Prime, never been insulted by employer before.

You could buy Commadore and Atari "kits" a little before anything with keyboards were even within a reasonable price range!

And Tandy really didn't start selling to the public till after geeks figured out a good DOS but because they were way to expensive to buy unless you were "rich!" and then that was in the 80's! The 1978 and later Tandy TRS line of computers were a freaking monster! If you were a big business yes they were before Commodore and Atari but way outside of anyones costs! We (home geeks) were still playing with metal boxes with dip switches on them and hooked to the family TV (thanks Bill Gates and Popular Science!) Commodore and Atari WERE the choice for a few years until Tandy became a more stable platform. (I knew I was right! I couldn't remember exactly but I thought that Radio Shack was selling Commodore before the Tandy Line hit! SEE: http://www.commodore.ca/history/company/chronology_portcommodore.htm )That Tandy 1000 was "fun" but a PITA because of the crashes and the freaking interference with the TV and radio! Turn on the 80 and kiss the TV goodby till you were finished!. Then the 2000 hit and Tandy took off!

It was way cheaper to hook up to the family TV than buy that ugly green or orange screen monitor (boring)! The first color monitors were like buying a movie theater even when it was "bundled" into the total cost! Hard drives were like buying gold but memory was actually "cheap" compared to the rest of the equipment. Not to mention the freaking 5.25 flopy disk reader! Those HD cards were easy to install but that slow transfer rate was like waiting on that modem! You went grey waiting on anything to happen!
So yep Tandy really was a gleam in the King and Queens eyes! They all came out in about late 77 or so but Commodore and Atari were more fun and more reliable and the "kits" were avaliable long before tandy was or until Tandy got together with Commodore and came out with the 8088 then 8086 then the 80286 with Ms-DOS! It was almost better than sex when I got that 80286 unit! Then Atari did the USB thing and it all came together in the early 80's!

Like I said Commodore and Atari made it easy for us to own a "computer" way before the Tandy lines tried! $600 or more for a TRS was a real hard hit compared to $300. You know where us younger kids went! WE were gald to work hard and stop playing to afford the Tandy line even as we started into the "need for speed!" age.

But thanks for correcting me on those dates! It was Dec '77 but Commodore and Tandy hit at the same time. I forgot completely that Commodore became Apple a few years later!

A trip down memory lane is nice and thanks for the ride!
Now back to the now unhijacked thread!

 

Remember Jumpman on the Commodore 64? Rad.

 

Back to the subject at hand.............................

Give me a " P "

 

Well, judging from all the posts, Prime is a good idea if you go company, granted you get through the orientation part of it. Like I said, luck of the draw when it comes to trainers.

 

Even as company, I can think of many other companies that are much better.........

Those drivers and those at Stevens, doing lease, for 1K a week ?????

Givemeaneverluvingbreak !!!!!!

 

I'd say its a must to go company for anyone new - a good portion of your part of a lease settlement comes from how much fuel you don't use and don't buy. Its a lot more cost effective for you to learn how to operate a truck efficiently on the company side. Not to start another argument, but U2 and I both did ok as company solo operators.

As far as instructors/trainers go... yup its pretty much luck of the draw. But that's true everywhere. Its going to depend on the integrity of the individual as to whether s/he is truely interested in teaching, or just looking for cheap labor. From my own experience in technical training - not everyone learns in the same way. You may just need a different kind of instruction, rather than what Prime offers.

 

For instance?

The last Stevens guy I talked to was rather PO'd about getting 300 - 400 mile loads, and having to sit on them for 2 or 3 days. Regularily.

 

If I can pay for it, I'm taking the route of the trucking school down the street from me. By then, I'll have a better understanding of where I want to go.

 

Well good luck. Definitely research companies before you bite on a recruiters story... they're paid to sell it to you, and even if they have the best intentions they're schtick may be quite different than what happens on the operational side.

After about 90 days, enough time for the system's wheels to crank a bit, you might want to get a copy of your DAC report. See whats on there before you go job shopping. You are entitled to a free copy every year.

 

Local furniture moving company pays 52% of load company, closer to 78% lease, and they'll sell you the truck for what it's currently worth. Lease payment is 10% of what you make that week. If you make nothing for a week, your payment is $0. From what I can gather, this is the lowest paying company in the business around here and the OTR drivers complain if they don't break 6 figures for the year, which hardly ever happens.

Groendyke pays around $3500 a week company. There's one I can't remember the name, they deliver for McDonald's, pay mileage and hourly, bout $2500 a week company, benefits, home every day.