Comments By Penguin

My reasons for choosing tanker are 1) I have always been interested in driving a tanker. 2) It would get me out of the truck more than dry van. 3) Normally a tanker doesn’t have to wait for hours to get unloaded etc.

I am seeking food grade tanker.

I know Schneider and Prime have a tanker division. Are there other Mega Carriers who have tanker division for someone with a CDL without experience?

The PROFESSIONAL truck driver is.

I passed my CDL exam today!!! The third time IS a charm.

Kearsey,

Yes, I remember you actually spoke about your testing history on your YouTube channel (which I am subscribed to). Your YouTube channel has definitely helped me out.

Today, I practiced my backing maneuvers. My school is allowing me to practice with some of the other students who have also failed a test. That was actually a very positive experience today. One of the other students actually “coached” me through my rough spots. I had three turns today. My first turn was definitely what I call a warm up round (lol). I nailed all three maneuvers (straight line backing, off set and Parallel) for my other two rounds. The student who helped me was a pretty good “coach”. After today, I feel less anxious about my third CDL exam coming up next week. I know I will nail it.

Did you ever. See my testing history????? It will make you feel great!

Banks,

Thank you for your kind words, and I look forward to those dancing bananas soon.

😀 Thanks, Maureen

In this career, there will always be roadblocks (no pun intended) and setbacks. Even the most experienced vet is learning something new all the time.

Many people fail that test the first couple of times for various reasons, the important thing is to think like a trucker, learn from it and build from there. No company will ask you how many times you took the test and it won't be printed on your license.

I applied to numerous paid training programs and the ones I really wanted told me no. The rest told me yes, but I declined for personal reasons. I could've quit there, but I found my current gig at FedEx freight. If you go back and look at my diary, you'll see that my training experience was more struggles and overcoming adversity than anything else. To this day, when I'm driving or backing I hear my instructor shouting instructions in my head and that's how I get though something that I feel would be impossible.

The only way to overcome obstacles is to stick with it and keep practicing to get better. Know what you did wrong and correct it on the next go round. There's a bunch of folks on here waiting to give you bananas and dancing dogs, just stick with it.

As my previous post stated, I have failed the CDL exam twice. I could look at this in many ways. One, I could give up and erroneously tell myself this is not for me. However, I CHOOSE to push trough and not let this determine my goal outcome. How have some of you dealt with setbacks/roadblocks toward a goal you have had?

Thanks, Maureen

Thank you.

Third time's the charm! You can do it!

Thank you very much for your reply. I have been thinking about my options and I am seriously considering attending Prime with my permit. My third CDL exam is two weeks away. If I am going to improve on my skills between now and then, I would have to practice. I don’t have any means of practicing between now and my next exam.

Yes, I will succeed at receiving my CDL, it might just have to be going through another school (at Prime). This is a setback for me, but if I know anything about the trucking industry, you must be flexible.

I truly believe everyone learns in different ways as is in my case with this opportunity.

Thanks, Maureen

Maureen,

For the time being, just focus on passing the test. And good luck.

However, below is a link of what to expect from Prime. The "seat classifications" are a little confusing, but they break down as follows:

CDL Holders coming to Prime are "E" seat drivers. If you pass the skills evaluation, you have 60,000 miles to complete with a trainer. If you don't pass the skills evaluation, you will enter the "D" seat program: essentially as if you don't have your CDL.

Non-CDL holders are "D" seat drivers.

To be clear, I am not trying to be a wet blanket. Prime is a great company and I've been very satisfied with them so far. However, I am simply pointing out that anyone who wants to drive for Prime should just go there as a non-CDL holder. If for no other reason than you have fewer TNT miles to complete as a non-CDL holder.

When I was in orientation, I was with two CDL holders who were preparing for the skills evaluation. While the skills evaluation is less involved than a full CDL test, Prime seems to have pretty high standards for their drivers. I was with two CDL holder in orientation, both of whom had driven for several years, had to raise their backing skills to those acceptable to Prime. One picked up quickly (the woman). The other one, balked at my suggestion to combine and offset left/right to reposition the truck for the next parallel parking practice. He just wanted to do it the simple way of backing up and then pulling through.

Also, when I was practicing parallel parking with my PSD trainer, he kept moving the cones closer. The test is 69 feet. He had moved them to 65 feet. The day before my CDL test, I was parallel parking into 61 feet. (Flatbed has 48' trailers for the test.)

Prime Seat Classifications

OK, so I failed at my second attempt to pass the CDL exam. The first time a failed my air brake test (I was very nervous) and today I failed skills. It is very discouraging, however I will try again in two weeks. I am definitely wishing I would have taken the “paid CDL school” route at this point. But I am were I am and I will keep pushing through. Everyone learns differently. My plan is to go with Prime,Inc once I receive my CDL.