Calling For Prime Trainers

Daniel and Bud put forth some good information. I definitely plan to make sure I show a trainer that I'm up for the job. Does anyone have any tips about things to ask a potential trainer to help make the right decisions?

I am not with Prime, but I am currently finishing my third week with my trainer. Bud mentioned Lease Op guys, so I wanted to comment. My trainer is a "Lease Op" guy and a pretty OK fellow. But he is definitely doing this solely for the extra income, and not because he has a desire to train new drivers. I look at this phase of my new career as a necessary evil. I am learning quite alot, but not because my trainer is "teaching" me. I'm learning by virtue of operating his truck for him while he talks/texts non-stop on his phone. I've never seen another human talk on the telephone so much. It's quite amazing. He speaks Patois, which is some kind of french dialect so I have no idea what he is saying.... But it must be pretty important. Meanwhile, his truck that he is working so hard to pay for is going to hell in a handbasket. Inside it is the filthiest pigsty I have ever lived in. Outside... i dont think it's ever been washed. Mechcanicaly.... Fuhget about it! Every day I ask f he would like me to do a thorough pre-trip inspection , amd his answer is always, "Nah, we'll do it later. Just add a pre-trip entry to the e-log and let's get going". In three weeks I have only seen him check the oil level once, and he was doing it with the engine running! Whatever dude, it's your truck. So, yes a necessary evil in order to further my career, but maybe you should shy away from Lease-Op trainers. I am learning alot of what not to do! Man, I can't wait to get off this truck!

Thanks for letting me vent.

I was in trainer certification class with Daniel and he's absolutely right. Around wed that week I went to campus inn and went prospecting. Here's what that means.

I'm looking for a student that's sharp, ready to learn and has everything in order ready to go. I had a few candidates picked out and took them to the shifting range to see how they would do.

I also saw some current week students on Friday at prime east, taking them around the pad and getting them started on shifting, this was also a test. How are they at handling the vehicle, can they follow directions, how easy do they get rattled. In the end I think I picked the right student and so far it's been a good experience for the both of us.

PapaG unfortunatley those trainers are out there, I had one for tnt training at prime and I was just someone to help pad his wallet. Fortunately my primary or PSD trainer was excellent, a 25 year veteran with lots of insight.

I'm not exactly sure how to fix that problem, but I would like to see training standardized nationwide which, I admit would be difficult since all states cdl training is not exactly the same

Realist , it's not so much about what is said, but what is unsaid. If I'm going through pre trip with 4 or 5 students, are you engaging and asking questions? Or just folowing along. Be proactive and be where the instructors are, ask lots of questions.

Realist , it's not so much about what is said, but what is unsaid. If I'm going through pre trip with 4 or 5 students, are you engaging and asking questions? Or just folowing along. Be proactive and be where the instructors are, ask lots of questions.

What about the quiet observant types who watch, listen, learn, do without saying much? Sounds like the most outgoing of a group is going to be the one looked at most? If I have to ask questions even when I know the answer just to get noted, I'll come up with enough to make an instructor cry! :P But, I definitely plan on spending my time around the people who know what they are doing and talking about. If I wanted to sit in a room on my ass and watch TV, I'd stay home.

I am not with Prime, but I am currently finishing my third week with my trainer. Bud mentioned Lease Op guys, so I wanted to comment. My trainer is a "Lease Op" guy and a pretty OK fellow. But he is definitely doing this solely for the extra income, and not because he has a desire to train new drivers. I look at this phase of my new career as a necessary evil. I am learning quite alot, but not because my trainer is "teaching" me. I'm learning by virtue of operating his truck for him while he talks/texts non-stop on his phone. I've never seen another human talk on the telephone so much. It's quite amazing. He speaks Patois, which is some kind of french dialect so I have no idea what he is saying.... But it must be pretty important. Meanwhile, his truck that he is working so hard to pay for is going to hell in a handbasket. Inside it is the filthiest pigsty I have ever lived in. Outside... i dont think it's ever been washed. Mechcanicaly.... Fuhget about it! Every day I ask f he would like me to do a thorough pre-trip inspection , amd his answer is always, "Nah, we'll do it later. Just add a pre-trip entry to the e-log and let's get going". In three weeks I have only seen him check the oil level once, and he was doing it with the engine running! Whatever dude, it's your truck. So, yes a necessary evil in order to further my career, but maybe you should shy away from Lease-Op trainers. I am learning alot of what not to do! Man, I can't wait to get off this truck!

Thanks for letting me vent.

My trainer was also L/O, but he trains because he enjoys teaching people how to drive and to secure loads, and because his first trainer was so bad. In fact, the stories of his first trainer sound a lot like yours.

I have a friend who leases and is now training to make more money. I hope he is also actually training. I think he must be - his first student trifecta'd - but there are definitely mixed motives for some of them. The incentives for trainers sometimes attract the wrong people.

I would like to see training standardized nationwide which, I admit would be difficult since all states cdl training is not exactly the same

CDL tests are being nationalized, for instance, here in NJ on July 6, 2015 they are changing their CDL Road Tests so they match up to the other 49 states. The state is expecting a 90% failure rate on the test taker's first attempt.

-R0adRa93

My first question when I talk to a perspective student is,"what kind of music do you listen to?" Sounds stupid I know but I will be damned if I listen to any kind of rap music again. My first student listened to it (after I started turning on the radio after he'd been driving a few days and I thought he was paying enough attention) and I found myself getting very agitated and angry making both of our experiences, not so good. After a few days of n-word n-word, mother f'er violence violence I'd had enough and there was no more radio the rest of the training.

So now it's my first question. My next few I'll ask about pretrip and general written test questions to get a feel of how much information they've retained or put forth into learning. If someone hasn't put much effort into learning, I don't want to waste my time. Then, like Daniel, I'll let them know I'm a trainer. It's not that I don't want to work with someone that needs the extra time, it's I don't want to have to make someone learn. You gotta want to.

So if I was just assigned someone without being able to interview them, I wouldn't train.

I'll be bringing my current student in to test on Monday and will work the next couple days on the pad getting his backing skills where they need to be. Hopefully he'll test out Wednesday or Thursday. I won't be taking him thru tnt because I'm taking a leave of absence the second week of August for a trip to Jamaica. Prime won't let me take 8 days off so I have to take a leave which means turning in my truck in Springfield and flying home. I'll bee ready to start training again later in August.

My first question when I talk to a perspective student is,"what kind of music do you listen to?" Sounds stupid I know but I will be damned if I listen to any kind of rap music again.

You're in a tiny cage with someone. Music is pretty important to getting along. I personally can't listen to sad country or that screaming metal stuff, they put me on edge. Thanks for your insight.