Prime CDL Training Salt Lake City - January 2019
Topic 24280 | Page 5
Day 12:
Weekly meeting/conference call with Springfield and Pittston. The rest of the day was parallel parking, which is surprisingly easy, and going over the in-cab inspection several times. I feel pretty good about everything.
A note about food - stay away from Panda Garden; it is truly awful. We decided to try another buffet tonight, and went for Chow Time Buffet near the Walmart, it was really good!
Lots of people stupidly drink during training, get caught and get sent home. i swear Prime has spies in the local bars. Every couple weeks i hear someone got sent home for this. dumb.just dumb.
I gave up drinking several years ago, just to much nonsense that comes along with it if you're not careful.
But yeah, love reading the updates!
Seems like there's not a lot of road experience yet, lack of available trainers ?
Regardless of whether someone gets their training on the pad or one on one in the permit phase, they all do 30,000 team miles, so plenty of driving is ahead.
I honestly think the OTR was better when we had manuals, but with autos, the driving is the easy part. Its the backing that is hard and being on the pad gives more practice.
As far as trainers, it could be trainers available near your home area, gender or smoking preference, even religious reasons.
My TnT is from MS and im from NJ. by the time i got him home then i got home for christmas, then i got back to pick him up, he had been off over 2 weeks. For this reason, they try to get people who live closer. My FM is awesome and lets me take anyone I want, cause as a company driver, I WANT to train...i dont HAVE to like the lease ops. My FM does cartwheels when I tell him i found someone hahahha But they cant force me, and truthfully in winter, newbies want the training, and trainers are hesitant to train. Would you want to sleep on a truck going through snowy mountains with a stranger who has never even driven in a car before?
Plus a lot of lease ops rarely go home, so when they do, they take a whole month or so at one time for the holidays or in winter.
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.
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.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.
Seems like there's not a lot of road experience yet, lack of available trainers ?
You are correct, there are several of us that did not get Trainers for PSD , so they kept us in what they call the local program to stay training on the pad. I believe that training on the pad to get the backing maneuvers down and the pre-trip inspection taken care of is better than being on the road right away. There have been several people who came back from a few weeks on the road with trainer, who still have never backed a truck or don't know how to do a pre-trip inspection. Even though they've been on the road for a few weeks, they still have to learn those skills before they can test for their CDL.
Staying in the local program, I was able to get the pre-trip inspection down right away, and I'm learning how to back before heading out on the road. I will get a little bit of road experience by staying local, test for my license, and go straight into TNT , in less time than those who went on the road. That translates into getting a paycheck faster, and eventually finishing my 30,000 miles TNT sooner.
I requested to stay in the local program, but was told that I could not actually make that request and if they found a trainer for me I would be going on the road.
Today will be more parallel parking, in cab inspections, alley dock, and hopefully a little bit on the road.
Pre-trip Inspection:
A pre-trip inspection is a thorough inspection of the truck completed before driving for the first time each day.
Federal and state laws require that drivers inspect their vehicles. Federal and state inspectors also may inspect your vehicles. If they judge a vehicle to be unsafe, they will put it “out of service” until it is repaired.
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.
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.
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.
Makes sense. More motivated trainer churns out better student experience.
CK this sounds like the best of both worlds for you. I have read the same thing in several other posts about not doing much backing on the road for one reason or another. Kind of hopeful this might happen to me as well. Not sure how long flatbedder hopefuls have to wait for trainers at the moment.
Please continue!
Just got back from driving for an hour. That was fun! The instructor said it's very rare that he will take someone out on the freeway their first time driving, but I did really well with the "newbie course" so he wanted to add our for me.
As far as flat bedders go, trainers are very limited for PSD , so you could very well end up staying local until you get your CDL and head out OTR for TNT. We only have two flat bedders in my class and they both had to remain in the local program due to lack of available flat bed PSD trainers.
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.
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.
That should have been "add to it for me."
I am enjoying reading the progression of your training CK. I am 6 years into law enforcement and have been aspiring to be a truck driver ever since I road with a friend who is an owner op. I have been too apprehensive to make such a career change though. The main reason is pay while still training as I have bills, car payments, insurance, rent, etc. Can you explain what kind of pay you are receiving from Prime while you are in training? Any and all advice is appreciated.
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They do. We were warned about it on day one. The hotel staff too is supposed to look for it in our rooms too, and the bar and restuarant folks here are well aware of who is PSD and will let Prime know, even bringing them copies of receipts, empties, and given the amount of CCTV cameras in this hotel I wouldn't be surprised about video either. It's sad, really.
A couple weeks isn't too long to go without a drink.
And thanks! I'm working really hard at it and loving just about every minute of it.
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
On-the-Road Instruction / 10,000 Miles