Profile For deezo

Question about Prime I'm considering:

Will I be strongly advised/pushed into a lease once finished with my trainer?

I ask since I read this from Ranting Warrior:

"It turns out there was a catch. This trucking company offered me schooling if I stayed with them for a year, a free bus ride to the state of the school, advance money for food and housing, and they would pay for the CDL fee. Well hot damn - I was there!! I wouldnt even need to bring my bank card. But wait....you get all that alright, but after training, you are only a company driver for 6 months, at which time they offer you a leasing deal. If you refuse the lease to become your own boss, than they can not guarantee you a company driver position, which means you will be 6 months short of paying off the schooling. Which means you had better find another job ASAP. I dont know too much about the whole leasing thing, but I do know its not for me. I think the lease they were offering was anywhere from $690-$900 a week depending on the truck. In a business I know next to nothing about, I do not want to risk it. Brett has a great article on leasing called So You're Thinking About Becoming An Owner Operator?, and I agree 100% with him. You should check it out."

I am looking into Prime currently, so I'm wondering if I should be aware of this myself.

I haven't made it as far as that guy but they haven't forced lease on me at all. In fact they hardly even mentioned it, just left it up to me to choose. I think the guy in that review is more of an isolated incident. Once you get your class A cdl you are officially a Prime employee and move on to the next part of the training, the company training. I don't want to lease either and plan on sticking to my own no-lease policy; if Prime decides to screw me over in 6 months then so be it, I will find another company.

This is my first post here. My name's Alfred, and I'm looking into trucking. I am working for peanuts currently (though my bills are paid), yet I'm moving towards getting my CDL-A. I'm working for Waste Management as a temp (not driving), and I'm looking at returning within a year as an experienced driver. I know I'll have to do some time OTR.

I looked into 3 local schools. My biggest block is my credit. Trucking schools don't use federal financial aid, so I'd be dependent on my personal credit. It's not too good, not too bad.

And I looked into company sponsored CDL schooling. I called Swift first, but they're not recruiting in FL, my home state. I looked into Prime and CRST too....and CRST seems more attractive to me, mostly since a recruiter called and texted me (just being honest :-) ) However, I'm curious if team driving, CRST's norm, is best for me or not. I think it'd be nice, but TT's founder did not advise team driving for new drivers. Can someone explain the "not so obvious" reasons?

And more simply: it doesn't truly matter which company I'm working to train with. I've looked over the company sponsored CDL training page (though I've not looked over every company). I'll relook once I've posted this.

I am open to feedback. I've eyed CRST simply since.....it's an open door. I'll take any cues here.

Thank you all for your help, as this forum offers a LOT of help.

Hey I just finished going through Prime's training program and am waiting in the hotel for my company trainer right now. I have heard bad things about CRST but I don't know, maybe I just got bad information. CRST, Swift, Prime, and CR England were the companies I was choosing between when I was in your spot a few weeks ago; I ended up choosing Prime in the end. I came in never driving a manual in my life and knowing nothing of trucks/trucking. I had a good recruiter who would text me and stuff, the hotel, food, and bus fare was all paid for. After 1 year you are free of any payment for the training program, there is a 7 day grace period if you decide trucking isn't for you. I think I made the right choice

Here are a couple of our links that you may find helpful:

● Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part VII: Tankers and Flatbeds

● Types Of Trailers In Trucking

● Flatbed Trailers

● Tanker Trailers

Yeah I saw those, thank you. I was looking more for some drivers with experience to tell me what they like about each if possible

I have my cdl and now have to choose between Prime's Tanker division or Flatbed division. What are the pros and cons of each?

How are you driving 13-15hrs a day ? I had to ask. Sounds like you are worrying so much that you are putting undo stress on yourself. One of the first things you need to do is relax. Going through training is one of the most stressful events, followed up by the first few months of being solo. Use every day as a learning experience and dont get over stressed. You can do it, everyone started out with the same problems. Make sure your trainer has you doing all the backing. Anyone can drive down the highway at 60 mph, but being able to hit the dock is the money maker.

I haven't been driving 13-15 hours a day, I have been doing a mixture of backing practicing and driving around town for that amount of time for the past 4 days.

Wait, your already with a trainer in a company, or are you in CDL school? because if your driving 13-15 hours your trainer is doing you wrong and your company is probably not aware of it, in any case you should know you have a 14 hour clock and 11 of those is the max that you can drive every 24 hours, the other 10 is for you to rest mandatory not negotiable, if not you will pay the price with real money.....out

Bad choice of wording in the post my bad. I am doing Prime's sponsored CDL program, I am still with my first trainer, the trainer that teaches me to drive the truck. After I pass my CDL exam I move to a company trainer. I was out with him for 3 weeks before we decided to come back for testing, during the 3 weeks I have been driving around 5 hours per day, plus the paperwork, etc. The past 3 going on 4 days we have been testing and practicing both my backing and driving, basically only stopping to eat and sleep. Almost entirely backing but an hour or 2 of driving around town as well.

How are you driving 13-15hrs a day ? I had to ask. Sounds like you are worrying so much that you are putting undo stress on yourself. One of the first things you need to do is relax. Going through training is one of the most stressful events, followed up by the first few months of being solo. Use every day as a learning experience and dont get over stressed. You can do it, everyone started out with the same problems. Make sure your trainer has you doing all the backing. Anyone can drive down the highway at 60 mph, but being able to hit the dock is the money maker.

I haven't been driving 13-15 hours a day, I have been doing a mixture of backing practicing and driving around town for that amount of time for the past 4 days.

Why are you donating 5 hours a day? Why are you working more than DOT allows? Are you losing sleep because of stress? That's not apt to change for awhile so you need to learn how to cope. I think this is from Henry Ford, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."

I just did what I had to do, I can't exactly contest what my trainer does. I was just planning to fly through the training as fast as possible and get my own truck, but if I am going to be tired and stressed constantly like this I don't want to do it.

I have been going through Prime's Student Driver Program and I am not so sure if trucking is for me, I am just confused at this point. Any comments or advice are appreciated to help me find some direction. I came in knowing next nothing about trucks and how to drive them, I just knew I enjoyed my time driving alone in my car with my music and my thoughts and figured trucking would be a good fit for me. I just got off my first truck (my first part of my training) and am now testing for my CDL, I felt I can drive the truck decently and back decently but I am finding out that I am maybe not as good as I thought. Maybe I'm not meant for this... I passed my pre-trip 100% first time, failed backing twice before passing (barely), and failed the road test this morning. I am always stressed out when behind the wheel or even around trucks now and I am not sure if it because of my trainer or I just don't have an aptitude for this. I have taken the test 3 times now, tomorrow will be the 4th. I haven't gotten a full 8 hours of sleep since I started a month ago, driven at least 5 hours a day unpaid, done all the paperwork, trailer hooking/unhooking, been practicing my backing and driving 13-15 hours a day for going on 4 days now and I am just burnt.