Prime: Orientation and Training?

Hey bud, Lucky I found you here. Most Prime posts are at "Time for Prime" as well as "Prime" You will find a lot of info there as well as if you click on my name and read some of the training and answers that I have replied with. I will briefly answer some of these questions here and if you want more info them come to one of the others where I tend to help everyone.
First, none of the experience of local driving will be counted as OTR. And that is what you will need to have to be able to just jump in a truck. However, I do not think it will take you long before you get tested out. They may cut you a break at least but you will have to ask the recruiter about that. Company drivers have these options as well as the o/o, we just get to choose what we do and we take home twice what you do to do it. Ask all the questions that you can. It takes a bit of knowledge to make a proper educated thought.

Good luck to you. Be safe

Glenn

 

I started my journey here... looking for training information on various company's programs. I selected Prime and I am happy with my decision and have no real complaints.

Late March:
A bus ride from Virginia to Springfield MO. to start training... Ok! Greyhound really sucks! Prime owns a couple hotels and most of oreintation and training takes place at the "Campus Inn" (which has classrooms and such) Rooms are provided 2 to a room for free (addt charge for a private room) You are given a meal card where breakfast and lunch are served on campus. Food is good and there are quite a few choices. Each meal has a base amount free to you. Any additional food is covered out of pocket. I found that if I wanted dessert or a Power Drink I would go over the base amount. Dinner works the same way but it is served with a Huge selection and the Terminal Dinning facitlity.

You are given a basic oreintation on how the week will go, fingerprinted, interviewed, medical exam and drug test. You are given the CDL manual for Missouri with the sections pertaining to the exam. There is no instruction, there IS recommendation.... STUDY STUDY STUDY. Its all right there in the manual. If you really want to be at Prime you will pass the test...very simple... its really the only thing they want you to learn on your own. Passed the test on the first try. They give you ample opportunity to take the test again and again.

If you pass your test, you sit in various classes that are involved in oreintation for any new employee. Security, Logs, Saftey, Benifits/Insurance, Health and Wellness are some of the ones I remember.

Fri is spent on the pad... This is where experianced Prime drivers who have just completed the instructor course come out to the pad with their trucks and take on 3-4 students. Straightline backing in the morning, and then in afternoon shifting on streets in an industrial complex.

In a perfect situation, you would then meet your CDL instructor and hit the road. We did have a few guys leave that day. I was gone within a week. While waiting we hung out at the pad and worked on Pre trip inspections. The pad is always in use for testing (students/new hires evals/upgrade test) but when it wasnt in use we would practice shifting and backing. I learned alot from the instructors out there while I was waiting.

I want to say this about instructors (instructors handle permit phase). You are given a safety breifing. If you find yourself in a situation that isnt safe or you think something is wrong, safety wants to know. The Director even gives you his personal cell number.

My instructor was great. We got along. He never yelled, I would have understood if he did in a couple of situations. In those situations he would have me pull over in a truck stop and want me to have a "conversation with myself and the truck." He had me backing the truck whenever he could. Actually practiced the backing test in a couple parking lots, cones and all.

I was payed a 240 dollar loan per week to live off of. It was optional, I could take as little of it or all of it. You got to eat out there. Whenever I drove my instructor was right next to me. We ran under a solo clock, and he would drive some but always legal. Its 100 hours min. or the instructors discretion. The instructor is paying your workmans comp and still running their own business, but if he is smart he will schedule you testing appointment and co-ordinate with his fleet manager to get you back without wasting time. It takes a few days if you reach your 100 and then the instructor tells the FM to get you guys back in. My guy was smart.

Late April:
We came in to test a day early to practice on the pad. Rooms again paid for by Prime. Passed my test and left the next day with my Trainer (my instructor kept me as a Trainee). With the 10k credit for my permit miles I had 50k miles to upgrade to company or 70k to go lease (these are combined miles between you and your trainer)

I will post later about the training phase. But a few things I want to clear up. Prime doesnt force any driver to drive illegally. When they give you a load, if you accept it as is, they assume you can do it legally and if you cant they will get an appointment changed or put you on a new load. (I have never been "punished" for a load that had to be rescheduled or given to someone else because my "clock" prevented it) Any instructor or trainer that runs illegal is not being forced by Prime. Students are told to report any illegal or improper behavior to Safety.

Students (STUDENTS not Trainees) are limited to certain hours they can drive (i think no driving between 7pm-5am) If the truck is moving at those hours the instructor is driving with the student watching next to him and it does not count toward the 100.

 

Do you know there pay scale??

 

Good post / info

 

Training phase is a team situation. Early on its getting more familiar with the road, but mainly showing how the business works. The variety of situations you will face with shippers/recievers, log books, paperwork, maintaining the truck, and the list goes on.

Slave labor, I dont think so.... Prime is not making anymore money off the truck than it would if it was in a normal, equal team. The trainer is making more, but your pay and workmans comp is still coming from his settelments. As a trainee you receive a min. off $600 per week or 12cents per mile, whichever is more. (you must be available for all 7 days of that pay week, so if you go home for a few days you are only getting the .12) If the trainer wants to go home, and you stick with him and not go home yourself, he still has to pay your minnimum (600).

If the trainer keeps the truck moving, the more he makes, the more you make. Prime is not getting any more of a percentage of the haul than it would if it was a normal team.

I never requested to go home. I wanted to get through training. My trainer only went home when we passed through. Running team and living close to I80 made it easy for him to spend half a day or a full day as we passed through. He let me use his car to run errands and relax and I slept on his couch. If I was to go home, we would have to request a load going to my area, and then my trainer would have to request a load to come get me. At the end of my training, Prime said I could have a couple weeks before I picked up my truck. When it came down to it, they told me to call ahead before I came back, to make sure they had available trucks and to know when I was coming. I took a week and half, it was all I wanted, and my Fleet Manager was suprised cuz he expected me to take 3.

I got my CDL at the end of April and I finished the 42k (mis-calc on my part) by the 1st week of July. Engine problems had me being dropped off in Springfield instead of home. But I got there in time to take the Upgrade class for that week. While everyone was picking up their trucks I was renting a car to get me home.

If you choose to go solo after 60k, you still have 20k to go before you can lease. You can choose to stay with your trainer and accumulate that last 20k as a team....(BTW all training miles are combined with your trainers...ie distpatch 2k miles, you accumulate 4k)

I was already going company, and I was going to be a solo company anyway, I decided to do the last 20k on my own. Pay is 30 cents per mile plus fuel bonus. There are a few other different pays you can get but I rarely was in a situation to get it....(sitting for 24 hours, drop pay, breakdown+hotel expenses). I do always get some form of Fuel Bonus. Right now for every 1/4 mile above 6.25 MPG, I get another penny per mile up to 4 cents.

Solo (Early Aug to Now)
It is much easier now, and I would say I come upon a few questions per week. I feel the training time was enough, maybe I should have stayed the last 20k. There are so many different situations you deal with daily and weekly that it could be a full year before I go a week without having a question.

I have gone home twice. Im two for two in hiccups at the last minute and not Prime's fault. First time my entire load of potatoes was rejected and I had to ditch them 350 miles out of my way. This last time I took my trailer to a drop yard where we rent spaces, and yard was full.... so I sat a few hours while my Fleet Manager arranged for something else.

Communication is key with my Fleet Manager. There are no choices for loads as a company driver. If I do not inform him otherwise, he assumes I can get it there safely, and legally. (barring unforseen situations)... There have been situations, and I tell him my concerns or problems with my clock. He either gets me a different appointment time, or takes me off the load and puts me on another. I have never been "punished" in these situations. In fact we have had a few on our board placed out of service, and he has been adament about it being a poor reflection of his boards performance. Even though here and there we will get messages that freight is slow, I havent sat empty for more than 2 hours during the day, or wait until first thing in the morning if I empty late night.

Lately, I have been pre-planned on every load. Sometimes I find out my next load more than a day before unload...

I will probably lease next year. I will have a greater understanding and be in a better financial footing. There are a lot of things you need to outfit a truck and live on the road... I will already have these things, when I decide to lease.

I cant speak for every instructor or trainee, but my training was excellent and a positive experience. I have a couple of guys I keep in touch with that I went thru CDL and later upgrade classes with. Some had problems here and there, others did not.... most of those problems were not safety issues but compatibility conflicts.

If you work/worked for Prime and you had problems, you are entitled to your opinion. I respect it, I only know what I know.

I will never offer up my name to be used for a recruitment bonus. Im just tired of reading negative posts about the training, when I have nothing but positive things to say about it. I did it, I know it, and I dont go giving people advice about things I read on the interent

 

Sounds like you had a very good experience! Glad everything worked out for you, and is working out for you.

 

Excellent posts...very informative

Just a general question, were you a total newbie to trucking when you went there?

Just curious, I know you stated you got your cdl thru them, but didn't know if you had any truck experience before or not. Training you from scratch (with all of the horror stories out there) with a positive attitude, must've been a great feeling after reading so much negative about them.

 

I started from scratch. I read mostly positive things. The training was attractive from how it was described and my situation.

The more specific and detailed posts are, the more they seem to hold water. Its not scientific but someone who yells out that a particular company sucks and fails to provide information makes it harder for me to believe even if it is true.

I also payed attention to what I saw on the road... Different companies consistantly have crappy looking equipment. Im not talking about just dings, but rusting bent trailer bumpers. Faded, beat up tractors etc. Its a good indicator of how much they care, especially trailers. Drivers can be responsible for their tractors... but companies maintain their trailers.

Some companies I liked wanted more experience, were no longer training students, or wanted me to pay a good chunk to a school. Ive reached my 6 month of employment, If I was to quit now I would owe half of the 3k and change Prime would have charged me if I quit before that 6 months. At 12 months I owe them nothing.

By the way, when you leave with your CDL instructor you have one week...if trucking isnt for you, you can go home free and clear. They also take 2 samples at the same time for a drug test. You fail the first, you can go home (prime wont pay). If you believe its a mistake and have them test the second and fail, it goes on your record.... you still go home, but it will follow you.

Make a list of priorities, and select a company based on what is best for you.

 

do every body have to take 2 urine samples