Husband And Wife Looking To Team
Topic 16024 | Page 2
Always forget things typing on the phone...
Prime like many OTR outfits pretty much expects company drivers to stay out 4 weeks for 4 days off (for example get home on Tuesday, head back out Sunday morning at like 8 am). Three weeks is the minimum for three days off. I have found themy to be pretty accommodating if we need other arrangements, but we're team players and they seem to reciprocate that.
They generally have the spouse do the training, which involves a couple weeks to get your cdl and then you are paid pretty much like a team from that point. Until the new driver "upgrades" they make less than a regular team driver while the trainer makes more, I think it's a wash on the total money though. I can go into more detail about this if you need, but there's lots of threads about Prime training on here.
Matt.. if the driver spouse comes over first then trains the wife the PSD 3200 dollar contract doesn't apply.. correct?
I had a couple women in my class but both their husbands I know we're with Prime for more than 3 years. Husbands trained and no contract for wife. I didn't know the other wives well enough to discuss ut
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
PSD:
Prime Student Driver
Prime Inc has a CDL training program and the first phase is referred to as PSD. You'll get your permit and then 10,000 miles of on the road instruction.
The following is from Prime's website:
Prime’s PSD begins with you obtaining your CDL permit. Then you’ll go on the road with a certified CDL instructor for no less than 75 hours of one-on-one behind the wheel training. After training, you’ll return to Prime’s corporate headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, for final CDL state testing and your CDL license.
Obtain CDL Permit / 4 Days
- Enter program, study and test for Missouri CDL permit.
- Start driving/training at Prime Training Center in Springfield, Missouri.
- Work toward 40,000 training dispatched miles (minimum) with food allowance while without CDL (Food allowance is paid back with future earnings).
On-the-Road Instruction / 10,000 Miles
- Train with experienced certified CDL instructor for 3-4 weeks in a real world environment.
- Get 75 hours of behind-the-wheel time with one-on-one student/instructor ratio.
- Earn 10,000 miles toward total 40,000 miles needed.
Pretty sure she signed a contract for the year. I'll try to ask my fm tomorrow since I need to talk to him anyway (going to Cancun this weekend, woo hoo). Probably scare him asking that lol.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Thank you all for your input. Sounds like Canada runs are very rare if any so that is good I don't mind going there just didnt want to deal with customs all the time. So far all my research has lead me to prime and these responses confirmed that it must be a good conpany. We will be looking into prime on Monday.
Husband has a question about how Prime's dispatching works. Do they give you assignments based on your NAT or do you send In a macro? Or do they just dispatch you by assuming how many hours you will have after you're done unloading and the time it takes to get there ?
Another question, if we have to get tested for sleep apnea do we pay for it upfront or do they take it out of our paychecks?
Sleep Apnea:
A physical disorder in which you have pauses in your breathing, or take shallow breaths, during sleep. These pauses can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Normal breathing will usually resume, sometimes with a loud choking sound or snort.
In obstructive sleep apnea, your airways become blocked or collapse during sleep, causing the pauses and shallow breathing.
It is a chronic condition that will require ongoing management. It affects about 18 million people in the U.S.
Sleep apnea... the will take it out of your weekly checks. It'd $600 for the test at $50 per week. If you need the machine it's another $500 at 75 per week. I took test but didn't need machine.
Dispatching...it's a matter of getting to know your fleet manager and him knowing you. I usually get a preplan while on my way to my recevier. If the receiver takes too long, I just message with an ETA. My FM knows I can manage my clock, but that's not a problem with teams cause someone usually has hours.
I got to my receiver today before my FM got in. I messaged hi. The trailer was filthy and before he preplanned me he would have to take into account I need a washout. Usually I do this at night with no wait time.... but in Denver at noon???? Coukd take hours.
He then gave me a load that picks up between midnight last night and 2100 tomorrow. Made things easy for me.
Weekend and night dispatch are not that great with assignments but are nice and good for other things. They cover a lot more drivers than the regular guys.
As Matt mentioned sometimes teams will repower solo drivers. As a company solo sometimes I am told out right "just pick it up and run with it. I know I'll have to repower you, but we need to make this Appt and you are the only one near".
My FM doesn't like 34 resets so he runs me until I'm done then I recap. But I'm getting good miles.
Sleep Apnea:
A physical disorder in which you have pauses in your breathing, or take shallow breaths, during sleep. These pauses can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Normal breathing will usually resume, sometimes with a loud choking sound or snort.
In obstructive sleep apnea, your airways become blocked or collapse during sleep, causing the pauses and shallow breathing.
It is a chronic condition that will require ongoing management. It affects about 18 million people in the U.S.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Fleet Manager:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
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Prime Inc Sleep Apnea Team Driving Time Management Truck Driver Salary Truck Driver Training
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XPO is another great option.