Application Disqualified by Prime

It is against federal law to say anything more than rehire or not.

 

Overall, yes a community college would in some ways give you better training... it does take weeks as its not a 7 day a week program, you are not gaurenteed a job, and you pay up front... Im sure they have a training pad... and all real world experiance would be local driving with an empty trailer. When hired with a company there will be a training phase before giving you your own truck. Instructors are probably top notch given its a credited community college.

As far as CDL schools... There are some really good ones out there, but from what I hear, they are the minority... so do your research. Most have Job placement assistance, but thats what it is, assistance. Similar to community college in training style, but its a business out to make a profit. School loan usually provided, tuition re-imbursement is possible only if hired with a company that offers it. Again, a training phase with the company that hires you before given your own truck. Instruction is only as good as the instructor.

Company Instructed CDL training is from my own personal experiance:

Prime CDL Instruction phase is about 5 days of orientation, classes, and practice pad... WITH a minnimum 100 hours of student drive time out in the real world, with real loads, real situations, living in the truck... with a Prime driver who is instructor trained sitting next to you. (3-4 weeks)... 90 percent of the instruction is on the road... although this portion is unpaid, you can opt to take up to $240 per week in loaned money to live on the road, paid back at $25 dollars a week after Instruction phase. Instruction is only as good as the instructor... mine was awesome

Pass the CDL test with Prime and you automatically have a job and the PAID training phase begins. (60-80k miles team driving with a trainer (3-4 months)). Quit under 6 months you have a $3k bill... 6 months to under a year its about $1500... quit after a year and you owe nothing. (trainee is paid .12/team mile or $600/week whichever amount is greater for that particular week)

Then you get a truck... you can lease or go company.

Bottom line is you are going to pay one way or the other... Either out of pocket, or under a contract with a company for at least a year.

 

One thing to keep in mind is there are ALOT of schools out there that are reputable so far as training goes & job placement thereafter, I am proof, I went to a school paid my dues,suffered the idiotic trainers & such & low & behold i found a hopefully soon to be job here at Prime. As i said this was a legit school, 16 week program to be exact, not a heres my money, ok heres your cdl type place. These folks actually trained me in things i thought i already knew, things i didn't,repeats of some but overall i am VERY satisfied w/ the entire program i was offered.

Was it easy? Some yes & some no. Did it cost me? Well of course, somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000+. Sure i could have taken the easy route & paid a couple hundred to just basically be handed my cdl but i wanted the entire experience & i feel w/ the school i went to i got the experience i needed to get me started. Was it the best, probably not but its what ( I ) wanted out of school to get me in the door to my first employer,get my year under my belt & then weigh my options. I'm not gonna sit here & preach at ya & tell ya it was easy to get where I'm currently at because it wasn't!

I pounded many a doors before Prime accepted me due to my being a (NEWB), but as i said it helped that i came from a school that had job placement so they did some leg work as well rite beside me IE- reviewing my app. making sure everything was legit & making sure it was presentable to the employers i submitted it to. I got many a responses such as umm were not hiring out of that area, umm our training is FULL rite now,try back in a month. Or just plain NO without a reason. So just because you get a slammed door once or twice doesn't mean give up, it means push forward & make them understand who you are & what you have to offer as a person,driver,ethics etc.

They wont know what you have to offer just by guessing, you need to put it out there & show them. Ok so you don't have experience in the trucking industry, are you dedicated,honest,loyal,hardworking & most importantly "IMHO" are you DETERMINED? If you are determined you will find success my friend, just keep pushing forward, you will be rewarded for your efforts, I can only talk the talk to you, but you need to walk the walk to reap those rewards.

So to conclude this, theres plenty of schools out there you can enroll in & it will cost you but you can get government grants, city grants etc. And after you finish school, find an employer whom will pay your tuition upon graduation & more times than none you'll need to sign a contract for a year at they're company. After that you have your 1yr your looking for & you'll be able to make the calls in a sense on where you go from there.

Good Luck Friend.

 

Come on... Everybody knows there isnt any retail stores in Monroe! lol Sent ya a PM.
good luck to ya!

 

I would stay away from the CDL Mills if it were me. I say this in hindsight, as I went with Roadmaster in KCMO. It is supposed to be a 4 week school, but the minimum time I've seen people there is 5 weeks, and even then, only 3 out of 10 in the class I was in had passed their test and got a license. At 5 weeks, I told them I was not remotely close to testing, and I was sent anyway. I passed the PTI, but failed the skills. They have 2 instructors on the pad, and anywhere from 15 to 25 students waiting on 3 trucks in which to practice. In the 5 weeks I was there, I have about 8 1/2 hours of actual drive time. This was mainly done in an industrial area, and we focused on left and right turns. Highway time, :45 minutes. I never got to the driving portion of the test as I stopped the skills test after :20 minutes of attempting to do an offset.

When I got out of the truck and walked to the tester, he asked what I felt the problem was. I told him about the training and he shook his head. He asked if I knew anybody with a tractor/trailer that I could use for practice and as luck has it, I do. However, he works and can only do this on Sundays. We went to a truck stop and practiced there for about 2 hours, and I actually felt I learned more than I had in 5 weeks of school.

The instructors at the school walk along beside you and tell you exactly what turns to make, and when. As I told the tester, it's easy to put your trailer in the box when somebody tells you exactly what turn to make. When I'm on that test pad, I'm on my own, and I'm wise enough to know that it wasn't going to happen. Why waste his time and mine to continue trying something that we both knew wasn't working.

When I got back to where the school instructor was, he asked me what that was all about. I said, "I knew I wasn't ready for this, but the Director told me I was going that day." He said, "you had 160 hours of training." I told him, "I've put in my 160 hours, but not 160 hours of training." He was pissed and I didn't care. I was speaking the truth.

I'm now in debt to them and still don't have a CDL; nor do I have a job.

I tried to get into Prime's program, but they were only taking people who already had a trainer. I didn't know anybody there who was looking for a trainee, so I chose to go ahead with Roadmaster. It was the biggest mistake I've made, and I'm still looking to find a company that will take on a trainee. I'll keep working on Sunday's to get my skills down, but at this point I'm not sure it will do me any good.

If anybody knows of someone at Prime that is looking to take on a trainee, I would certainly be interested in knowing about it. I've heard nothing but good about the training with Prime, and for me, the MOST important aspect is training.

 

I have to agree about that instruction... I initially had trouble backing... over correcting etc...

You can tell me how to do it, and even stand next to me and tell me exactly what to do, but Im not going to learn it as well as if I learn by trial and error.

Tell me how to do it, supervise me so I dont hit anything or do anything dangerous... and as I make mistakes, I will learn what not to do...

If I hear anything about trainers I will let you know.

 

That's what I'm learning from; my own mistakes and figuring out how to adjust and correct them.

U2, I would be forever grateful if you let me know about any trainers looking for a trainee. I absolutely refuse to give up on this, I'm determined one way or another I will learn, and I will be on the road. I had hoped to be there already, but I made a bad choice. The silver lining is that I learned from the mistake I made, and I will continue to spread the word of these schools that are only out to get your money. My goal is to be a safe driver with great training. One of the things I like most about Prime is the amount of time spent with a trainer. I'm not sure how one can learn much in 3 weeks with a trainer, then be put in a truck on their own.

Thanx for the reply and be safe out there.

 

My trainer will need a trainee the week of the 20th.

 

If he's anything like my trainer, he won't be waiting for long. I just got off the truck yesterday for my upgrade. My trainer had a new trainee within about 3 hours and has already left on their first load. I didn't even have my stuff off the truck yet when he got his new student!