Orientation During Crisis
Topic 27954 | Page 1
Hey Kim, good to hear from you. Hope all is well on your end and your doing well. Looks like Prime shutdown for a few weeks, Rob D was pushed out. He is now at Prime and looks like they are taking precautions but back to business. Not sure how others are handling it. I drove past a few private schools last couple weeks and they looked shutdown. I know the one here at home has suspended class st the local community college.
The problem that paid CDL training companies and schools were facing was the closing of the DMV offices. New drivers couldn't get their permits or licenses. Recently most of that has been corrected, and most DMV offices are operating for CDL drivers only. The companies I work with are still collecting student applications and seem to be operating their schools, or will be operating very soon.
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.
Dm:
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.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
I start orientation with Crete on the 15th at the Lenoir City, TN terminal. From what I’ve been told, group sizes have been reduced for the orientation groups.
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.
All private schools are closed in Las Vegas, and the DMV is closed too.
Dm:
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.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
I'm currently at Prime Inc orientation, and from what's been different is the size of the class (max of 10) and no roommate. I heard a rumor yesterday (from Chad Rich) that if a TNT student is ready to upgrade, he is unable because of the pandemic.
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.
I did orientation at Swift in Florida last week and class size was reduced to less than 10 and single occupancy hotel rooms. Starting training Sunday on a dedicated route. They have next to no office staff working at terminal but the shop is open. Seems like they are taking very good precautionary measures to keep people safe. Also, lots provisions free of charge to drivers when I was there last week.
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.
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
Wilson is still doing "normal" orientation and training at the moment just with a skeleton crew. Of course we only have about 6 new people a week anyway.
Thanks everyone. When I went to orientation and training there was 100+ new people every week. I was just curious how they and other companies are handling this.
You all be safe.
Western Express does physical drug test and road tests. Then they give you a link and you do your orientation videos and tests at the hotel.
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Hey drivers! It's been a while since I've posted but I've been lurking and reading. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.
I have a question that may have been addressed already but have not seen anything so far. How are trucking companies handling orientation and training during the COVID-19 quarantine situation?