Profile For Truckin Along With Kearsey

You would be surprised. I broke an Abloy lock and a dolly handle lol

Our pigtails were changed in the newer trucks and some people strapped them so high that 90 degrees split the electrical connection box in half. Our trucks were recalled after that

I am from West Deptford! Another member here is from Woodstown. ;)

We are both at Prime but I run OTR reefer. They wanted to put me Northeast regional but it is a tough gig. Lack of parking, tight backing and of course our crazy drivers.

Heres my thread that was 4 years ago.when i started. Pay has increased a bit since. It is long because I basically answered all Prime questions on it over the years.

My First Year Pay at Prime

Ask any questions you like, we will answer. ;)

Maria, if you are that new, don't worry about this stuff yet. You have SO MUCH to learn. You have the bare minimum right now. Company training is when you will see this stuff in action.

And be sure to find a company soon. The longer you wait after graduation, the harder it is to find a job.

Yeah, it's confusing, Noob. I guess we are being told that technically we've already arrived at destination so the load is NOT being advanced.

Also seems to be some discrepancy as to how fast you have to be moving to be put on the drive line. Ours kicks us onto drive at 5mph.

Prime is not on "offical" elogs until Dec. So ours now are "unofficial prime perameters". It is supposed to.change to 2 miles per hour later i believe.

All carriers have a right to dictate how their logs are used. For example, we get 1 hour of PC, Knight gets 30 mins etc. Other companies may not allow it at all.

The Off duty drive is supposedly something Prime worked out with DOT. It can be used as "equipment repositioning" and therefore we can use it and note that in remarks. Our safety rating got messed up because of some bad accidents so DOT has been inspecting the heck out of us to improve the scores. I specifically asked in class about never having yard moves due to using PC in the shippers and i was told as long as it says "repositioning" it wont be a problem cause as you stated, we arent "advancing" the load. Just make sure you do have on duty there for checking in.

Honestly, I haven't even bothered. My logs can be a mess. The loads can get screwed up, and I don't care. I had a slight "conversation" with dispatch the other night because someone forgot i needed to take a 10 hour break then they got snippy with me. THAT didnt go over well. hahhahaha

Did you take the mandatory logs class? they are allowing us off duty drive for yard stuff. but that means we need time to get out of customer

I agree with Old School. I went to Prime and paid NOTHiNG at all. I signed a 1 year contract and paid nothing. Big Scott went dry van at CFI and paid NOTHING thw same way. Most companies do it that way.

My concern is your assumption you can get an LTL job straight out of school. Local and "home more" jobs are highly desirable and gobbled up by experienced drivers. That is why a lot of people go OTR to gain the experience which makes them marketable for coveted jobs.

Local jobs have tighter backing and narrower roads which are difficult for newbies to manuever.

You and your wife may need to set your expectations differently.

Always leave as early as possible for the load. Traffic, accidents construction and more can delay you. Once you fall behind you never catch up. Message dispatch with any issues in WRITING not on the phone.

Parking can be an issue for new drivers so if you have to, shut down earlier and start the next clock earlier. Running your full 11 hours is not always best cause if space is limited or tight and you are tires, you may hit something.

I know you are excited, but understand applications only last 30 days. Because of that you will have to reapply later. A new background check and DMV check will be done.

So when he tells you that, don't be frustrated. In his eyes, you just wasted his time because many applicants pull out before ever getting to orientation, or they get tickets or have accidents in before going which could disqualify them. He could have been working on someone's case who would actually get him paid, so do not get discouraged.

I wanted to ask about the change in the CLP rule that was mentioned above. Is there a thread about this here somewhere or could someone say what has changed that is causing problems?

Prime students who went to MO got MO CLPs and licenses then transferred back home. In the other states you brought the permit with you from home and transferred it back to your home state. MO law changed recently, so anyome with a permit had to go back home and retest for the written and get a new permit. Law states you have to wait 2 weeks from the permit date

so if someone had a permit for 2 weeks in MO, they would have to go home, wait another 2 weeks before they could test.

and thank you both!

Kinda wanna see the video now. Probably cheer me up. Link? Will find your article on here and read it. Love the stuff that lady Rainy used to post. And yes was ready to test weeks ago now its like this looming cloud I wanna see but hope it doesn't storm. Too much time to think about messing it up. Auto fail rings in my head. Know pretrip by heart. Not much pad time to learn points. Lots of road time though so I have that at least.

I am "that lady Rainy". lol and thank you! I used a fake name to write my novels years ago, and used my dogs name for forums. I never expected to be here 4 years!!! Last month instarted a youtube channel so i switched this profile to Kearsey (my real name) for sanity reasons. I have people calling me by so many names i feel.like Sybil.

the YT link is in my profile. Lots of rookie tips going up there. ;) Even my story of how i failed.

Everyone's training is completely different, so do not compare it. I did 1 week orientation, 3 weeks PSD 1 week of testing cause i kept failing. And I was so broke i couldn't afford the lawyer to go bankrupt with $70,000 in debt. 2 years later that was GONE!!!!

It gets better. and if you are nervous about the test, i wrote an article here and did a YouTube video on my testing... YIKES! concentrate on learning, atleast until she tries to sell the guitars. lol

If you can pass all three the first day you get a $250 bonus. Then the $700 per week kicks in.

Read this link and have your wife read it too. Negotiate with any bill collectors, giving SOME money is better than not paying or being late and if you officially change your payment amounts or get deferments, it doesnt affect your credit.

Budgeting Tips for CDL & Training

Hang in there, keep calm and test your butt off. As stated, it is better to push forward than try somewhere else. You will look like a quitter, and honestly, Prime has rhe top training pay and starting pay for drivers. You will have an easier time getting out from under it than starting at lower pay.

good luck

But but but.... you are a company driver... you got a NEW truck AND a condo???? you went lease .. admit it. i know because i read on the internet.....

(yes sarcasm oozed there)

its gorgeous

They are a good company. good luck.

Hi Wren! It's funny cause I was just editing a YouTube video about hygiene, using a commode on the truck, and even cosmetics. The vibration of the trucks break my powder makeup apart, and the heat melts the creme make up. We can buy most things at Walmart, but I personally think showering is the most important part for women (especially if still getting a monthly cycle). I hate to smell. Walmart has "Assurance" brand wipes with the Depends in the incontinence aisle. There are SO MUCH thicker and bigger than any baby wipe on the market. I even use them to clean the truck. Bottles like shampoo that push up, rather than screw on, explode from the air pressure in the mountains... not cool. Instead of shaving, I bought a package at European Wax Center which is nationwide. Much easier to get my hair yanked once a month LOL

Was there something in particular you needed to know? Good luck at Carolina btw.

Hi guys... Maria, what you are asking for is highly unlikely for several reasons.

I'll start with getting your own truck... the percentage rates for a loan and the insurance is astronomical for first time buyers. If you already have an LLC and can establish credit with it, then it would be easier... but insuring an inexperienced driver is extremely extremely expensive, which is why many of the smaller local companies want the experience. Most of the larger training/mega carriers are self insured, which is why they can afford to train.

The only company I know of that could do the 7 out 7 home is Roehl. Whether they would allow that for teams, I do not know. The logistics of doing this is improbable. Most teams are run coast to coast, not regional or local. Yes, you can run a team 3,000 in less than 3 days, but due to customer delays and other obstacles, I cannot imagine too many companies being willing to do this.

Another issue is that even after CDL School, you need to get trained by the company for several weeks to months depending on the company. If you want your husband to be your trainer, he will probably have to work at the new company for a certain period of time before he is eligible to train, regardless of his 10 years of experience.

Good luck, and keep us updated on your situation. If you find anything, i would love to know.

So here is my question... are you trying to.get a job and go right into a "paid" position without going through school.again? That didnt seem to work at Schneider. So.are you asking these companies to go.through their schooling?

i would.just sign a contract and do the schooling all over again. it isnt going to hurt. that is IF they will even let you. some wont.

You seemed surprised Schneider let you go after not backing well... my guess is they basically gave you the CDL Exam to see how you would do. "more than 15 minutes" and "I think i GOALed 3 times" those are auto fails on the CDL Exam.

Please keep in mind, you need to specifically ask the recruiters what "regional" means. it doesnt necessarily mean "home weekends" and it might not be a "weekend" but a 34 hour break which basically feels like 1 day.

My ex was regional and ran everything east of Denver. Got a 34 every other weekend at home. regional simoly means the area in which they run, not necessarily "close to home".

Companies that offer CDL training may reimburse far less though if you go through a private school instead of the schooling they offer. For example, i think prime only reimburses $1500. i can look into it... but it gives an incentive to attend Prime's schooling rather than a local school.

My sister used to call me "bigfoot" cause i wear size 11. She passed away and every time i see a bigfoot reference it feels.like she is saying hello.