Prime People I Have A Few Questions
Topic 16563 | Page 1
Hey Jay. We have that information and a whole lot more in our Review Of Prime's Company-Sponsored Training Program.
We also have our company review Of Prime Inc.
Home time? Are you getting home on the weekends?
Prime is primarily an OTR company. You'll normally get home every 3 - 4 weeks for 3 - 4 days at a time.
I don't need their cdl school, will have my cdl in 2 weeks
You won't have to go through the PSD portion of the training but you will have to go on the road with a trainer for about 30,000 miles or so, about 2 - 3 months.
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.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
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.
I LOVE prime to the point that I annoy some of the other posters here lol sorry ;) I planned.on staying my year after I got my license and then going local but its too good for me. I'm not going anywhere.
Prime is OTR where as Brett said its out four weeks get four days off. However they do have regional in southeast and northeast where you can get every other weekend. Miss Myoshi is running Northeast regional.
Living near a terminal makes no difference. I'm 130 miles from the PA terminal but I have gotten sent to a customer 5/miles from me to get me home. I park the truck at a TA truck stop.
With your CDL you will be hired right away and start the 30,000 mile training in a team situation then go solo or team if you decided team.
As a company driver I was told I could go home either Christmas or Thanksgiving but not both. Prime has huge holiday parties at the terminal if you can swing by. If you are OTR these two holidays and eat at a restaurant you scan your meal receipt and prime will reimburse you.
I didn't think the health insurance was good til I used it. For the first year you pay $68 per week (drops to $22 after your first year) for my single plan..there are two. The doctor cooay is $50 but my monthly prescription is $150 and I pay NOTHING so it makes up for it. We have the best vision plan VSP that I had the same at the post office and you can use it every calendar year...unlike some plans that make you wait two years. Haven't used the dental. I have short and long term disability and about $300,000 in life insurance. All this comes to less than $100 per week and will drop significantly after my first year (3 more weeks yay!) We also have a 401k where they match a certain percentage. Prime has a doctors office in the terminal that even handled my GYN stuff for me. There is a dentist a vision care doctor who are local, take the insurance, and prime provides a shuttle to get you to them. Having this in the terminal means you don't have to waste home time on this stuff and can get a 34 reset if you want ;)
If you skip to my responses in this thread you will see a ton of cool stuff prime has for drivers.
This is a long thread about my journey and I answered questions for others. Some won't pertain to you because you will have your CDL but the rest will.
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.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
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.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.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.
Thank you for all of the info Rainy. I'm going to give them a call and get some more info. I appreciate your time.
Prime want let me switch my permit from m Alabama To MO 😡
Prime want let me switch my permit from m Alabama To MO
I think that statement would be more accurate if you stated it like this:
"The state of Missouri won't allow me to go through Prime's training program with an Alabama permit."
It's really simple for you to go to Prime and get a MO permit. You already know the material.
I am in Prime TNT training. Should have my own truck in about 5 weeks.
It's tough. I can see a future here. Both trainers I've had have been excellent drivers, hard workers and make things happen. Their wages are excellent, which helps me see a good future- they both are/were creative. By this I mean taking the initiative to move appointments forward, and proper positive communication with their fleet manager.
Right now I'm resting in the Laredo TX terminal. Our load from Mexico has not arrived so hopefully we will get it this am. And take it to Michigan. This terminal is huge.
I'm absolutely amazed at Prime's resources and equipment. It's nice having new trailers.
Yes I have good things to say about Prime. It's easy to become negative. My trainer and I agree- we are both very very grateful.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
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.TNT:
Trainer-N-Trainee
Prime Inc has their own CDL training program and it's divided into two phases - PSD and TNT.
The PSD (Prime Student Driver) phase is where you'll get your permit and then go on the road for 10,000 miles with a trainer. When you come back you'll get your CDL license and enter the TNT phase.
The TNT phase is the second phase of training where you'll go on the road with an experienced driver for 30,000 miles of team driving. You'll receive 14¢ per mile ($700 per week guaranteed) during this phase. Once you're finished with TNT training you will be assigned a truck to run solo.
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I'm still doing my homework on all of the different companies and I'm looking into prime now. They have a terminal near me.
So if you don't mine I have a few questions.
Are you happy there?
Home time? Are you getting home on the weekends?
How long is the training? I don't need their cdl school, will have my cdl in 2 weeks.
Holidays off? Not the lesser holidays. I'm just concerned with Christmas and thanksgiving.
Benefits? Are they good? What is the cost to you.
Thank you all in advance. Jason
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.