Prime Training 101, Part 4

A note about DMV downtown. Several things must happen before you can go to the DMV. You have to have your DOT Card and Letter of Residency, you must either have all your testing completed, or complete the testing at DMV, but you MUST have the DOT Card and Letter of Residency above all else before you can do the transfer. Plan on a minimum of 2-3 hours at the DMV depending on the amount of civilians needing help too. Testing is located on the ground floor just inside the lobby entrance and to the left. If you are just transferring your license and permit, then you will need to go to the 2nd floor.

You can take the Prime Campus Shuttle or you can catch the #2 city bus. The staff will tell you that the bus picks up “in front” of WalMart, which is somewhat incorrect. The bus stop is actually on the far side of the parking lot, past the entrance doors of WalMart as you are walking in a direction from the campus to the store. You will see the bus shelter as you get closer to it.

If you chose to take the bus, (*) it is $1.25 each way. Going TO DMV, get off at the main terminal. When you get off the bus, head across the street to the “town square” and the DMV is the large 6 ± story building to your left and almost in front of you.

(*) - If you take the bus over and decide to catch the Prime Shuttle back, don’t look for the shuttle in “front” of the DMV building. They drop off and pick up to the “rear” of the DMV building. So when you come out of the DMV building, go left around the building and you should be able to see the shuttle if it is there, if it’s not there, just hang around the parking lot at the back of the DMV building.

Testing for permit and endorsements is SELF STUDY! YOU have to study before taking these tests. Course material is NOT taught in the classes during your time here.

Brooke Mosley is in the orientation office. She has a sure fire way for you to make the best effort in passing these tests. She says the best way to do this is to answer all the questions that you are 100% sure of the answers and then go back to the questions that you are unsure about. She also says that you shouldn’t take all three tests, (General Knowledge, Combinations, Air Brakes) one right after the other. You should study for one test, take it, then study for the next, then take that test, and so on.

Once you have received your permit from the DMV, take it to the Orientation office so they can make a copy for your file.

Information on CBT’s. CBT’s or Computer Based Training, consists of 9 videos that you MUST watch and have completed by Wednesday. The CBT room (*) is almost always open so getting this done should not be an issue. Some of these are not the most up to date videos, so pay particular attention to the video about Pre-Trip Inspections (PTI). It does not completely agree with the printed material in your binder that you will receive on Friday. If you have questions, ask Sean or Silvia, they can set you straight. You will have plenty of time to cover this in Sean’s presentation about PTI on Friday.

(*) - DO NOT take food or drinks into the CBT’s room (C4). Bottled drinks are acceptable if they have a screw on cap and is only placed on the floor. NEVER sit any drink on the work area where the computers and keyboards are. These are very expensive and one simple spill can wreak havoc on the entire system. Again, this is something that will get you noticed, and again, NOT in a good way.