Prime: Orientation and Training?

how long back do you have to go, i can't remeber the exact place i was after like 7 years....ha is there a website i can find out my work history? sounds silly but i forgot a couple of small places i worked for.and you really drive your first day??? i am a totally new to this and have never done it

 

I dont know where you found that post but that is an oreintation schedule/description. Drivers who already have their CDL and experiance in a truck. Last I heard we are not hiring people straight out of school, so that would be for Drivers with experiance.

While you will be attending some of those exact classes listed in that post, the rest of your schedule will be a quite a bit diffrent.

You will not be driving on the first day, or the 2nd and 3rd. 4th day-Friday morning you will do a little straight line backing, Friday afternoon will be some shifting introduction and practice. 99 percent of your driving will be with your instructor when he is assigned.

About your work history, I would get with your recruiter about work gaps and find out what info you need to bring to prove you were injured or documentation of the gap... things like this can trip you up and send you home resulting in a different starting date or not being hired at all. A medical clearance would be good for that too in case the doc thinks its a problem.

You are officially hired when you complete the instruction phase and recieve your full CDL...

You can read through my thread and probably find alot of info on what to expect...

 

i am having a really difficult time getting the exact dates down for the time i was injured, and as far as the medical clearance, are you talking about with the doc that is going to do the physical down in missouri? i will pass that with flying colors, and do you really think the injury 8 years ago (that did require surgery) will affect my hiring? i am fine now....

 

the best advice is to get a cdl manual and study it, you will be required to pass the missouri written portion on your own, if you are unable to pass it on the 2nd day then you will have the next 2 days to pass before your gonna go home. regardless of what you read on here, prime is most likey the best training company out here, expect to be gone for at least 6 to 8 weeks.good luck.

 

I dont know what your injuries were or how capable you are to pass the physical...

What I do know, and I do know for a fact!, is that people have been sent home to get clearances from the doctor that treated them for injuries, surgries and such even though they can do the lifting requirment etc. You may not have a problem at all with a certain type of injury or time elapse since then, just be prepared is all I am saying.

Also guys, who think they are healthy, get there have their blood pressure taken and its too high... Prime gives you a second chance later on... if its still too high, your going home for a month, at which you have to have 3 normal pressures recorded once a week by a doctor for 3 weeks before you can return.

 

Hi U2Exit-
I have enjoyed your posts, very informative! Since you seem to keep track of so many calculations while on the road for budgeting, ect. which is important. I would be interested in knowing what your average personal expenses are on a weekly or monthly time frame. Food, showers, laundry..it all adds up and curious as to those expenses.
Thanks!

 

I havent kept track of those things, unfortunatly. I do of course track my out of pocket for scale tickets and such to make sure the company re-imburses me for those items.

You caught me at an interesting time. Im quitting smoking, and I usually have a 100 dollars of my pay put on my Comdata card. Im going to try and live on 100 per week to maximize the money I put inot savings.

Im not going to sweat the usual expenses like laundry, and things I need like toiletries or the like... but I am going to limit the snacking, meals, sodas, etc to that 100+5 (basically 15 dollars a day)

The cutting out smoking is going to see alot more money. Im not hurting, and I am not living paycheck to paycheck, I just have some savings goals and want to exceed them or acheive them a little more quickly and become a little more disciplined in my discretionary spending habits.

 

That is great you are going to quit smoking, that will for sure add some extra funds each week. I was mainly wondering what it really cost to live on the road each week. Also, is the truck you drive auto or stick? Do you try and drive mostly day and evening, or find yourself driving all hours depending on when your loaded? I am strongly considering making a move into trucking, but not until later part of the summer and I like Prime the very best.

 

small tear in shoulder, had surgery, was sent to work too soon, tear happened again had another small surgery to repair, went to pt and on workers comp total of 9 months.

very capable of passing physical and blood pressure test and drug tests.will it be brought up in my interview?

 

Well, I don't smoke (much - an occaisional cigar) so that's not really an expense for me. Keep in mind that everything in the truckstop is at least twice as expensive as in a regular store... AT LEAST!

How much it costs you to live on the road depend on what your tastes are. Personally, I stop at Wal Mart about once a week and pick up some food, sometimes a DVD, and not much else - I have a fridge and microwave in my truck. That runs me about $40 to $60 a week depending on what kind of "extras" I need. If you eat in the truckstop 3 times a day, it's possible to spend about that kind of money daily. It's also possible to weigh 400 pounds shortly!

Showers are dealt with by using "driver's payback cards." Each time you fuel over 50 gallons, you get a free shower credit. Use or loose in 5 days, so there is no reason to stink like some drivers do. You also get "points" for each gallon purchased that can be used to buy truckstop stuff or eat in the truckstop restaurant. I use Love's and Pilot points for coffee (it's better there,) and use some of my TA points in their restaurant for a change maybe once a week.

Laundry. I carry quite a bit of extra clothing, so I'm not doing laundry constantly. $2 for a washer or drier is not uncommon.

I have a subscription to Sirius satellite radio, so you can look up what that costs on the Sirius or XM websites.

This does not include equipment that you buy for the truck that is your responsibility... maps, locks, etc. This is common across the industry - I think most companies get tired of replacing this stuff for negligent drivers. It's like your parents... eventually they got tired of replacing the crap you forgot about. Keep all of your receipts. Most of this will come off of your taxes.

10-speed manual. Hope to learn on a manual - you will if you train with Prime. If you can't drive one, your options are limited.

You drive what you have to in order to meet your load and unload appointments. Personally, I like getting up around 3 to 5AM, and driving to early evening. That makes finding a parking spot for the night easy, and I really don't like driving after 2AM. That being said, I find myself driving whatever comes. Afternoon, late evening or night load appointments mean you may be driving all night to make a 5AM delivery. Being a professional commercial driver means doing what you have to in order to provide the best service to your customer. We don't sell anything except our service.