Comments By Paul F.

Thanks for the encouragement Big Scott. I have been studying for my CDL license using the High Road Training Program and soaking up as much information as I can.

Any ideas or other information that will assist me I would be very grateful.

Thanks everyone!

Here's an idea....

RUN AWAY. just kidding. So far I'm liking this.

a ton of book and review time is not really up my alley

You might want to consider that you're about to be driving an 80,000 pound building on wheels down long, steep mountain grades and through heavily congested city traffic. Not knowing one important thing you needed to know can kill you, or someone else. Trucking is far more complicated than simply driving a big car, which is the mistake most people make in their thinking when entering this industry.

Use our High Road Training Program and study hard. There's a lot to know.

I used high road, and I'm still in training, a few minor errors aside. High road prepared me well for what I was about to embark on. 👍👍👍

I'll give my experience.

I researched extensively, I knew what I was getting into, and I've been treated quite well by prime so far. I'll be glad to give them a year as compensation. It's fair. however I really did not know that the attrition rate of trainees was so high. In other words, only about 20% of the people entering company sponsored training, actually upgrade to solo driver. (It's what I have heard, I'm not certain it's accurate though). I may not have attempted it had I known that but I have only about 15,000 miles left to upgrade to solo. Ive beaten the odds so far. Fingered crossed.

Get used to this type of sitting. Just this week I sat at a Loves in Kentucky for over 50 hours. Some places are not open on weekends, ometimes Sales will give you a large window to deliver a 700 mile run. It happens. Moreso when your solo.

I sure hope it's not always this bad. I'm gunna need miles to make bank. Let dispatch run me to death. I may be the sofa king but I'm not lazy.

A few days ago I drove rt 70 east through Colorado. I thought it was going to be a sphincter puckerer. It was not bad at all. My TNT trainer slept through, I did not wake him as I was comfortable doing it, once I got into it. It was the thought of dragging about 30,000 pounds through vail that made me nervous. Actually Utah was quite beautiful to drive through as the sun went down. I'm really beginning to think that maybe I can do this. My trainer assures me that I can.

Anthony. I'm keeping track. I've been to/through

New York New Jersey Connecticut Pennsylvania West Virginia Massachusetts Ohio Indiana Missouri Illinois Kentucky Arkansas Tennessee Michigan Georgia Wisconsin Alabama Mississippi Oklahoma Georgia Florida Texas New Mexico Arizona California Utah Wyoming South Dakota Minnesota Iowa Kansas Colorado South Dakota Idaho Washington Nebraska So far.

I see now how a good fm can be invaluable. The last 2 loads we have done we've waited more than we've driven. Our regular fm is on vacation. I'm sure they're doing the best they can but my data is taking a serious beating.

My first tnt trainer was an a--hat, and called our fm repeatedly and often a fat c--- My experience with her so far is positive. I see now why a--hat got such 💩Ty loads.

I beat up my data but won about 80 million chips playing poker.

On youtube I watched a series by Junior Honduras whom works for Prime called Truck Driving Trip Planning. He went over every step on how he trip plans using only Qualcomm and Road Atlas.

Blake,

Here is the biggest coincidence since I've been with prime.

We're picking up next from the same place junior picked up in his video. Lol

Garth.

Good story. I'll share my similar kind. Having a wmasful trainer. He was a skilled driver like yours, but had not one iota of patience. In less than 2 weeks with him, I got yelled at once before I started moving, once after I had made one shift, I was still in the parking area, and once for slowing down too early when ALL the cars ahead had their brake lights on. That was just getting out of bumper to bumper traffic. He kicked me off his truck for farting. No lie. He was a good driver, but didn't have the temperament to train.

Party on Garth ( see what I did there?)

I definitely DONT recommend Twisted Truckers or Truckers Wall of Shame as all they do is whine, moan, company bash and post pictures of people's mistakes. Not good company to keep.

As someone who tries to always be positive, I now have to check out the train wreck sites. Thanks for the enrmtertainment 👍👍👍

Stuck in Illinois for 21 hours now. We got here last night for a morning unload, and are waiting to be loaded. I'm bored to hell, and my data took a beating today, so did my snacks. But we've got till Monday to get to California, 1700 mikes or so, will take a 10% chunk of the miles I have remaining.

My trainer and I, as you can imagine, do quite a bit of talking. He told me the miles aside, he feels I'd be ok to go solo now. I'm not as confiddnt of my backing as he is. He said you can do it, it would just take you a while.

I'll add more later. I think they're ready to load us. Finally.

Hey Paul F., man I'm enjoying your story. Keep it up! I have my application in with Prime and am 90 percent sure I'm going to take the plunge, so stories like yours help me edge closer to that 100 percent mark. I am encouraged by the amount of home time you have been receiving while in training. I have three young kids and a wife and we are a close-knit family. We have steeled ourselves for the 60-90 days I'll supposedly be away while training at Prime, a hard sacrifice but worth it to build a solid foundation in this business. But it appears that you've been capable of taking a couple of weeks home time during the TNT stage. Is this normal, or were there special circumstances? I live about 4 hours by car from Springfield, so even a couple of days off would likely be feasible within that TNT phase.

Search for kori's diary. Hers helped me quite a bit.

Going in I spoke to my recruiter and when I met her, my fm. I told them that I really wanted to see my son graduate from high school. And I also asked if it was possible to take my already planned and paid for family vacation.

The graduation timed out perfectly. As I trifectaed, and rented a car and drove to New York that day. Then met my TNT trainer (different from my psd trainer) in New Jersey after attending. Then my new tnt trainer also needed some time so the vacation worked out as well. I believe it is not the norm. And I made it understood that although I would be disappointed, I knew I was not promised either of those times and had I not been able to take the time, there would be no hard feeling from me.

when I hear people complain about prime, I think, "what are they doing to get treated so poorly"?

I've heard stories about recruiters saying anything to get you in. My recruiter told me about the graduation that it would be likely, but she could not promise me it. I liked the honesty.

I feel happy with my decision to go with prime so far. They've treated me well, and respectfully, my only complaints would be minor. So I'll keep them to myself, to avoid looking petty. (Besides one of the moderators would probably delete them😂)