Going to Prime

Am I reading this right? You had Prime reassign you to a different trainer because you did not want a, "hierarchal situation that is uncomfortable"?
Trainer......................Trainee..................Is that not by definition a "hierarchal situation"? Is this a situation where you know as much as your trainer, and should be his equal?
You are now with a trainer who is, "not really your boss"? If you think of your self as your trainer's partner rather than his student, I suspect you will have difficulties. If nothing else you are in HIS truck. There is your, "hierarchal situation" better get comfortable with it, or atleast learn to cope.

 

Company or lease - your trainer is captain of the ship - and you'd best plan on the fact that your trainer IS the BOSS.

Can't speak for the ISX or Mercedes engine, but the Detroit maintains full torque down to the bottom of the RPM range - torque is what powers your load. Pushing high RPMs in a hard pull just burns more fuel and makes a lot of noise. Its not "less power" - its the 40 - 45,000 lbs in the box that makes it feel that way.

 

you guys are mistaking the point here. With a lease operator it is his truck while he is making the payments and he can impose different stipulations beyond that of a company trainer as it really is his truck in a sense(lease). With a company trainer it is not his truck, it is the company's we are both assigned to it and he is the lead seat. As lead seat he makes operational decisions for the truck, if there is an issue we would discuss it like adults, if there is still a question, we can contact the Fleet Manager. Imagine that, people working together... not having a pissing contest to see who is the bad a...

If you are so arrogant as to think a company truck is yours and you are the boss over a trainee, get over yourself. My "boss" is my fleet manager. My trainer is just that, a trainer. With that, he should be regarded with proper respect as he has more experience and knowledge. However, he is not the one paying me or deciding if I am fired or not, therefore, by definition, he is indeed not my "boss".

My new trainer and I have already agreed on this perspective mutually. He is not so proud as to think he is God because he is the lead seat, like you people seem to regard a trainer. Nothing against my last trainer, I have the highest respect for him and we are on great terms. He was not rude about it, but he made it known it was his truck and that he was paying for me, I respected him and his truck and we got along. Was it the ideal situation for a company driver to train, I would say no. That is why I requested the change in addition to the procedural differences between the two sides. I strongly feel that a trainee should operate the same way while in training as when they get on their own for paperwork, fueling, etc... The company worked with me on it, situation resolved. No reason for you guys to act like an authority and act like I don't know what I am talking about, it only makes you look ignorant.

The only reason I mentioned this is to make new company drivers aware that there are in fact some differences from having a lease trainer or a company trainer, no more, no less. I am sorry if this hurts your feelings.

 

You make it sound like some sort of democracy. It's not. That a company trainer can't really have a hand in ending your time at Prime on his own. I've washed out a trainee... My FM sent him packing solely on my word.

My current trainee has a problem paying attention, my FM is aware of the situation. However it's really gonna get interesting for him as I lay here in my bunk typing this and listening to him get a ticket for blowing past a scale... Red light Pre Pass and all.

It is his truck, he has every right to kick you off anytime he wants. He has the right to only allow you in the bottom bunk while the truck is moving and kick you up top anytime he wants a nap. He has the right to occupy every cubby hole and storage space and make you sleep with your stuff if he chooses. I would hope he wouldn't but he could.

My bunk is mine, a trainee sleeps there while the truck is moving because I have to for safety reasons.

What you fail to understand is your trainer's FM will more than likely be your FM. The FM can't be in the truck, so the trainer makes the judgement call. If your trainer is a top notch guy, and his FM has full faith in him, there ain't much you can do but get off the truck if a conflict
arises.

 

I too am in "training". My trainer and are treated more as a Team, burning 1000 mi a day or more.

What I dont understand is how Prime INC having higher standards is a bad thing. That is one of the reasons I got on with them, they have an ethical track record (last 5-10 yr).

Because of the high standards the trucks are newer and under warranty, the trailers have few issues and if a trlr has an issue Prime has no problem getting it FMC, no hoops, just a quick qualcom msg and PO request and you have it in less than ten mins.

I read the other posts. True, the lease trainer is paying Prime your wages. But his revenue is higher. You are there for two reasons, learn and make him money so yes he is the boss. By running hard momma is going to be happy, when she is happy trainer is happy.

You may or not agree with his procedures, trip planning, etc... but why do you care? Its his money and his revenue on that truck. Dont mess with a mans money.

Your going to run into the same issues with a company driver- you are ther to learn and make him money. He makes money and momma is happy.

You may be equal as humans. But your status at Prime is trainee, which means you are on bottom of the pecking order.

Its only a few months but your FM will be watching u anyway. Look at it from their perspective, if you have authority issues as a trainee with a person all up in your busines, your issues will only be worse when the authority is distant. IMO if a feller demonstrated authority issues and I was the trainer, he and his gear would be at a rest area in the middle of nowhere with his junk.

 

I trained at Werner many a year ago on their flatbed side. I had a couple guys that needed their attitudes adjusted so I dropped them at the first terminal I came across,gave a report of the problem and left. Some were put with new trainers and given a second chance the others were sent home. I also had two guys say they werent going to the flatbed division so they werent going to help with load securement,both those guys got rides home.

 

Who exactly is responsible for that truck? If the trainer lets you the trainee do something stupid that messes up the truck, who will they ultimately hold responsible? Who will live with the damage after you are gone, (one way or the other)? So now you know. It is not his truck but he is responsible for it.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and guess that you got that "reassignment" because your trainer told the FM that he would be happy to see you gone.He thought you had a problem with authority, but they agreeded to give you another chance with a different trainer. If you are wise you will, "get over yourself" and break that pattern. If you are not then the next trainer will report and the isolated incient will be a confirmed pattern.

Because we know how you feel about authority.

Rest assured you have yet to hurt my feelings. I was simply trying to help you see the attitude that you were presenting, and how it could end up hurting you. Believe me when I say that you failing to get along with your trainers, or failing at Prime will have NO effect whatsoever on me, or how I sleep at night.

If you want to be helped there it is. If you want to think that the people trying to help you are ignorant so be it.

I DO NOT, NOR WILL I EVER FEEL YOUR PAIN!

 

I won't bother to pull quotes from what everyone above has posted.... bottom line... company or lease... it's the trainer's truck... he (or she) makes the final call.

Even though my trainer has very quickly gotten to the point where he trusts me pretty well... again, bottom line... it's HIS truck... I'll offer an opinion (which he gladly solicits most times) but it's still his call.... every time.... and will be for the next 45K.

Then again, I got real lucky... I got a trainer who could be a long lost brother for the way we get along... & a good piece of navigation advice in an area I know well very early on saved us a buttload of time on one trip gave him the sense that my judgement is pretty good... so my particular situation may be a bit over the norm.

We got our FM good on the 1st....

Trainer calls FM... tells him he needs to get me off the truck... I can't drive, don't listen at all, have zero sense of direction, etc, etc... lays it on thick...

10 minutes later my phone rings... FM asks "what's going on?"

ME: "I have two words for you.... can you guess what they are?"

FM: "What are they?"

ME: "What day is this?"

FM: (pause) "OH #####.... it's April 1st!!!!..... OK, OK, you got me."

 

Can someone confirm this for me? I was told by 2 different recruiters that company pays the trainee NOT the lease owner. If you team as a lease the company pays both people not the person who has the lease in their name. Just want clarification on that I just called now and was told the same thing COMPANY pays everyone separately. If I am an L/O and bring on a friend he still must attend Prime orientation and prime pays him not me. Is this guy who got of the L/O truck right and the recruiter a liar or is the recruiter correct.

 

i was wondering if somone could help me out. I am looking at moving from my current job to prime. I talked to a recruiter on friday and he was really pushing me into becoming a company driver over a lease operator. he told me that he wanted me for the tanker regional division between pa and nc. can anyone tell me why this is because i thought that prime really pushed the leases. I have several years of experiance in the tanker industry and just was hoping that someone could make this clearer for me thanks