Prime Inc - Springfield, MO II

Based on your post, it appears as tho your husband is Teaming with his Trainee. I have a couple questions. 1)Do you know how much time per day your husband actually sits in the jump seat training/evaluating the trainee? 2)Did your husband need to become a trainer to make ends meet? I'm assuming your husband is not a company driver. Hope these aren't too personal.

 

It's .10/mile for every mile over 3500 (maybe 2500, my memory is foggy) that a team runs. Bonus is not paid/split to the trainee... At least it never has in my case as a company trainer.

The cutoff for the calculation is Friday... As to what time, I'm not sure. So, between Fridays the miles are calculated from completed TRIPS. If a trip ends Saturday, it's calculated for the following week.

Why can't Prime make it easy and just do it on Tues, I'm not sure... Same deal with the fuel bonus, it's calculated between Fridays, however with the fuel bonus it pays on the trips completed the normal pay period that week (Tuesday)

Hope I haven't confused you.

 

Her husband is a trainer and a company driver... None of this applies to her situation.

 

1) I think you are talking more about an instructor, these are the guys that take out people working towards getting their CDLs. My husband takes them at the next phase, they have their CDLs, they just have to finish a set number of miles to get their own trucks with the company, so by the end of the first week he has a feel for the trainees abilities and teaches the company rules, working with the shippers/receivers, fine tuning the driving abilities, that sort of thing. In the case of this trainee, he winds up spending 3 to 4 hrs a day working with him while in the jump seat.

2) No, it is not a case of having to be a trainer to make ends meet, we were doing great on the pay he was making solo, but the extra is nice for a rainy day. Hubby was a trainer for other companies that he had worked for years ago, as well as taught during his time in the military, so teaching is natural for him.

And yes, he is a company driver. As IP and others have said on here before, you have to have the business savvy to do L/O, and our business is a farm. I do not want to spread that business savvy too thin!! lol

 

Thanks U2! As usual, you have helped me clear up the muddy puddle!!

 

Driving evaluation is sorta long and protracted. Basically, the more ground and terrains you cover, the less chance if being interrupted from your sleep (the trainer). It's building trust to the trainee's ability to handle driving while you sleep.

Example I'm gonna be up the first time a trainee goes up Vail on I70 in Colorado even if we have been out for a month already. I'm gonna be asleep as the trainee drives across Indiana, Illinois etc... Flat normal
highway driving. I know what's coming up, and will get up as the situations arise... Also I'm very sensitive as to what the truck should be doing while I'm asleep and get up and check when that norm is broken...ie traffic, construction, trainee exiting the highway for a bathroom brake, or unknown detour.

I have a simple rule, I will be up for every pickup or delivery eveolution until the last four weeks of training. I suggest the trainee be up for any pickup and delivery that falls on my shift, but it's his choice to miss out if he wants. I promise them that if they do get up, I will not keep them up one minute longer than needed to show them what's going on... Also as the trainee gets experience, I will notify which situations they won't need to get up for, and if I experience a deviation from the norm, I will explain it to them later.

As for procedures and paperwork, I show them once or twice, and then have them do it themselves while I observe.

Myself, I don't need the extra money, but it is very nice. For a company driver the miles completed are counted towards our overall milage counter and results in reaching the pay raise and vacation marks considerably quicker.

 

I used to train when I was with Prime before. But I decided not to train anymore when I came back. I seem to like my privacy more now.