Profile For Wiky Wiky

I’ve heard this from several people about almost everything there is to do with trucking “you can do it 1,000 times too slow but only once too fast” it’s usually not so extreme with backing but the principle still applies.

Have you thought about what company you want to work for?

Yea the simulators were mainly to teach people how to shift and double clutch, prime only had 10 speed manuals until 2017. I actually did get sent back home because my medication release wasn’t worded the correct way and came back a month later, so yes make double triple quadruple quintuple sure all you’re ducks are in a row before you ride a bus from Seattle to Springfield. I seen a guy almost get sent home because they found an expunged juvenile record and several people get sent home for various reasons, mostly undisclosed driving/criminal records so for sure don’t lie they are very good at finding things out.

Alright so day five, I do the same deal of waiting around pretripping that morning at the plaza building until I get a trainer. Something to note as well, nobody told me this but when you pass the Sim test and get a new schedule for pretrip class, the place you are going is the basement classroom in the plaza building. Pretty early in the morning my guy calls me, says he'll be there in a few minutes and when he shows up, we bs for a few minutes and he says meet him the next day to do some backing and driving. Rest of the day is free to goof off.

Nothing much goes on at this point. I decide to walk to the subway in Walmart but they're out of what I want so I say it isn't a bad idea to just walk around to avoid cabin fever. I walked to the long johns up the street and tried calling because if the Covid stuff but they just hang up when you call so I try the Burger King and it looked abandoned the closer I got so I got McDonald's instead. After spending about an hour walking around, I'll suggest you try not to look too unsuspecting, I had a few bums ask me for money or some of my food but didn't get any issues when I told them no.

And that pretty much sums up orientation. Pretty well painless all things considered but I'd recommend being a little assertive with your recruiter to try and ensure all is truly taken care of and you'll be ready to go. I'd have been pretty ****ed if they just wrote me off as lying on my application or being a headache and sent me packing for another 450 dollars rental and another 12 shot back home. But luckily that didn't happen and everything seems to exceed expectations here at prime so far.

The very limited class time, Sim time, and the handful of CBT's are nice for me since I don't have to go over a million basics that I've already been through and done. I'd be far more apprehensive if I didn't have prior experience though. Jumping in a truck for me is par for the course, this is just a different job with a ton of new smaller things like starting with any kind of new vocational truck, freight, or job. I'd imagine PSD might last a week or two longer for your average student since there is such a brief intro period. Within 4 days most that come here are in a 75 foot rig and moving it around no matter what your experience is. It is definitely something to consider. I don't know if this is always how it has been but I'm sure the 5 or so hours in a classroom and Sim is probably a new thing. Then again, you can't scribble on a chalkboard how to drive, it is seat time.

One final note I've observed about orientation, don't even bother speaking about your driving experience or past driving jobs of how you did this, that, or the other somewhere else unless it is to a recruiter or your PSD trainer. You're just going to **** off the teachers. Made that mistake. And don't get me wrong, I didn't act ****y or anything I just talked about how I did my pretrip when I had to do it while making small talk to another student and it got shot down pretty fast lol. I made brief mention of the automatic restriction situation and I think that might have been taken wrong as well and they might have inferred I was just going to cut and run once I got my fill class a license which isn't the case.

I'm young and only drove for a few years so far and not going to act like a know it all and I have definitely learned just to stay quiet and sit back and watch everyone else but even stuff that seems harmless to you can be taken the wrong way. I'm sure they've seen a lot of young kids waltz in with a lot of talk and no skilld but take my advice, keep your head down and pretend to know nothing. The orientation folks are friendly enough up front but there are certain ones that seem easy to offend or annoy.

I'll do a post once I finish out PSD, so far that side of things is going fantastic. Glad to be driving again, and coming from the mom n pop grading company deal, the dump trucks and the solid waste world, prime trucks are like Cadillacs. Big and SLOW Cadillacs but nonetheless, eh?

I don't know if you guys knew this or not but apparently big trucks can be equipped with this magical thing called air conditioning. It is the best thing since sliced bread.

Unless it’s NYC, you have to herd those people like cattle or you’ll sit there until you die.

NY and NJ drivers in general!! Both are guilty of the above peeves way more often then PA, MD and DE drivers from my observations

Believe or not, I encounter the worst drivers in Connecticut. They are way worse and more inconsiderate than the people in NY and NJ.

My pet peeve would be the truck that jumps in front of me with no distance because my governed 65 MPH is annoying him only to hit a hill and he has to drop to 35. Now I'm either stuck behind him or I have to go around, which I hate doing.