Considering Prime

I have a buddy who drives for Prime. He seems to be satisfied for the moment. However, he told me that they dont have a time frame for when your training is complete. Instead, you have to basically run with a trainer and complete 40,000 miles before you're assigned your own truck. This is fact. I just talked to him on friday. Other than that, it seems to be a decent STARTER company.

 

Well i don't work for them yet, but I am in the process of getting there.
If I were you I'd call them now and find out if they are hiring in your area. They dont have a terminal in Florida either, however they are not hiring tanker drivers this far south.
The training is in MO yes.
I don't think anyone but a recruiter could tell you if they are hiring from Oregon. Again, call now so you can rule them out if its a no go from the get go.
From my research Prime seems to be one of the better training companies. If Prime doesn't hire from your location maybe check out Millis or schnider?

 

most of millis freight is east of mississippi river so oregon would not be very likely.

 

Have you considered a company closer to your area?
Can you afford a private CDL school?
System Transport (refrigerated/flatbed/tanker) and Interstate Distributor (dry van/refrigerated) and Watkins & Shepard (dry van & flatbed) all hire from a school in Washington & Eastern Oregon it's on their website. Even get a $500.00 discount on tuition if you mention the school is on their website. Some have tuition reimbursement programs.
There are other companies that hire new CDL graduates from that school, that have terminals or corporate headquarters in Oregon and Washington. I mention this so you can consider hometime.

 

If I were you I'd start talking with recruiters and doing research asap only you are going to lock something in not them.
With drivers like Chinatown as well as the TTR I've learned so much more about all the different facets of driving here in
3 months then in the 8 years driving for a local distributor. There are alot of choices!

 

Yes we do hire out of Oregon. Prime's business model doesn't require masses of fixed terminals, but does require sufficient business in an area in order to assure that we can get you home. That's the problem with Florida - for all truckers - lots of freight going in, not much coming out.

With a June start in mind you probably won't get a date to start this early, however, it's certainly not too early to get the ball rolling. Give recruiting a call, and get into the flow. Can you afford a private school... do you want to flush $4500 to $6000 down the toilet? How about CDL training that is free except for your time? Yup, if you make it all the way through and drive for Prime as a solo driver for a year, the CDL tuition is forgiven. Your time as a student is done in a real trucking environment, so you get to see what you're in for - and you can back out at any time during the first week in the truck (after orientation) with no financial consequences. Once you get your CDL, you're hired on and the paychecks start rolling in.

I went through a good traditional school program, and in my opinion, the student is served much better by going through Prime's program with a certified driving instructor.

 

Dad, I'm from Nevada, outside of Reno, and I drive for Prime. I don't have any problems getting home either. During the winter though plan on spending most of our time in the Midwest. Good luck.