Prime New Driver Orientation (10/15/13)

On the card, under the reason column, it listed US Mail. Its probably done in the event we do a mail load

 

Today was more of a company housekeeping day with more down time than earlier this week. The day started with a class on Primes's company insurance. For those that are currious, Prime offers company drivers health, vision, dental, and life insurace after 90 days of employment. There is GAP coverage available as well and a 401k after a year that offers 3% match and 2% at 50% match. The benefits people were very helpful and were able to answer all the questions fielded at them. Blu Cross Blue Shield is the health provider and plans are actually really affordable. After insurance, we covered high value load procedures and sexual harassment.

After a quick lunch, we did a class on devensive driving called the Smith System. The system revolves around five key points: aim high in steering, get the big picture, keep your eyes moving, leave yourself an out, and make sure they see you. The video was a little over the top, but did make some good points; especially about savimg fuel by timimg lights correctly.

We then headed to the simulators which took the rest of the day. We were required to do four courses but none were graded. Personally, I took the time to focus on shifting. Some of the other drivers who actually had driving experience, told me to take the experience with a grain of salt as the sims were unrealistic. It was quite boring trying to get 40 people through 4 courses each on 4 sims. The whole ordeal took close to 5 hours. Thankfully, most of us are now cleared to do actual training tomorrow as it will be our last day here (hopefully)!

 

I apologize for not posting the past 2 days as it has been filled with long days.

Friday was considered our last day of orientation. The day started at 7am with a informational class on what to expect during the remainder of training. Ground rules were set for both trainers and trainees. No pets or other passengers while training, no cell phone use while driving, etc. After the meeting we had individually talked with the director of training to make sure all of our paperwork was in order. In order to be cleared to use the training pad, you need to have gotten your CDL permit, have a ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE (a lot of people had issues with this), and your drug screen and medical need to have gone through. Since I was cleared and ready to go, I had my company id badge made and we headed to the practice pad.

At the practice pad we went over our pretrips again and we got to practice straight backing. At the pad the instructor to student ratio was around 1:8. We did this for about 2 hours and took lunch. After lunch we got in groups of three and went out to an industrial park. Personally, I did okay upshifting but it was rough downshifting. We each got about 15 minutes of practice before we went back to the terminal.

The last meeting we had was to pair up students and instructors. About three quarters of the class were assigned instrucyors while the rest of us had to wait until some freed up. I did not recieve an instructor.

After the meeting, we got a tour of the terminal (The Millennium Building). The complex is huge with a seperate repair, trailer, detail, tire, and body shop. Inside the main terminal there is a weight room, basketball court, movie theater, bunk rooms, showers, restaurant (which is really good), company store, day care, and a lot more that I cant recall at the moment. It truly is a very nice building.

 

Saturday I headed to the practice pad in the morning to practice pretrip again and try and find an instructor. Although we are normally assigned instructors as they become available, I wanted an opportunity to find one that I would get along with best. I was out there for about two hours before I found one that was available. We talked for a while and it seemed like things were going to work out. He took me back to the industrial park to see how I shifted. I continued to struggle until he told me to pull over and just relax. Once I relaxed and got over my nerves, it started coming to me. He told me to try and get into a rythym and to think of the theme to the Adam's Family as I shifted. Shift at the tempo same tempo of the snaps (if that makes any sense). Once I got the tempo in my head, things began to improve. I still need some work on downshifting, but im making progress.

After we came back, we talked to the necessary people about putting me on his truck. He went over basic Qualcom operations and rules of his truck. We leave early Monday with a load going to Oklahoma.

A couple of things about finding a trainer: as others have said, try and get a trainer early by finding one hanging around the practice pad or hotel. It will make things much easier come the end of the week. This is very crucial if you want to train in flatbed division as there are far less trainers.