Profile For Kenny P.

I went through the Prime PSD program in November 2014 and was sent home after being out with a trainer for two weeks. I never got to test for the CDL. I had a couple of issues that given some more attention I could have fixed, mainly being downshifting and right turns. Did a ride with Stan (I don't remember his last name) and he concluded that I needed more work, but Prime being a fast paced program, he recommended that I go home and attend a community college or trucking school. I think a lot of it had to do with the timing. It was close to Christmas, trainers wanted to get home, I know my trainer did for sure. He pushed me through on the road in two weeks, never gave me any backing training, and even drove the rig logged in as me. OK, fine. I go home, get my old job back, and enroll in a community college trucking program. After 8 weeks, I get my CDL and all A's on my courses. And then, a couple of days after I get my CDL, I get a bill in the mail from Prime for $3787.35. The invoice date is 6/30/2015. Minimum monthly payment of $315.61 is due 7/21/2015. I call the number on the bill. Left a message as I got only voicemail. Called again, same thing. No other supporting documents came with the bill. Just a bill. I wrote to Prime, addressed it to Robert Low. I explained that I never got my CDL from Prime, never got a chance to test, was sent home and went back to a minimum wage job. How do they expect to collect this money from me. I am hoping for a response soon. Ironically, before I got the bill and the same day I got my CDL, I applied online at Prime and then filled out an online request to speak to a recruiter. No response.

I think there are advantages and disadvantages to the company training vs. school training. It really all comes down to the individual student and how quickly they can learn and adapt.

I went the Prime route and it didn’t work for me. I think it had a lot to do with timing and my attitude and ability to work with the trainer. I showed up at Prime a week before Thanksgiving. After the orientation, I had to wait awhile to get a trainer as a lot of drivers had routed home for the holiday. Once I got on the road with my trainer, it seemed like there was a hurry up deadline as the trainer wanted to make sure he got home for Christmas. I am an older student, semi-retired (the victim of a major corporation going out of business), who had to make a career change. The trainer, who was only a few years younger than me, took me on even though he admitted he had problems with older students. One student he had quit in the middle of a session and got dropped off at the closest airport, not before telling him to go do something to himself.

Although I could drive the truck and drove over the biggest inclines and downgrades in the western U.S., I had some troubles in a couple of areas that I couldn’t seem to grasp. The trainer, although a really good guy when not in the cab, beat me up mentally. It was brutal. After about a week on the road with this guy, I was wishing I had gone the community college route.

After two weeks on the road I came back and met with Stan, who was mentioned here in an earlier post. Stan recommended I go the community college or truck school route.

My roommate I met on the first day of the Prime training barely passed the CDL permit test. I showed up with my instruction permit, passing the test in my home state before heading to Missouri. He made it through his training fine, and he went there with no money in his pocket. I went out there with some backup money. So maybe he was more motivated than I was, who knows.

Another student who was in my group passed her CDL with Prime but left the company and is paying back the fee. Her issue was Prime not being able to find her a female trainer and she also didn’t like the overall training.

So I guess it’s all about the individual. There’s not clear cut answer or formula as what works for each person. Everyone is different. I came home, got my old pizza job back and I am enrolling in my local community college training program. I got financing through Sallie Mae, the government backed student loan program. My local course cost about $2600, takes eight weeks and offers plenty of training behind the wheel. I think I will come out a lot better trained this way than I would if I had hung out at Prime through the holidays. But that’s just me talking.