PSD/Orientation With Prime Inc., Springfield MO
Topic 30901 | Page 5
So been on my TNT truck for over a week. Put in at least 5k miles.
Today we are bringing a load from Los Angeles to Colorado. Trainer says nothing to me about how to use the Jake brake.
Now I know a little about it, but last week down a hill was using it and trainer got mad at me for going to 1.8 to 1.9k rpm.
Today I kept it at 1500 to 1700 but had to keep using stab brakes. Well they started smoking about when the downgrade ended.
He says I should have learned all this before tnt. I did tell him that I learned how to pass the cdl in PSD , and everything else i learned was verbal.
Luckily it looks like his truck brakes are good, but the trailers are wrecked. I think they were before. They didn't smoke at all, but I'm no expert.
Anyway, just thought I'd post an update.
Oh, snap, Mark!
I sure hope some of the seasoned guys will show up on here, soon. My driver is at work, or I'd take dictation (per se.) Sheesh....
Still following, and hoping/praying the best, good sir!
Hang in there. I hear it's hard...TRAINING!! Never been...idk! Not picking at ALL on you; Just SMDH. Now that O/S is back otr... we are down a moderator/advisor!
Stand by...
~ Anne ~
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.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
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.
Bet you have a lease trainer, right?
Betting so Packrat, some lease guys are too finicky sometimes, which I understand. The MAX rpm's you EVER wanna see, is under 23-2400 rpm's, that still won't hurt them engines. Was rare a time or 2, that's where that's where our jakes went, tried to keep em in the 2000-2200rpm range IF possible, depending on the grade of the downhill.
I preferred to not pass 2000 rpm's but sometimes, you gotta roll with it, to maintain safe speeds, and NOT overheat the brakes....It's also 1 more learning curve, to figure out in the truck you're driving. Not all react the same.
Bet you have a lease trainer, right?
Yeah, and I want to make him money and treat his equipment with respect.
But I also have to learn.
Bet you have a lease trainer, right?
Yeah, and I want to make him money and treat his equipment with respect.
But I also have to learn.
Well, most of these guys I've met don't know jack about anything except they believe they are running a successful business. Don't concern yourself "making him money!" If he wanted to make money he should have stayed as a company driver.
The RPMs are not going to hurt or damage anything under about 2400, so you're doing fine. These engines have safety features built in nowadays to prevent over revving the motors. The higher the RPMs, the more effective the engine breaking will be.
As for smoking any brakes, the way to prevent this is to control your descent ahead of time, keeping the speed lower. You're not using stab braking, either. That what you do when a deer jumps out in front of the hood. You're doing normal, controlled braking.
My method: When descending a long grade, start at the top about 20 mph below the speed limit while utilizing the Jacobs Brake feature. When you have noticed the speed climbing to about 7-10 mph faster, get on the brake pedal for a steady pressure for about 5 seconds, decreasing that speed. Repeat as needed to maintain a comfortable and controlled descent and adjust the engine braking as needed--low, medium, or high.
Speed kills, and overheating the brakes can kill you, too. If you can't get fully stopped in a quarter mile distance , while maintaining complete control of your rig, you're coming down the hill too fast.
All hills are different, just the same as all loads are different. This will take a bunch of driving experience to figure it out for yourself, so for now take it slow and safe.
Bet you have a lease trainer, right?
Yeah, and I want to make him money and treat his equipment with respect.
But I also have to learn.
Well, most of these guys I've met don't know jack about anything except they believe they are running a successful business. Don't concern yourself "making him money!" If he wanted to make money he should have stayed as a company driver.
The RPMs are not going to hurt or damage anything under about 2400, so you're doing fine. These engines have safety features built in nowadays to prevent over revving the motors. The higher the RPMs, the more effective the engine breaking will be.
As for smoking any brakes, the way to prevent this is to control your descent ahead of time, keeping the speed lower. You're not using stab braking, either. That what you do when a deer jumps out in front of the hood. You're doing normal, controlled braking.
My method: When descending a long grade, start at the top about 20 mph below the speed limit while utilizing the Jacobs Brake feature. When you have noticed the speed climbing to about 7-10 mph faster, get on the brake pedal for a steady pressure for about 5 seconds, decreasing that speed. Repeat as needed to maintain a comfortable and controlled descent and adjust the engine braking as needed--low, medium, or high.
Speed kills, and overheating the brakes can kill you, too. If you can't get fully stopped in a quarter mile distance , while maintaining complete control of your rig, you're coming down the hill too fast.
All hills are different, just the same as all loads are different. This will take a bunch of driving experience to figure it out for yourself, so for now take it slow and safe.
Yeah I think my trainer is still stuck on I should have learned all this in phase 1. While everyone at Prime in phase 1 said I should learn it in TNT.
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.
Well not much to say about TNT other then you drive. Try to sleep on the bumpy roads, which is rough.
Learning macros, paperwork, real world backing. How to accept loads and talk to shippers and recievers
Pretty good stuff. So far picking up what I need to know.
Feeling good and still loving the job.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
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.
Bet you have a lease trainer, right?
Yeah, and I want to make him money and treat his equipment with respect.
But I also have to learn.
Well, most of these guys I've met don't know jack about anything except they believe they are running a successful business. Don't concern yourself "making him money!" If he wanted to make money he should have stayed as a company driver.
The RPMs are not going to hurt or damage anything under about 2400, so you're doing fine. These engines have safety features built in nowadays to prevent over revving the motors. The higher the RPMs, the more effective the engine breaking will be.
As for smoking any brakes, the way to prevent this is to control your descent ahead of time, keeping the speed lower. You're not using stab braking, either. That what you do when a deer jumps out in front of the hood. You're doing normal, controlled braking.
My method: When descending a long grade, start at the top about 20 mph below the speed limit while utilizing the Jacobs Brake feature. When you have noticed the speed climbing to about 7-10 mph faster, get on the brake pedal for a steady pressure for about 5 seconds, decreasing that speed. Repeat as needed to maintain a comfortable and controlled descent and adjust the engine braking as needed--low, medium, or high.
Speed kills, and overheating the brakes can kill you, too. If you can't get fully stopped in a quarter mile distance , while maintaining complete control of your rig, you're coming down the hill too fast.
All hills are different, just the same as all loads are different. This will take a bunch of driving experience to figure it out for yourself, so for now take it slow and safe.
PackRat — Thanks for this advice. Very helpful!
Well not much to say about TNT other then you drive. Try to sleep on the bumpy roads, which is rough.
Learning macros, paperwork, real world backing. How to accept loads and talk to shippers and recievers
Pretty good stuff. So far picking up what I need to know.
Feeling good and still loving the job.
Thank you for the updates Mark! Could you clarify, are you doing TNT pulling a flatbed? I haven’t heard you talk about securement or other flatbed specific details. I am about a week away from testing for my CDL in Salt Lake City (they are incredibly backed up here!) and it sounds like I will be doing TNT on a reefer , then return to do bootcamp and some additional flatbed specific drive time after that. hearing all of the same talk about shortage of trainers that I am working on this thread. What is true? Who knows!
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.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
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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So been on my TNT truck for over a week. Put in at least 5k miles.
Today we are bringing a load from Los Angeles to Colorado. Trainer says nothing to me about how to use the Jake brake.
Now I know a little about it, but last week down a hill was using it and trainer got mad at me for going to 1.8 to 1.9k rpm.
Today I kept it at 1500 to 1700 but had to keep using stab brakes. Well they started smoking about when the downgrade ended.
He says I should have learned all this before tnt. I did tell him that I learned how to pass the cdl in PSD , and everything else i learned was verbal.
Luckily it looks like his truck brakes are good, but the trailers are wrecked. I think they were before. They didn't smoke at all, but I'm no expert.
Anyway, just thought I'd post an update.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
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
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.