Prime Inc. Future Student SLC

Howdy all,

I've been lurking through this amazing website for the past year or two, and currently going through the HRTP. A little backstory, I was laid off yesterday the 28th, and now I've been thrust into my 18 wheel trucking career a little sooner than I had planned. I have been in talks with my Prime recruiter, who has been very forthcoming and great on communication, since Nov/Dec 2018 (actually summer '18), with a planned start date end of Jan/beginning of Feb. Since I've been invited to the orientation at SLC, I would need my DOT card and CLP before I head out. I have reached out to him last night and this morning, but in all likelihood will not hear back until the 31st. I plan to get both these requirements in the next week, planning on Monday morning actually, and am feeling very anxious, as I am the sole provider of my household (wife and I, and feline) and hoping this all works out. I want to be in orientation by the 7th, provided I pass my CLP test.

I would like to start this Training Diary for any who are curious, and hoping for some much needed pointers along the way. I have posted before, and Rainy D. has been great with information. I am going to cram as much of the HRTP this weekend and was wondering if there is anything I should focus on, being I'm from CA, there will probably be more regulations and hoops to jump through compared to the rest of the states. Thank you Brett and his amazing moderators, not to mention the other posters, for leaving a trail for me to follow. Here goes something!

Good Luck! :)

Good luck, PT. Will be looking forward to your posts.

Hey all,

Took my DOT physical exam at 0700, got approved for two years. If you live in CA, remember you have to do this before you go to the DMV , otherwise you'll have wasted hours of your life waiting in line for nothing. I barely found this out last night while I was double checking the DMV requirements, very close call.

Took my CLP test right after, got there 0730 and a line was already wrapped around the building. Had all my documents in order, and went in for one of the most nerve wracking tests I've ever had to take. For Prime, all I need is a Tanker endorsement initially. WELL I PASSED BY THE SKIN OF MY TEETH. If I didn't read all of the permit HRTP and done a bunch of practice tests it would've went badly. I had to retake the combination test and just made it by one question to finally pass, everything I passed with enough to spare. Tip: One hurdle done, a bunch more on the way.

So I called up my recruiter this morning and let him know I have all the stuff I needed ie. permit, DOT. He wasn't expecting me to be ready so soon, but he was able to squeeze me in for the Jan 7th orientation class as I'd hoped! So now I'll be leaving this Saturday as it looks to be a 18-20 hr Prime newbie initiation Greyhound bus ride. I am leaving 11:15am and arriving 6:15 Sunday morning with 2 transfers. I'm planning on a lot of sleep and studying to get me though that. Having read Kori's experience, I'm in for a doozy. Point of interest, I'll be heading into SLC with a storm on my tail, hope its not too foreboding.

Right now the wife and I are starting to pack and get the stuff I'll need. She seems ok with the time I'll be gone, have to make sure to keep communicating what's going on and keep her updated. Really glad and nervous that I'm starting down this trucking career, I'm going to put my nose down to the grindstone and learn all I can. I'll keep this training diary updated as much as I can, as I don't see a lot of Prime SLC stories. Many thanks TruckingTruth and I'll catch you later!

Hey all,

Took my DOT physical exam at 0700, got approved for two years. If you live in CA, remember you have to do this before you go to the DMV , otherwise you'll have wasted hours of your life waiting in line for nothing. I barely found this out last night while I was double checking the DMV requirements, very close call.

Took my CLP test right after, got there 0730 and a line was already wrapped around the building. Had all my documents in order, and went in for one of the most nerve wracking tests I've ever had to take. For Prime, all I need is a Tanker endorsement initially. WELL I PASSED BY THE SKIN OF MY TEETH. If I didn't read all of the permit HRTP and done a bunch of practice tests it would've went badly. I had to retake the combination test and just made it by one question to finally pass, everything I passed with enough to spare. Tip: One hurdle done, a bunch more on the way.

So I called up my recruiter this morning and let him know I have all the stuff I needed ie. permit, DOT. He wasn't expecting me to be ready so soon, but he was able to squeeze me in for the Jan 7th orientation class as I'd hoped! So now I'll be leaving this Saturday as it looks to be a 18-20 hr Prime newbie initiation Greyhound bus ride. I am leaving 11:15am and arriving 6:15 Sunday morning with 2 transfers. I'm planning on a lot of sleep and studying to get me though that. Having read Kori's experience, I'm in for a doozy. Point of interest, I'll be heading into SLC with a storm on my tail, hope its not too foreboding.

Right now the wife and I are starting to pack and get the stuff I'll need. She seems ok with the time I'll be gone, have to make sure to keep communicating what's going on and keep her updated. Really glad and nervous that I'm starting down this trucking career, I'm going to put my nose down to the grindstone and learn all I can. I'll keep this training diary updated as much as I can, as I don't see a lot of Prime SLC stories. Many thanks TruckingTruth and I'll catch you later!

I just came across your diary PT. Know that alot of us are behind you wishing you luck. Sometime diaries are missed, as most activity happens over in the general section. But we're here, following your progress. Good luck and let us know if we can help.

Hey PT!

Have you arrived in one piece? How is it going so far?

Sorry for the long wait, had to postpone my departure date until today due to family reasons. Currently on the Greyhound bus now heading for LA from Long Beach, then Las Vegas for a four hour layover, then arriving to SLC at 6am on Sunday. The Greyhound bus is actually nice than what I thought, even has power plugs for your devices and Wifi.

A word of advice, pick up your ticket at least a day in advance, in case anything weird pops up and you can talk to your recruiter to straighten anything out. You dont want to get there like me, and find out the original departure date wasnt changed correctly from January and your recruiter wont get back until Monday. Luckily, they were able to change the itinerary date for a $20 fee, which I have the receipt and hopefully Prime will reimburse me for it. On a limited budget so I'm probably gonna need it lol.

Anyways, heading out and arriving in a storm, so I'll pray to the gods that I will arrive in one piece. I'll keep you guys updated, catch y'all later!

Hey pt I guess I will see you in Vegas as I am also heading there now haha

Good luck!