home time for trainee

If you plan on doing this don't expect to be home when you want to. It really is that simple.

 

Not sure about Prime, but Stevens really frowns on a new hire taking time-off before the intial training phase is completed, unless it is an emergency. They tend to look at it as a lack of committment to the job and the company.

 

There will not be any special dispensation given to you for your daughter's birthday.
If being with her is more important than your job as a trucker, you are in the WRONG profession friend.
Plan on missing her 2nd birthday as well. It is what it is.
Don't even mention it to anyone at Prime. Just suck it up and drive.

 

Yes, because it's absolutely horrible that you would dare to place your family before the company, and its needs to keep you sitting at some scummy truckstop waiting for freight, and paying you for an ever-so-wonderful 2300 mile week.

And its not just the trucking industry that does this. I've had, and heard about any number of jobs, careers, professions and what have you where the pressure is to put all your time (paid and unpaid) to the company's disposal. Forget friends, family, hobbies, and anything else you might want, the company just might need you to do something useless.

 

because it'd never have anything to do with taking advantage of the fact that they have you teaming and driving about 6000 miles/week for the princely sum of (I'm guessing) about $400/week...

 

when i worked for swift back in '97..if we were in the area of my house he would drop me off and he would finish thw delivery and pick me up when he was done..and if we were nere on of relatives house he wanted to visit..he would ask me if it was ok if he stopped for afew hours and i would stay in truck.this was happening on the last half of training since i was pretty well knowledgable on things lol.

 

Do yourself a favor and don't "wonder" about such things.
The training period is a BIG DEAL and you need to prove yourself.
Typically you're out 5 weeks. You can't make any plans for home time.
If for some reason your trainer wants a few days and you share the same terminal...maybe, just maybe it will happen.
Once training is over you'll get road tested and perhaps have a few days to unwind.
Then they have truck for you and you're out another 5 maybe 6 weeks. Then you get maybe 4 days and start all over again.
You do this for at least a year, it not two and you can start considering local work.

Why a family man would get into this profession, I don't know.
Make sure you think this through friend. Don't invest all the time and energy into it only to bail a few months later.
This is a very common scenerio. Don't be common.
I can't express to you enough how hard it will be to be away from your family.