Prime Inc CDL Training Diary - Orientation, Local PSD, TNT Training

Weariness!

Sunday, 2.28.2016, woke around 0700, and I drove out about 0900. I made it almost 300 miles through those mild hills east of St.Louis. My all-time record is probably 450 miles in a car in a day. I haven't LOVED the driving aspect of road trips, but obviously, I'm trusting myself to learn. Today I was concentrating on lane control, maintaining 60 mph without cruise control, & reading all signs. Greg says I did well & my right calf concurs -- I was glad for the down-hills when I could stretch & counter-flex. He drove for maybe 100 miles until the gusts of wind buffeting the vehicles were reaching 41mph. We parked & took a 3 hour nap which ended just at dusk when gusts were more like 25 mph. He drove for another 300 miles it seemed, & stopped at a truck stop a little after midnight. I was nodding off wildly for the last hour in the passenger seat, which was probably funny to see. Our load is going to Bethlehem PA, appointment for March 1st at 0700, but luckily we can deliver up to 24 hours early so of course we'll be taking that opportunity tomorrow morning.

Well let's see. I've put this off & now things are kind of running together.. In Bethlehem, PA we checked in & waited & checked & left a contact number & waited & checked & when we explained "we've been waiting all day now" were told "this is the first time I'm hearing of you" had to resist replying "no s***, because you just got here" but instead nodded mmhm mmkay mmhm & 20 minutes later they were handing us paperwork. We left Bethlehem around 1600, got me in the driver seat just before the freeway, caught some rush hour, DROVE THROUGH D.C. which was wild with apparently vibrant night-life, ugh, switched seats when we were 30 miles from our destination in Dunn, NC, & bedded down. Next day, on time for our appointment, we were told that the PO is not supposed to deliver there. We contacted our fleet manager , learned that we read the paperwork correctly but it's just that Purchase Order numbers isn't something we are responsible for checking. So we drove back to PA just barely missing D.C. rush hour, slept at a truck stop, & arrived this morning for our appointment just 152 miles from Bethlehem, in Greencastle. My trainer got paid more to bring the load back than to take it away in the first place so he's not mad, but what a costly mistake for the shipper! Being unloaded now. Bump bump bump.

Great thread. I really enjoyed it. When you get a chance, could you share what the strength and agility test consisted of on day one? I'm sure you're very busy, but thanks for sharing.

I'd much rather do that than try to type out the entire previous 24 hours.

Let's see. First you stood in pairs before a doctor. She would ask you to (can't recall the order) put your arms straight & level to the front, then to the sides, then sweep them straight up, then one down & back to try to touch fingers behind you. Arms at a square to the front & elbows in "Don't let me push your hands together", "don't let me pull them apart", "squeeze this". Get down on one knee, stand up, repeat with the other knee, squat as far as you can go, and that's all I remember there.

Next, the obstacle course!!!!!! Kidding. You lift one box with (weights approximate) 20lbs above your head, then one with 40lbs to your chin, then if you're doing flatbed then one with 80lbs to your chest. Take one medium-heavy box back & forth between two points -- 4 trips -- and lower & lift each time using proper technique. Then the flatbed people lifted an actual tarp to a shoulder-high shelf, and everyone finished with 4-6 trips up 2 rungs on a ladder. This is to my best recollection. I'll try to encourage a friend to look this over & fill in the gaps if any.

I'd much rather do that than try to type out the entire previous 24 hours.

Let's see. First you stood in pairs before a doctor. She would ask you to (can't recall the order) put your arms straight & level to the front, then to the sides, then sweep them straight up, then one down & back to try to touch fingers behind you. Arms at a square to the front & elbows in "Don't let me push your hands together", "don't let me pull them apart", "squeeze this". Get down on one knee, stand up, repeat with the other knee, squat as far as you can go, and that's all I remember there.

Next, the obstacle course!!!!!! Kidding. You lift one box with (weights approximate) 20lbs above your head, then one with 40lbs to your chin, then if you're doing flatbed then one with 80lbs to your chest. Take one medium-heavy box back & forth between two points -- 4 trips -- and lower & lift each time using proper technique. Then the flatbed people lifted an actual tarp to a shoulder-high shelf, and everyone finished with 4-6 trips up 2 rungs on a ladder. This is to my best recollection. I'll try to encourage a friend to look this over & fill in the gaps if any.

Did they check your BP after this exercise session - or they're just seeing if you can do the motions?

Rick

Thank you so much. You've been a huge help to this soon to be "Primie."

During my time on the road I rarely know the hour or even the day. It's difficult to dredge up the details of my days for this blog when everything is unfamiliar & yet rather mundane. This is as near as I'll come to apologizing for this shortcoming, haha. Anyway, my trainer dropped me off at a motel. He'll take home time with his new grandbaby so I just have to stay here until monday morning & not get into any trouble. I'm across the street from a Flying J ... I could go there for groceries, but I'd rather just skip the delightful company of truck stop lurkers. I decided to order one pizza & make it last with everything else I have -- trail mix, dried mango, jerky & an orange. Then the pizza delivery man slipped me his number with the receipt. Oh, dear. Yay me, I've still Got It *urm*

The reason I'm bothering to write tonight is as a public service: if you're in a motel room and you begin to get The Feeling, PLEASE DO NOT put on your headphones, watch a porno, AND WHIMPER AND GROAN WITH WILD ABANDON FOR AN HOUR AT A GO, SEVERAL TIMES IN ONE NIGHT, and then start tapping on your neighbor's wall (mine) when you notice that you can hear their music through the paper wall, playing at a very modest volume. You imperil your own life by ignoring this advice. Watch for me in the news -- Ohio near Lake Erie.

Home time is over. We picked up a load of frozen goods in Erie PA and now we're driving to Bethlehem PA. Here's how it went.

We packed our junk in the truck whose APU had been running all weekend so that the fridge wouldn't kill the batteries & waited to be given a load. Around 11am we got one, punched it into our Qualcomm navigation, filled up with fuel & drove the roughly 40 miles to the trailer wash-out nearest to our lane of travel. It's like a gigantic car wash, and there was a 2hr line to get in. Yikes, we were on a far tighter schedule than would allow for that wait so we checked it out & determined that a sweep-out would 'do', so we 'did'. Off we went to our pick-up location or as I'm learning to call it, "our 01" which was very nearby. We found it after a few misleading street signs & wrong turns, checked in at the gate as usual, sent in a Qualcomm macro (message) that we had 'arrived at shipper', changed the reefer temperature to -10°F as told, then waited to be informed of an open dock. We waited 30 minutes or less, backed into the dock which locked us in (cool), waited maybe another 30 minutes for the first forklift & less than 30 for the last. I went in for the paperwork while Greg pulled away from the dock, then I sent a 'departing shipper' macro & did a live-loaded call. We've been freeway driving since 5 minutes after that point; four hours & 15 minutes now, 2 hours & 45 minutes to go.

I'll try to update this after we've completed our delivery. I'm trying to get at least one load documented here.

Shipper:

The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.

Qualcomm:

Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.

Reefer:

A refrigerated trailer.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I was just wondering how you were making out.

I'm on my way to N.J. with 35k lbs of cauliflower, from Salinas, CA. (Eat your veggies kiddos)

Damn, that's kinda jacked up.... "I'm gonna take home time, you stay in a flea bag hotel." (At least that's how it sounded)

Rick, no they don't check your B.P. after. It's just a screening test. Even though you you may not want to go flatbed, they try to get everyone to do all the tests just so you won't have to do them again, should yoy change your mind later.

Thanks for all the awesome info. I start prime on the 21. I can't wait. For the permit test how many questions is it? I've studied the high road but what sections should I study specifically? My recruiter said the email I receive on Tuesday will have all the info I need as far as supplies and studying etc.