Comments By Mitchell C.

I'm currently at Prime Inc orientation, and from what's been different is the size of the class (max of 10) and no roommate. I heard a rumor yesterday (from Chad Rich) that if a TNT student is ready to upgrade, he is unable because of the pandemic.

Awesome diary, have to ask - was the drug test urine?

The drug test my recruiter sent me to get back in my home state was urine, i don’t think they do hair but i could be wrong.

Pretty much spot on, it's been a different experience but at the same time, it just feels natural. I'm really looking forward to PSD and getting it over asap so I can start making money. Pre-trip shouldn't be a problem since i'm good when it comes to memory. Good talk earlier man!

Orientation Day 1 - 4/8/20 (My Birthday)

7:00-8:00: The Process. We were all given a green packet to fill out yesterday when we arrived at the hotel and we were required to complete the Federal Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse Registration in C2 (a classroom) asap (finished mine 4/7 since I arrived a day early). The green packet was the rest of the application we didn't have on the website, such as bank info, driving records, referral, trainer if lined up, etc. At the start of class, the instructor took roll and then wanted to know if we've finished the Clearinghouse registration. We were given a short schedule for the next 2 days, which was pretty much Sims class and finishing CBTs before 4/9 midnight. Lo and behold, there's a guy that hasn't done anything yet, I'll call him Mr. Canada (will go into this later). After this, a lady from the cafeteria came in and handed out a meal ticket for everyone; Breakfast $5.75, Lunch $7.25, and Dinner $7.25. Having the meal tickets in our hands, our next stop was the orientation office.

8:00-9:00: Orientation Office. A place where they go over your green packet that you were supposed to have filled out the day prior. My file review was fast because I have a clean record. Kind of reminded me of reception, hurry up and wait. Except no DS screaming in your face.

9:30: Went to the cafeteria to eat, got a strawberry fruit bowl $ 1.95, boiled eggs $1.60, OJ $1.85 for a total of $5.40.

10:00-12:00: Returned to my room to do CBTs, 34 total, got 7 done because I had to wait for my laptop to install updates since I haven't used it in a while.

12:00-12:30: Got some lunch. Just some boiled eggs and Gatorade, was still full from earlier.

13:00-15:30: Sim Lab. Class started and Mr. Canada got called out for being on his phone. He smiled at the instructor, the instructor did not like it. 5 mins into the powerpoint presentation, a classmate showed up late. The instructor told her that if she's late again, Prime will not like it and may send her home, he also told her to leave and come back in with Group B. After the presentation, the instructor showed us how to work the simulator and told us the controls are really sensitive. The controls are super sensitive, we did 2 simulations total, Sim 1 was just driving, and Sim 2 was going down hill, learning when and how to stab break.

STORY TIME! Mr. Canada! Short story really. Mr. Canada. Our sims instructor told us a story while he was a night dispatcher in his earlier days about a driver and his GPS. So the driver was trying to go from Michigan to New York, his GPS told him to go through Canada. The driver called dispatch at 3 am and asked what he should do, the dispatch said DO NOT GO THROUGH CANADA, both verbally and an email through QualComm. The dispatcher received a phone call at 5 am from said driver saying that he's stuck in Canada. The night dispatch was switching to day dispatch and he told the day dispatch what was going on and he flipped. The night dispatch said he told the driver verbally and in an email not to go to Canada. So the driver didn't leave Canada until 5 pm that day. Fast-forward a year (might have been 2), the same driver called dispatch; the same dispatch (he originally told him that he wasn't in his fleet but actually was and face palmed) and asked what he should do, because his GPS is telling him to go through Canada. The same route, from Michigan to New York. Guess what happens? 5 am, dispatch receives a phone call, the driver says he's stuck in Canada.. lol

The reason i called said student Mr. Canada? He doesn't listen and doesn't have any common sense.

16:00-21:00: Picked up dinner to go from cafeteria, large chicken salad $4.20, boiled eggs $1.60, chocolate pudding $1.00 for a total of $6.80. Went back to room and finished the rest of my CBTs by 19:30. Watched T.V. until 21:00 and went to sleep.

They checked my temp when I arrived and everything.

Yep, she checked my temp also, 98.1, she was talking kind of fast and she wrote directions on map upside down so i was wandering looking for C2 lol

As i drove through Arkansas i loved the view of the hillside but hated the roads, the ups and down, sharp curves and turns, it felt like i was flying 🤣 not to mention the amount of road work they were doing.

Mitchell,

Just spoke with my recruiter who confirmed that we are still on for orientation Wednesday.

She also mentioned that each driver will have their own motel room and that they will limit group sizes to no more than 10 people in a room.

Enjoy your drive from Louisiana and I look forward to meeting you at orientation on Wednesday.

Rob.

Good to know, mine didn't pick up the 3 times i called her so i called and talked to a random recruiter and was told the same thing.

Kearsey, i plan on watching your videos more when i have time, i started watching them from your first video so it might take a while, i suppose it's something i'll do while on the road!

Just Mitch, that's also good to hear, it would make things a lot easier for me just being out most of the year until i decide where i want to live, i'm pretty sick of Louisiana, i was thinking Utah or Nebraska. So pretty much a mini goal to work towards.

And Turtle, thanks man, i'm sure i'll need it, pretty much going into the unknown, or feels like it!

Mitchell,

Welcome to the forum.

I am also leaving Tuesday for Wednesday orientation with Prime in Springfield. Although, I don't know if you are from Missouri and going to orientation in Springfield, but our Governor issued a state-wide "stay-at-home" order Friday. I don't know if that will change anything with regard to the Springfield orientation. I plan to call my recruiter Monday to touch base and make sure that the orientations have not been further postponed.

Rob.

I live in Louisiana, driving myself to Springfield because recruiter said no bus/plane when i called her this past Friday. I'll make sure to call her tomorrow as well to make sure my orientation hasn't been pushed back, so thanks for the heads up!

I've just started watching Kearsey's youtube channel, i've been watching a lot of JBG Travels (not a prime driver), CrazyBags even though he doesn't drive anymore, Chad Rich, No Hippie, and Trucker NaeNae videos. Hopefully she does have time to post and give me some more insight on the company side because a lot of youtubers are lease ops it seems. The more information i can obtain, the better off i'll be in the future and also the planning of it.

You're never required to take time off. When you do want some time off just send your dispatcher a message informing them where you want to take it. Weekend in Vegas? Daytona 500? Mardi gras in New Orleans? I'm sure your dispatcher will love that you're not expecting to get home frequently.

We highly discourage leasing or owning a truck. We have a few members here that do it. Believe it or not usually make LESS money than company drivers after expenses are taken.

Please stick around and keep us updated on how training goes.

Interesting, i kind of thought that you needed to go home after a certain amount of time but knowing that you don't puts my mind at ease, also thanks for the reply.

So stay as company for as long as you can seems like the option to go? If you're driving a company truck, are you allowed to put a microwave/fridge/tv etc inside or no?

So i recently got my permit, 3/12 to be exact and i leave for Primes orientation on Tuesday for Wednesday. My question is, as a company driver, i know you get 1 day home for 1 week out, however, do you have to come home after 4 weeks or can you keep trucking? Truth is, i have nothing to come back to, all my stuff is in storage and my mail goes to my grandparents place so that's covered. My apartment lease was finished this month and didn't really feel the need to keep it since i'm going to make OTR my life.

The only debt i really have is my car (13k'ish) and student loans (3.5k), the grace period on my SL ends in June so i should have that paid off and as for my car, i plan on paying that off by the end of the year so i'll be zeroed out for debt. I suppose my end game for now is to stay with prime for a while, as company driver while gaining experience, and then maybe lease purchase, or go through a bank and get my own truck. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.