My Prime Trucking School experience 12/9/2013 Springfield, MO

Day 2 Orientation:

Today for original permit holders coming in was all pre-trip inspection. Started morning class at 8:30am and went over the entire pretrip process and what to look for and check on everything. The acronyms help alot! PMS: Properly Mounted and Secure, CBB: not Cracked, Bent, or Broken, ABC: no Abrasions, Bulges, or Cuts. The paperwork and paper guides are a bit overwhelming at first with all the info, but once we got out to the trucks, it didn't seem as bad. So in the afternoon we went out with some instructors and got a basic runthrough of what and where everything is on the truck for the inspection and what to check for. Also a great time to pick at the instructors brains on a bunch of different topics after the walkthrough. After that and lunch, classes were done for us for the day, so I finished the rest of my computer training So a short and quick day, gonna spend the rest of the night going over the pretrip.

 

Day 3 Orientation:

Today starts with roll call at 7am. Got some more info about company thing's and getting our ID badges tomorrow. After roll call we had a gap of time till 1pm, but I had to attend the sleep apnea meeting at 11:30am. The meeting is just a quick rundown of what it is, what they check for, how much it costs. You have to do the actual test after you get your cdl, usually best right after when your still in town getting your cdl. After the meeting there was another roll call at 1pm, followed by The Smith System. This system is a sort of defensive driving/awareness course. It's a 2 part class, one during the PSD phase, and one sometime before you upgrade to your own truck. After The Smith System class, the rest of the day was free up for self study. After the first day the schedule gets alot more breathing room for permit holders. This leaves alot of time left to finish your computer and simulator training, and study your pretrip. Tomorrow we well be receiving ID badges and finding out if you're cleared, meaning you're in the system and as far as I can tell, there wasn't any problems that would have sent you home by now. Then if cleared, you'll be heading over to the main campus, the Millennium Building.

They are behind on trainers at the moment with the weather around here earlier this week and with Christmas coming soon, so we were told we could be waiting into next week for a trainer. My roommate is still here from last weeks class, but they just started testing people coming back in to try and get their CDL's, so hopefully he gets out soon.