Prime Inc Springfield CDL Training 3/6/2017 Female Student

Hey ladies and gents! Finally getting around to starting this. Ive been busy. started at prime inc in Springfield on Monday march 6th. I had a 50 hour greyhound trip from California, it was..... well we all know that it sucks but it was successful it got me here so that's all that matters. I got in about 1800 ish Sunday night. Super exhausted. Got all checked in took a shower and went to bed.

1st day- Got a 0535 wake up call, got ready and went to get breakfast. Slowly breathing deep all the way there because I was so nervous. Got to the cafateria it was packed, I didn't see any other girls in there yet so I was hoping at least a few more showed up. There ended up being about 6 other women out of a class of 88. Gitbtk class early of course I'm one of those people that hate being late so I'm going to fit in just fine here. They told us a little about the company and went over what we will be accomplishing this week. Then started the Drug test, agility test, physical and record review. With a class of 88 the waits were pretty extensive so it took most of my time before my simulator class. But I did get it all done the first day. Which helped me breathe a little easier. I will update about Sims class and the 2nd day in just a little bit. Thanks for taking the time to read my story =)

Ok so my first day of simulator training was learning the gear patterns and hoy to double clutch. I have driven a stick shift before so the gear patterns wasn't something I was worried about, it was the double clutching that had me worried. Turns out it was nothing to worry about I caught on right away. We were then showed down shifting but didn't have enough time to try it out.

So 2nd day of orientation they handed out medical cards to the people who passed their physicals, so I got mine which I was excited about because that meant if I passed the permit test today I would be able to have it in hand when I walked out of DMV. I had Sims training at 1545 today so I took the shuttle to DMV at 1100 so I would be back in time to be early to Sims class. I was handed number 24, heard them call number 7... oh man this is going to be a wait. FINALLY I hear "twenty four" never been more excited or nervous about hearing that number in my life! General knowledge is first, trying not to pay attention to how many questions I answered already but that didn't last long, I was far to excited. anywho... PASSED them all first try. Such a huge relief. Not very many people passed them all the first get go so I was extremely thankful. I must say the high road training program had a lot to do with that! But by the time my number was finally called the shuttle to go back to campus at 1315 was long gone. The next one wasn't coming until 1515 so was not going to risk being late so I called an UBER. Got back in plenty of time had lunch and got some CBTs (computer based training) out of the way. Now time for Sims class! One of the people in my group of 3 I was partnered up with wasn't there. Not sure why he got sent home. So my other partner was also a woman, so that was kinda cool. When we first tried the down shifting we both kinda struggled with the correct timing. But once the instructor let us turn on the simulator so we could see the RPMs and speedometer it was almost smooth sailing (a few light ground gears every now and then) but by the end it was a beautiful sight! I took a look around the room and started watching the other students and listening to the grinding gears and realized that we were the only one that even started the down shifting yet. That felt pretty great! But towards the end of class mostly everyone got to go through the the whole process at least one time. Me and my partner even got to do skip shifting. My instructor told us that we have completed all the necessary steps and tomorrow we get to start out driving with the steering wheel working, woooooo so excited for that!

So tomorrow will be pretty straight forward for me since I've already passed the permit and have it on hand I won't have to worry about taking the tests tomorrow which takes a huge chunk of your day. At 0700 I have a Pretoria class. 0830 I have a "highway diamonds" class for just the ladies of the group. And I have Sims class at 1300. I only have 3 CBT to finish so those will get done before Sims tomorrow. Which is good because they have to be done by tomorrow night anyways. So the rest of the day will be spent at the pre trip tractor and trailer to start getting the Pre trip down.

So far I am loving it here. Everyone I've met so far has been so friendly and speak so highly of Prime. I'm so glad I decided to make this huge change in my life.

Good luck I'll be at prime the 27 if everything goes good

My instructor told us that we have completed all the necessary steps and tomorrow we get to start out driving with the steering wheel working, woooooo so excited for that!

This. It never ceases to amuse me how a grown person can get so excited over something as simple as a steering wheel that works! Keep up the good work and enjoy it! I just hope the breaks work! ;)

Alright Kori!!! Sounds like you're putting the guys to shame and that's awesome! It is so cool to read someone else's diary and be able to visualize where they are, what they are doing, who they are talking to... Thank you for sharing! Keep up the fantastic work and keep us updated as you can!

Yes the buys are realizing as well. They keep coming up to me and asking questions. It feels good that they think I know enough to teach them or help them, but in my mind I'm just as new and all I know is what I've been taught. I've never liked being mediocre at anything, if I'm going to do something I want to do it well. So I pay attention to everything and work as hard as I have to work to get to where I want to be.

Alright Kori!!! Sounds like you're putting the guys to shame and that's awesome! It is so cool to read someone else's diary and be able to visualize where they are, what they are doing, who they are talking to... Thank you for sharing! Keep up the fantastic work and keep us updated as you can!

Thank you! Yay that's exciting. Where are you coming from? You've made a great choice with joining this website, it is wonderful and has helped me So much.

Good luck I'll be at prime the 27 if everything goes good

Hahaha so funny that you said this. Me and the girl I was partnered up with were making fun of ourselves for getting so excited over being able to steer. Like little children on Christmas morning. But hey... it's exciting stuff.

This. It never ceases to amuse me how a grown person can get so excited over something as simple as a steering wheel that works! Keep up the good work and enjoy it! I just hope the breaks work! ;)

Ok so 3rd day, 3/08/2017. Got my wake up call at 5:35 like usual. Got ready and went to eat breakfast and drink some much needed coffee. Our first class was about pre trip inspection. They handed out a packet with the list of all the parts and wordage we need to say for Our pre trip inspection. The words are repetitive, so all I'm worried about is figuring out what all the parts look like. I will get there though. The ladies of the class also had a "highway diamonds" meeting. Basically going over safety tips for female drives on the road and some resources we can use, which was pretty good info to have.

Since I passed my permit test the first day I didn't have to worry about that at all today which felt soooo good! I finished up my last 3 CBTs before I had Sims class at 1300. So I've finished all The steps I need to do so I can get my prime badge to get into the millennium building. They hand them out tomorrow. A lot of people took their permit tests again today and are still struggling with it. A lot of the guys keep coming up to me asking me questions and how I passed the first time. I told them all about this website so hopefully some of them join us on here.

Sims class... My partner and I reminded our instructor that we already got to do skip shifting yesterday so we got to start straight out on that today. After a few minutes he said those manic words "you two are ready" wooooo we can finally steer the wheel and in traffic to boot.

A little more stressful than just the up shifting and down shifting when you have to watch your trailer and the cars around you and infront of you. My partner started to fish tail the trailer and that made a van that was right next to her swerve right in front of the truck and she got them and sent them sailing to the side of the road. Then it hit me... we will be in a REAL truck with a really tractor Possibly as soon as this weekend... what?? Really!? So crazy to Me. My turn to drive. It was completely different with the traffic and hazards. I didn't get over into the next lane due to not being able to merge because of a line of traffic so I had to stop before I got to the hazard on the road and wait for a safe chance to change lanes. Not as smooth as I would've liked for it to happen but it could've been much worse. My second honaround was much better. By that time a few other teams were starting the steering part. Started to look around and crashes happening everywhere! All different kinds and for different reasons. But most of them got better at the actual driving part after a couple turns. My instructor started up on the practice final already. So tomorrow we can start our final driving Sim right away if we want. So yay!! The rest of the day was spent going over the preteil list. Now I'm in bed looking forward to tomorrow and getting my badge. I'll keep you all updated. And again thanks for reading!

This is awesome. Like Robby said, reading your diary let's me relive my own experiences at Prime orientation.

Congratulations on your physical, your permit, and basically for just kicking ass! I'm so happy for you!.

I loved what you said about suddenly realizing you'll soon be driving a REAL truck. It wakes you up a little huh? In a good way, though.

I'm really pulling for you, as I'm sure we all are. Keep up your positive attitude and you'll go far. Literally!!

Good luck!!