Exactly How Does Prime Training Work?

This is a very interesting and informitive thread. I'm leaving on the 4th to head up to Springfield. From the Prime Drivers website, and here talking with these guy's and getting fact's, I threw question's at my recruiter and she didn't BS me one bit. Everything is as it's said. Just gotta do the research first. I like the idea of this training program. It give's you a lot of time to practice in real world scenario. Like mentioned, it's not 3-5 week's fighting with 4-5 other guy's for wheel time, then get thrown in a truck with a trainer for a few week's and then thrown out on your own by a company like most that has the "either sink or swim" state of mind.

60k miles really isn't all that bad either. It's well worth it and I see why this program is of the best out there. I'm going as a company driver sense fuel is so high right now. If it ever come's down, I might think about it but for now the company driver aspect is the way I'm headed. They offer a $240.00 advance to help you while on the road sense they know coming from another job, most people don't have all that extra money until the first check. This is for the D seat (trainee) getting their CDL here. I'm not sure about what's going on with those who already have a CDL. Didn't look into it sense it didn't concern me.

Steve&Lo would be very informative in the "Report a bad trucking company" thread on "Prime Inc." There are a couple who are bashing just because they had a bad time, but the thing's said in this thread should be shared with them to bring them a "truth". Prime really does seem like a good company for me and will for many other's, but there's alway's that handful that just don't get it.

 

Hello John,

Just wanted you to know I am in the same boat you are in and I am scheduled to start with Prime in Feb. 09. I have checked out many of the other trucking organizations and have not found one that can match Prime. I also joined the Trucking Forum to get a better view of the trucking industry through the eyes of actual drivers, and so far I really have only read good things about Prime. I also checked the BBB and Prime carries an A+ rating with them. So they must be doing something right. Hope this helps!

Carl

 

I just finished truck school at MTC in St.L Dec. 2, Prime picked me up and my recruter is calling me a seat C. for oren, what dose that mean and can i expect to get on the road soon or am i gonna go thro more school with prime? I have a Class A with dbl,tnk,&hzmt tho i havent done the hzmt FBI check yet cause been broke as a joke{unemployment dont cut it} so do you know any more than i do ? ofcorse recuter is on VAC. til the 10th so im in the dark!

 

Speaking from personal experience, Prime is a big scam. They know exactly what to say and do to get you in the door. First of all...if you can walk down the sidewalk they will give you a CDL. Seriously dude...they gave cdl's to so many people who should have NEVER come close to receiving one!

The whole lease operator thing sounds all warm and toasty at first, but in the end you don't make any money and you start living on advances. My freaking truck payment and ins. was $696/wk plus lots of other expenses that rookies dont know about...such as tolls, lumpers, parking & docking fees. So many times my fleet manager would promise reimbursement for a lot of those fees and it never happened.

They push inexperienced drivers too hard also. They would have my brother and I out for 10 weeks at a time...Whenever we wanted a weekend off they begged us to do just one more load..."please just take this load to LA...it's real hot...I will pay you an extra $100 AND you WILL go straight home after that!" Pfft....complete B.S.

Man I can go on and on, but I digress. I cant say that some folks havent been successful driving for prime...just be VERY careful. Especially if you are a rookie.

One more little tid bit of info for you. They cover up deaths or fault, rather, of their drivers. My brother and best friend were a team driving for Prime. They died in an accident because they were both sleep deprived. It just so happens that my late friends mom works for TXDOT (accident division)... The year my bro died (2004), 18 other Prime drivers died that year.

Don't know about you, but that's a lot of deaths for one company in less than one year if you ask me.

 

Instead of going by what you read on the forums, do some REAL research on the company !! How is their safety rating ??? Well-alot of prime drivers get put out of service. Now, why do you think that is ?? Look up the real true info. Don't just believe some dummy like me !!!!!
safersys.org

 

C-seat is driver's "employment level" as in:

D-seat = CDL student.
C-seat = inexperienced trainee
B-seat = experienced trainee
A-seat = solo-qualified driver.

You're going to spend 60,000 miles with a trainer learning to be a driver. During this period, you'll get a bump from C-seat to B-seat 30-days after you're employed with the company, and a pay increase too. At the 60,000 mile point you do your upgrade to A-seat. Then another 20,000 miles with either your trainer or as a company-solo driver. That's somewhere around 12-to-16 weeks depending on freight, and how much home time you and your trainer indulge in.

And yeah, there are more classes, but it's not CDL school over again. More hazmat training, Smith System, maintenance class, etc. Don't sweat the classes... it'll make you a better driver.

 

Yeah, you ought to do some "research" yourself.

Get put "out of service" once gets you a face-to-face with the safety director. A second time get's you fired. There aren't very many Prime drivers who get put out of service.

And as far as your BS accusations about "safersys.org" Prime is one of the safer large companies out there. If we weren't we'd be getting pulled into the scales all the time - I haven't gotten a random once this year.

 

One out of service is bad news here at Prime, the 2nd one will have you packing your bags and cleaning out your truck.

The company isnt responsible for the out of service, the driver is. Truck inspections, proper log book, weight issues... As a Prime driver you are the only one on the truck that can make sure these issues will pass inspection on a daily basis.

Log book is much easier now as most of the fleet is switching to E-Logs and the rest of the fleet is switching soon.

Every mechanical issue I have discovered in my inspections is addressed and fixed when I (THE DRIVER) report them to Road Assist. Im pulled in to a terminal, or sent to a shop to have the issue corrected.

Weight issues. I (THE DRIVER) take responsibility when I pick up a load, that I will scale it and makes sure all weight issues are corrected and pin laws followed.

Example, two weeks ago I was 500 over on the tandems, and had plenty of room on the drives.

Prime's attitude was simple, we dont recommend you proceed with a weight issue... its up to you if you think you can get away with it as its only 400 lbs. My FM said he would back me up with sales to fight the shipper to fix the load if I didnt want to move the load without being legal.

It didnt come down to a sales vs shipper issue... Mainly me vs the Shipper. Shipper said it was my fault, and that I needed to slide my fifth wheel up. (dumb, because it only shifts weight from drives to steers) I couldnt move the tandems furthur back legally, and if your in Maine, there is no way around NY, NJ and CT if your going to PA without going through Canada.

I jumped through the hooops and provided the tickets to the shipper in the requested configuration (fifth wheel all the way up, and tandems as far back legally for the states I would be travelling through) Even though it was 20 miles roundtrip to a CAT scale, I proved the shipper wrong each time. It forced them to move some cases from the end of the trailer to the front. I lost some time on my log book, but there was still plenty of time to make delivery. It really only took the shipper 30min... but they made me wait four hours.

 

The law just wants money. They dont *want* to screw your life up for something dumb.

I remember a while back I was in a court room for several hours, waiting to see the judge myself, i was getting a misdemeanour dropped for a reason that my lawyer could not pronounce. LOL. Anyway, the judge was being very harsh on a lot of guys that had been arrested for failure to appear. Then this guy came up, said something like: my license suspension was going to be over in a couple of days, i was driving, got pulled over and got a ticket for driving on a suspended license.

The judge said, well ok, I'm reducing the charge to allowing someone...who happens to be yourself....to operate a vehicle with a suspended license. It won't be reported to the secretary of state [DMV].

They just want money. That's all. That guy represented himself even. That's a pretty good reduction!