Trainer Wait Time??
Topic 6010 | Page 1
I don't know, but I'm looking forward to finding out soon! I take a bus to sunny Arkansas tomorrow :)
Normally it's a few days. I've heard of CR England having some unusually long wait times over the years, even sending people home for weeks. Prime Inc had ghastly wait times for female drivers - up to a year - but I believe they've gone back to giving the option for women to train with male trainers to cut down on that wait time.
If you get to the point that you're waiting to go out with a trainer and it's taking more than a week you can try calling other Company-Sponsored Training Programs to see if they're willing to bring you onboard. Chances are at least one of them will. Now you do not have to actually leave the company you're with to go with a different one. Simply let the company you're with know that you have bills to pay and you can only wait a short time longer before taking the offer from the other company. Things will suddenly get moving much more quickly for you. And do it in a nice way. Don't be threatening, don't try to push people around. Just be kind about it and explain that you have bills to pay and you'd love to stay with the company but if they can't get you rolling soon then someone else will.
Hopefully within a couple of days you'll have a trainer and be rolling.
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.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
Prime Inc had ghastly wait times for female drivers - up to a year - but I believe they've gone back to giving the option for women to train with male trainers to cut down on that wait time.
There were several women in my class at Prime who trained with male trainers. I saw three of them at the terminal who tested out for their CDLs successfully and went on to the TNT phase with the same trainer.
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.
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.
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 14ยข 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 ended up waiting 10 days. But that was a combination of a holiday weekend and a brand-new "driver services" employee who wasn't quite up to speed.
I wuz with swift and on my 3rd day of orientation I got a trainer I didn't even make the full day it started at 8 am and by 10 am I wuz pulled out of class and given my driver code and comdata card and trainers name and number it all depends if there's a trainer available and how picky you are and if your a smoker or non smoker and if you live in a certain part of the USA that they don't hire much from... I wuz living in Oregon at the time I went with my trainer and they matched me with a trainer from Oregon and I know its not much but swift pays you 50 a day while waiting for a trainer. I hope this helps
A lot depends if you are female, smoker, ect... They try to pare you up the best they can. I noticed the male smokers had mentors almost immediately. Male non smokers took a few days. Female non smokers took a few weeks. Not sure if this is normal just a observation.
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Just looking for some responses on how long it has taken for you to get a trainer?
I have read that it can take 1 day, or a couple of weeks. I have read that you could be put on a bus and sent to another part of the country to get in a truck with a trainer....that would suck!
I hope I get in a truck right away, I would think that the companies would try quite hard to get you trained, they sure do everything to promote themselves, and get you into orientation quickly and it must not be cheap for the expenses they incurr paying your hotel, meals & transportation.