Profile For James C.

To answer RealDiehl, no he's a Lease Operator so Ill be getting a new FM. But, I still don't want a tarnished reputation so I have tried to contact him through the day, but I don't have his personal number just the one Prime gave me and other dispatches pick up and won't forward my call, only take messages.

As for the info, yes, he gave me a hard time about the warning, but he's also a paranoid person who even after a month of me driving without a single safety related event or close call still says daily how he doesn't trust me and not in a joking way.

And believe me I'm not saying I deserve trust or anything just because I've done well for a month. I know this is a job that can throw even an experienced driver curveballs because I've seen it happen to my trainer. He gets alarms for being too close to other cars in front, haptic alarms, hell he was stressed out one day and backed into a concrete barrier pretty hard.

I did tell him I was tired. I mentioned how this load we got wasn't planned, because dispatch had us take a load off a guy who was quitting and would meet us at the reciever, so I had not assumed I would only have a 10 hour rest break to get adequate rest. I had expected about 14-15 hours because that's how its always worked when we get a load with tight timing. We drive for 9 hours, then rest for 10, repeat till delivery. I'd rather do 11/10 but my trainer refuses to drive over 9 hours and wont let me. So, I made a mistake and was only able to sleep for 4 hours in what was going to end up being a 14 hour day.

Unfortunately, he didn't care. Said I acted irresponsible and I'm putting the motoring public's life in danger and regardless of how long my break is I should only be sleeping period.

I can see where he's coming from, even if he doesn't practice it himself, but I'm not a machine. I can't just smack an off button and power back on when he yells at me to get my ass out of bed when he feels like he wants to stop driving.

So my goal now is to just try and do as he says, if nothing else because getting that surprise load showed me you can't always expect to have extra time. I just wish he hadn't made it out to sound I quit and went to bed. I could have just taken a 30 minute nap and kept going but he wouldn't work with me on it.

I really appreciate the article, and your advice. I should view this as more as a test for myself than anything and see how deep I can dig. I've never been an overly religious man but I always liked the sentiment that the good Lord sends us problems He knows we can overcome.

My last career tested my courage, mining is a job that's more about guts and critical thinking. Trucking from what I've seen requires a lot from a person but I feel good about what I've gone through and done thus far.

You're all really good people for coming and replying, it means far more to me than you know, thank you.

Thank you for your kind words, I know lots of people have gone through this, and I knew I would have a chance of it too.

As for if I can, of course, I can stick through it. I want this for myself and I have too much riding on it.

And I also have a very much newer viewpoint on the struggles and sacrifices truck drivers make, even if one enjoys it and I respect each and everyone of it, thank you for the kind words.

Hi all, I know lots of these messages exist, but I suppose I feel at my wits end and don't know where else to turn.

Some background about me, I'm a former copper miner who worked on massive equipment for about three years before I lost my job. I had always wanted to get my CDL and try out trucking as I'm an introverted sort and I have no family or wife etc. So I looked at the companies and figured Prime was my best shot.

So, I'm a recent Prime PSD student who got his license out through Prime, and I had a really great trainer who helped me get a trifecta on my test. It really made me feel like I made the right choice and that Prime was a great company. Really, the guys at Salt Lake are wonderful people.

Went home, had to wait a week for a trainer and I get told the guy I got assigned is a great trainer who's had over 50 students. Awesome. Until I met the guy.

He's a clean kind of guy. Very professional and no nonsense, with lots of years as a vet. Comes off very rude but I don't make a fuss, I'm a guest in his home. It quickly becomes apparent to me I'm not viewed as a person but more like a thing, a dog even to train. I'm only allowed to do things when he says, as he says them.

Again, I get it. I'm an untested student and no one cares how well you did getting your CDL even with time out on the road doing it.

Its been over a month now, I'm at 21,000 miles and I'm trying so hard to hang in. This guy hasn't let up on me once, not as in to slacken the rules but to at least be more friendly. I'm working my "shift" which is midnight to noon, or I have to work when he says, which could be 9 hours on, 10 off, back to 9 hours of driving.

I don't complain, I know truckers have to do some dirty hours to get the job done, I understood that coming in. I take sleeping pills to make sure I get to bed even middle of the day on a moving truck. Which I might add, my trainer wont let me use the blackout curtains or even turn the AC up so if we're south, its hotter than hell.

But he doesn't let me talk to him, and believes if I can't do these things perfectly I'm a failure and should just go get a job at McDonald's. I'm not asking this guy to be my friend but some understanding that I might struggle at first would be nice.

So last night, after all the shouting, the restrictions on my person, which includes things like what I'm allowed to eat and drink, and what containers I'm even allowed to drink out of, he snaps when we were driving a long stretch of empty road at 3 AM and I get drowsy and lose focus a moment and the haptic alarm goes off.

Now I don't want to downplay the severity of proper rest and making sure a trucker can be focused on the road. But he had just got me done driving from 10 PM to 7 AM the morning before, then started again at 4 PM, with a small break at 2 AM to take showers.

He made me pull over, wouldn't let me continue and drove it himself, then sent a message to dispatch saying I couldn't finish my shift and he had to take over and my fleet manager is questioning why I couldnt work.

I'm trying so hard to make this work. Truth is I have no safety net, no family or funds to fall back on. I'm stressed out, losing my appetite, all that crap over being treated like a dog and now after a month it comes to this.

Other Prime drivers, is this something I can be fired for? I just want to stick this training out so I can begin my career in earnest. Nothing about trucking scares me or shys me away but I'm damn terrified this guy is gonna be the cause of my downfall.

Thanks for your time and any replies.