ask your questions about prime inc here

Not sure what the company's policy is on when you can become a trainer after you reach A-Seat status. In my honest opinion, drive solo for atleast a year, that way you have an idea what driving year round is like. You need to show that your a worthy driver who is always ontime.......best if your early......make sure your MPG is always up......and obviously understanding the day in and day out of paperwork, etc that goes with driving for Prime. Like I said, these are my two cents...... Find out from your FM regarding how to become a trainer.

 

Getting ready for orientation, wanting to know why you need 2 weeks worth of clothes. Do you not get a chance to wash clothes but every two weeks? Who has 14 pairs of jeans at one time? Am I promised 600 a week take home from the start and how soon does that increase? How much money does one need for orientation and then about how much a week on the road with a trainer?
Any info on the orientation in PA would be helpful as well

 

When I switched from dry to reefer I didn't need a trainer.It's mostly like setting a thermostat at your house.Any problems come there are always other reefer drivers around to ask questions.

I never thought I would like reefers now I perfer them food is recession proof.

 

well i really have no intentions of training atleast for a long while ,but i just didn't want a guy training me who has only been driving for a month or 2 solo,i should have stated that in the last post

 

You won't need 14 pair of jeans, there will be time to wash.

 

Two weeks is WAY too much clothes. Maybe a week or even less... but maybe a little more than a week in the socks, underwear, undershirt dept... You can stretch a pair of jeans a extra day, same with T-shirt...

For me forget the heavy coat... nice hooded sweatshirt works with a light/windbreaker for rain/snow to go over the hoody... that just me.

Less is better, pack smart. Dont show up with a hard suitcase... some sort of soft collapseble bag... (Next trainee I get that shows up with a hard case, gets the choice of either him or his case gets left behind on the curb)

No extra BS. dont bother getting a map book, truckstop guide... etc. until you are on your own... its extra space and your trainer already has one.

Get used to sleeping alongside your clothes... when I have a trainee, my dirty clothes go in a plastic lined duffle bag and its on the bed... at the foot.

Get creative with storage... lay out clean socks, underwear etc between the mattress and the matress tray...

 

Take your training experiance seriously. I just kicked a trainee to the curb (I was nice enough to do it at the terminal)

I cant stress enough that a trainee needs to be pro-active. Even if you have experiance...

Fueling might seem simple for someone with experiance... at Prime there are a few quirks that can really mess up your stop and waste alot of your time if you are a company driver... my trainee could have got his coffee and sandwich after watching/participating in a fuel stop (JUST ONE STOP) rather than miss the 3 I did and then have to wake me up becuase he was trying to fuel the truck with a REWARDS Card.

My trainee got no less than 12 hours of potential sleep time (17 one day) while out with me for half a week. He used up all of that time in the rack rather than peek out and find out what was going on.

While he was asleep he missed alot... he could of got up and saw the various situations we were in and learned alot... AND STILL GOT 8-10 hours sleep. Its not like I was expecting him to sit next to me while I drive... same thing when sitting waiting to be unloaded or loaded... I did expect/hope that he would get up and for check in... at a minimum ask me how each was done or any problems.

He neither asked questions about what was going on, nor did he ask any questions about what happened and how I resolved or conducted Prime business.

Bottom line is there is alot of money coming out of your pocket/paycheck that will not be re-imbursed unless you take a few simple steps. In a few situations it additionally requires a Qualcomm Macro along with the ALWAYS required receipt.

I could go on about a dozen different problems with the trainee... Just know that at one point I told him what the deal and problem was with his participation and that he was on thin ice... He didnt bother to correct his problem

 

I have been in contact with a recruiter at Prime, because so far that has been my best option. I was Okay'd by safety dept to go to school. All I had to do was fax the recruiter a copy of my DD214 (discharge from military service) and he said I would start school on April 6. Well a week later and I havent heard back from him. They had all my paperwork, no blemishes. I had my background check done and MVR report and faxed all that to them. What should I think ? Everytime I call this guy his mailbox is full. What do you guys think ?

 

Call him a few times a day.. I did that with CRST and it worked to get their attention. If you want it, don't take 'no' for an answer, no matter which way 'no' presents itself.

 

The recruiting department is slammed even in the best of times with people calling about getting hired - remember there is still a 10% unemployment deal happening. Dealing with voicemail tends to get pushed way back in their priorities when dealing with the volume of problems and people they get hit with.

Best advice: Next day you can do this, clear your calendar. Get comfortable, have something to drink handy, something to occupy yourself. Call the recruiter, and sit on hold until you talk to him directly. Don't leave a voicemail. If the only thing holding you back is the DD214, then it's just a matter of your recruiter getting to the bottom of the pile of paperwork - its also possible that it got misplaced or put on the wrong persons' desk. Good luck!