have a program for ex military, but I don't know the specifics on that. Good luck!

I think its a 9 month contract rather than a 12 month.

As the saying goes: My chest is my resume

I would LOVE to see your chest.

Did i say that????

Had to lighten the topic.

And thanks for cleaning up my anaolgy.

And this is why we steer people away from leasing until they understand and think about every angle.

there is soooo much to learn.

I disagree. Trucking is nothing like service.

Sorry if i offended you but i was trying to use an analogy in military terms for Rob to get a basic understanding of the various phases because he is very interested and mentioned his service.

I did not mean they are literally the same. It is actually an analogy my ex used a lot after he retired 22 years of Army 11B having been in combat deployment for most of it, and then went through trucking school. The "boot camp" idea is you just get through it for a short period and get it over with. It is intense and unique from anything you have done before. The OCS is you think you are better than those after you but are learning a totally different set of skills but still dont know crap.

So i admit im not military but tried to relate something and failed. Sorry. I was back home crying and reading casualty lists when i didnt have contact. sending care packages and trying to talk my guy from suicide. i dealt with years of nightmares and doctors and was a support system. So I know enough that i have seen the aftermath. I didnt mean disrespect which is how you took it.

However, "Lick my sack" is really unprofessional and purposely disrespectful.

It was "suggested" in September..but it is all over the sites today saying "today it was formalized".

i thought of you but didnt know how useful this is.

Mouse, one of the reasons we stress Company Sponsored CDL Schooling is because that company has invested time and money in you. They are definitely more forgiving because of it.

My first month out, i knocked an axle off my trailer. Not only am i still here at Prime, but I now have 3 years safe driving AND 3 years on time delivery.

I was devastated. I avoided the terminals for months afraid i would get fired. The difference between me and another from my class is that i said "it was totally my fault. I got distracted and didnt swing wide enough". I didnt even get a "dont do it again." I got, "Do you know ehat yo do next time?".

My classmate yelled at the FM screaming it was his trainers fault, that he was suing Prime for even questioning him, and he wanted his contract voided. They offered to send him out with another trainer since he claimed the trainer was lacking. He ranted so much, they considered him too volatile and sent him.packing the next day.

When we say own up to your mistakes., we mean it.

My trainee had an incident where he didnt swing wide enough while entering a customer. He banged up the trailer skirt and spare tire holder on a large boulder. He was nervous he was getting in trouble. He got the same response.

They want us to learn from our mistakes. My FM once joked, "Every driver messes something up....ONCE".

Do you have a US drivers license? You need to have one for one full year before anything can transpire.

WE have little patience here for those who want to play victim, or consider most others are just not up to some standard

My thoughts exactly. Your roommates are idiots, so you are gonna be homeless. CRST didnt tell you where to go (which doesnt explain why you left), your hotel mates complained, your family was selfish and wouldnt help.

All i hear is negativity and blame. I hate that. Why do you need roommates that can dictate where you live? You had a hotel at CRST so you must have been given SOME info. Why did you leave? If you really wanted to get into trucking, the same determination that caused you to walk 30 miles should have pushed you through training.

Take a hard look at the negativity and then get rid of it. It will hinder your career.

New guy: I'm a weigh lifter so I can handle any strength requirements of truck driving. (attitude is intentional) Experience driver: I don't care how strong you are, you've never unfolded an 80 pound frozen tarp standing on metal covered with ice.

Valid point. However, lifting weights is one thing. Lifting weights after 11 hours of driving in severe weather conditions that absolutely drain you physically and mentally after having to be constantly alert....especially at night...when new....it just seriously doesnt compare.

One power lifter told us he intended to go to the gym mon, wed ,fri for an hour a day. He insisted where there is a will there is a way. That is not realistic A woman told us she needs to start her day off every morning at 8am with a shower and she was bringing all.of her camping and cooking equipment on her trainers truck. Not happening. Yet another demanded to bring his dog to training. A former pilot said sleeper cabs are subhuman and any company he works for better pay for a hotel room every night.

Most new drivers are exhausted for at least the first few months without having to lift tarps. I can leg press 1200 pounds...no lie..and because of it driving a clutch never bothered me, not even in traffic. That doesnt mean handling the other aspects of driving was easy...and many people think because they can drive, workout, organize, etc...that they can do this. It isnt about one skill or.trait. Its about managing and balancing so mamy different issues at the same time.

My current trainee just said, "Driving is the easy part. It is the rest of the job that gets difficult."

Yet, we see so many people post "I graduated at the top of my CDL school class. Im a great trucker, and im going to find a company who pays me what im worth". But they dont realize the journey has just begun.

CDL School is like boot camp. Training is like OCS. Being a rookie is like a new infantryman on his first combat deployment. Everyone wants to stay away from him in the field cause he might get shot, or heck, might shoot you. When new drivers back into doors, other drivers point and laugh or sometimes get out to make sure their own truck doesnt get hit.

To answer your question, Im supposed to be sleeping right now, but my trainee is bouncing me around while driving Elk Mountain WY. i post when i cant sleep

Rainy D (wonderful ability to be nice and frank as the same time).

He thinks Im nice! Yeah, he is new lol

Rob, we get asked questions a lot and when we give answers, some people argue with us. They get bad info from disgruntled employees, or they watched Smokey and the Bandit too many times then bash various companies. Companies we actually all work for and know these drivers are either lying or misinformed.

Here is a great example... the Hours of Service rules can seem complicated to new driver There is a provision that allows you to split your 10 hour break into a 2 and 8 hour break, with driving between the two.

A student in a school, who had never turned a key in a truck yet argued with us telling us we are wrong and don't get it. He confused the wording. To end the confusion, I posted pictures of my Qualcomm which records the hours and still he told me i was wrong. yeah, ok. When we continue to correct issues, it might seem harsh but we need future readers to understand that person is not knowledgable.

We also get many who come here.. "My brother's friend's uncle says he can teach me to drive a truck and then I am going to buy one and get rich." yeah ok. There are so many safety and insurance issues with that, but what do we know? his brothers friends uncle knows more.

Many get to training at a company then bash and complain about policies and procedures. They want the company to revamp their training to suit them. This is where attitude comes into play. They resist everything the trainer says, then once solo get into wrecks because they didnt listen, they didnt listen to us, but then want us to fix them getting fired.

The "they want us to tell them what they want to hear" is more in regard to BS we won't promote such as:

"Yes! you will make millions if you buy a truck"

"Yes, your company sucks and you rolled the truck while taking a curve too fast 9 months into your driving career, but it is your trainers fault,"

"Yes, it is dispatchers fault you were late cause he should know you sleep late"

"Yes, it is discrimination that you cant get a job for failing one non DOT drug test, a speeding ticket of 20mph over, and a felony conviction with prison time. SUE!!!"

We are here to help as much as possible. We will give you the truth, advice and information. What you do with it is up to you.

Many of my blog articles depict my personal mistakes. I humilitate myself to prevent others from making those mistakes.

But as you said, you wont understand the life until you live it. Every student i get says "This is so much harder than i expected". Every new CDL holder thinks he is now a truck driver but then realizes school was the easy part...as hard as it was.

My current trainee said, "Tell your readers to sleep in a cardboard box in the furthest part of their yard when they are sick, and then they get a taste as they trek in the dark to the bathroom."

The turn over rate is high because they include the 70% of people who get sent home from orientation for lying or hiding their drug, dmv, criminal record or cant pass the DOT physical. Others never pass the test. Still, the ones who remian cannot handle the responsibility or the lifestyle.

But please. ask away