Prime Inc. CDL Training. Springfield, Missouri

Nobody in my class is going tanker that I know of. But then my class is very small. Most went to reefer. I'm going to flatbed.

I'd imagine that you could go out with a trainer from any division during the PSD phase, since the primary goal there is to just get you comfortable driving a truck. In TNT , they'd probably want you in a tanker to learn the ropes, I think.

I want to say that I heard somewhere you can't drive tanker until x amount of time experience. But that may have been when I was researching another company.

Either way, I wouldn't worry too much about sitting long waiting for a trainer. At that point, they'll be paying you $700 gross, and I'm sure they'll want to get their money's worth, and will find a trainer for you asap.

You're aware that tanker is primarily northeast regional , right? At least that's what I was told by one of the trainers here.

Congrats on the permit.

I'll be back in SpringMo end of this week or latest Monday of next. Holler if you want grab a soda or anything. I will be getting my assigned truck & will be in town through Thursday.

Dave

Yeah Dave I should still be around then for sure. I wont test out until Wednesday at the earliest. Let me know when you get here. Hopefully you make it by this Friday for the Christmas party! It's supposed to be a big deal, I'm told.

And thanks Buck_Wheat. Good luck to you as well. Hard to say if I'll be around then, but by all means hit me up when you get here.

Please take my advice and study for the permit before you get here. You'll have enough to do without having to worry about that too. After that it's easy peezy

And thanks Buck_Wheat. Good luck to you as well. Hard to say if I'll be around then, but by all means hit me up when you get here.

Please take my advice and study for the permit before you get here. You'll have enough to do without having to worry about that too. After that it's easy peezy

You're very welcome. I already have my CDL , so at least that part is taken care of already. :-) I just haven't driven a truck in a decade, so I have to through the training as a student. The Yes, I will probably get to see a lot of the Northeast. They also have a dedicated account out of Indiana & Ohio that I am looking into. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Maybe I could go out with a flatbed driver for PSD , that way I could see how what that is like. Who knows, I might like it better if I tried that route.

Maybe I could go out with a flatbed driver for PSD

If you do, definitely hit me up. I'll hook you up with my flatbed trainer. He's awesome, and has won trainer of the year a few times.

Wait, that won't work because he & I will probably be out otr. But I can have him suggest another trainer. There are some losers out there that are only in it for the money. He'll get you a good one that actually teaches you.

Maybe I could go out with a flatbed driver for PSD

If you do, definitely hit me up. I'll hook you up with my flatbed trainer. He's awesome, and has won trainer of the year a few times.

Wait, that won't work because he & I will probably be out otr. But I can have him suggest another trainer. There are some losers out there that are only in it for the money. He'll get you a good one that actually teaches you.

That would be great! I will let you know for sure when the time comes. Thank you, I really appreciate it.

12/26/16 0900 hrs My trainer texted me last night to say he'll be hunting this morning, and to expect him at noonish. So I took the opportunity to relax a bit for an hour or so, then back out to the truck to practice more. People have begun calling me "pretrip" because of my nearly constant presence around the truck. As one of the older students, I'm treated with a higher level of respect, it seems. I've taken to tutoring other students on my pretrip pattern. I just feel my time is much better spent practicing, as opposed to staring into my phone, like a lot of others. But I'm not judging, to each his own.

1100hrs Due to the holiday, new students will be rolling in on tomorrow, Tuesday, instead of the usual Sunday. Word has it we're expecting 90 students.

I've been without a roommate since my 2nd day here, but with so many newbies coming in, I'm bound to get a roomie. So rather than take a chance on getting someone I may not get along with, I went to the frond desk and had them switch me to Jack's room. I'd rather be solo, but at least I know we get along. Plus both of us will be here throughout the PSD phase anyway.

1200hrs As promised, my trainer Danny showed up at noon, and off we went to the practice pad.

We spent the better part of maybe 3 hours practicing backing: offsets, parallels, straights, and alleys. Over and over again. At some point he got out of the truck and stood to the side while I kept repeating the maneuvers...over and over again.

Now this is where it can be real simple if you pay attention to instructions. The pad has cones and painted lines all over the place. There are 4 different areas of the pad: Alley dock, parallel park, offset park, and straight back.

You're given EXACT starting points to place your tires on, then given EXACT instructions on how to turn, then EXACT points to look for in the mirror at every step. It's pretty dummy proof. Your CDL test will be conducted on the same pad you've been practicing on, and they are teaching you how to pass the test ON THAT PAD. As long as you perform the EXACT maneuvers you were taught, you can't fail. Follow me?

In the real world, you may not be able to use these exact turning points, reference points, etc. But that practice will come during TNT phase. For now, just pay attention and learn the pad. It's really simple.

Disclaimer : In my former life I pulled a 14 ft trailer every day for approximately 12 yrs, so the mechanics of backing a trailer comes easy to me. But the fact is anyone can do this on the pad. During the test, you're given 15 minutes to complete each maneuver. So there is no rush at all. You can easily do each maneuver in 3-4 minutes or less.

Ok so, with that said, just when my clutch leg was starting to cramp, Danny came back and said "Ok let's go for a ride." Phew, was I ready for that!

Off we go. I think I'm pretty good at driving, but there are a few little no-no's that I keep doing. Like shifting in a turn, or shifting in an intersection, or sometimes forgetting to hit the splitter when downshifting. Little things, but I'm a perfectionist, and it bugs me when I forget stuff.

After a while Danny says to pull into this seemingly abandoned parking lot, and pull over on the side of this empty store. "Come on, I'll buy you lunch." He says. Cool, even though it's dinner by my clock :)

We walk behind the building, through the bushes and to the adjacent building, a Chinese buffet. Super cool!

Over chow, we had a good conversation. Not much shoptalk, just swapping lies, as they say. I'm sure I got lucky, getting a trainer that I can get along so well with.

1630hrs Afterward, we cruised back to the yard and parted ways. I stayed at millennium and hit up some basketball and pool before hopping the shuttle back to Campus.

1930hrs Jack, Ryder, and I got together to play some cards for a couple hours. I think I mentioned before that most of our original class has left by now. Some quit, some were kicked out, and some left with their trainers. There aren't many of us left, only a handful.

Of course, we aren't the only ones here. The hotel still has plenty of people. Some are drivers here waiting for their trucks to be worked on. Some are returning students waiting to be upgraded to a solo truck. By no means are we alone, but we still kind of stick together. A comradery I guess. One like I haven't felt in a long time actually. It may sound weird, but we share a dream, and have shared this experience.

After cards I was ready to crash. Tomorrow is another day. Moving on.

Peace

12/27/16

Today is pretty much a wash. Danny warned me a couple of days ago that he would be having 6 teeth pulled today. Ooof, I've had teeth pulled before but dang, not 6 at once! I just can't imagine.

So he said it's possible we'll do some practice in the afternoon, but I'm not counting on it.

Instead, I keep myself busy by touring Millennium again, then by taking a walk around town for a bit. The walk was relaxing and vigorous at the same time. Up until a couple years ago, I hiked the mountains of upstate NY regularly. It feels great to just walk aimlessly again. But there are no mountains here. It's pretty flat haha.

12/28/16 1100hrs

Danny calls to say he'll meet me at the pad at 1200hrs. There will be another guy joining us for this practice session. "Al" has been out on the road for three weeks in PSD training, and needs some more practice with pretrip and backing before testing out for his CDL.

1200hrs At the pad, Danny asks me to test Al on pretrip. I do so, and quickly find out that Al doesn't know the first thing about pre-trip. Oh boy, this may take a while.

So I spent nearly an hour walking him through my pretrip ritual several times before Danny came back from whatever it was he was doing. Then Danny walked him through it the exact same way I did. Then I gave Al my cell number, and told him to get ahold of me any time he wants to practice pre-trip back at the hotel.

1300hrs Next, we move over to the backing pads. Just before we get started, Danny spotted someone he knows on the other side of the lot. "Rich, show him the backing maneuvers till I get back." Okie dokie. So for the next 2 hrs, I'M TRAINING A TRAINEE by myself! I thought it was awesome. Keep in mind I've been here 8 days. Al has been here 4 weeks.

We made some progress, and when Al finally successfully completed his first parallel park, both of us felt like we accomplished something. It wasn't easy though, it took several attempts just to get it even close. I gained an appreciation for just how difficult backing can be for some people. He struggled bad, but seems to really want to learn.

I also saw the results of a poor trainer who cared nothing about actually teaching their student. At the minimum, Al should have at least learned how to pretrip while he was out FOR 3 WEEKS. But his trainer taught him nothing, it appears.

1530hrs At the end of our pad time, Danny tells Al to come back tomorrow. Then Danny had me hop in the drivers seat and off we went for a drive. Shifting is much smoother now. As with anything, repetition makes it so much easier. We were out for maybe an hour when he asked me to bring us back to the Chinese joint. Alrighty then, I'm on it! This time, I snatched up the bill before it even hit the table. He tried to insist on paying, but I can give as well as I can take. This is my treat. I'm feeling pretty happy with myself!

1730hrs Back at the hotel. Hang out with the fellas, call the wife, rinse repeat....

Peace

Great job Turtle. Careful they might try and keep you to help train, that might be more of a need than really driving

Great job Turtle. Careful they might try and keep you to help train, that might be more of a need than really driving

Not if I can help it!

I told my trainer that I gained a whole new respect for what he does after this experience. It's great if the trainee picks up on things quickly. But if he/she doesn't seem to have it in them, I think I'd lose patience quickly. Not a job for me lol.