Prime Inc Paid CDL Training Salt Lake Training

Prime as a company has been awesome to me. The things that make me scratch my head are things all companies do.

So far, how is the prime trucking training experience? I am looking at going to prime once I get my family stuff situated.

So as many others are I am stuck st a truckstop in Nebraska waiting on I-80 to open back up. So why not update everyone.

So when I left off I believe we were heading to Miami. If not we went to Miami. All I have been doing really is driving all of my shifts have been day and have aligned when the shipper and receiver stuff is done. Well most of them. So for the most part it's been a good week lots of miles turned. I'm almost to 20k , hold on I'm letting that sink in a bit. 4 weeks in plus a day or two and about 20k miles driven across this great land. It has been wonderful to see the country.

Anyways we got to Miami and this was the tightest dock I have seen. I had to get up to help block traffic off we docked at a place on the street in a neighborhood. Well it didn't take long kncevwe got in and we were off to our next load. The next morning I got up and we were at the shippers. I took over and took us out if the shippers, and we were off to michigan.

Since my driving has been Day mostly during my 30 minute breaks I have had lots of time to practice my backing maneuvers. I can say I'm getting better but I'm not anywhere near good yet. I do think if I had to go solo tomorrow though I could do it, it would just take a bit longer than a vet takes. My trainer I don't think agrees. But when he is not there to watch over my shoulder and judge me I do alright fir myself. To me it's less pressure.

Well we dropped in Michigan and picked up another out if there headed to California. And here we are now stuck on the east side if the storm. Only 10k more to go, and I'm able to upgrade.

Until next time. Stay safe out there, the weathers getting warmer and more drivers are hitting the open road.

The Griz,

OMG. Miami. I was at Prime Floral and there were like 50 trucks waiting to park and lots of traffic preventing that in a very tight spot. I hope I never run in to that situation again. I'm on my last cross country trip to NJ / NYC and it's time for me to upgrade. Been a crazy TNT run. Taking some much needed time off in Cali. Goin back to Cali. Cali Cali.

Transporter easily congrats to you. I'm at 19k now, about 2 more weeks for me.

Thanks for all the updates. I'm getting on the bus Sunday Headed to SLC to start my training.

Alright update time...

So I'm down to my last 5k miles. I have been using up my clock so the loads we have been getting lately are short runs. In the last 7 days not counting today I have run an average of 446.5 miles a day, and I average a difference of 45 minutes between my drive and on duty time. New guys listen to your trainer here. This is how you make money. Learn how to work your clock. All of my driving is legal, and it's the checking in/out, fuel stops, pre-trip etc. learning when to start and stop your clock is key.

So we made it through the storm last week, we drove south to 70 to get around it. We had one long load from Cali to OH. Then we started running 1-2 day loads.

It has been an up and down week for me. All of us have them, no worries new guys you will have them too. I have found I excel at pretty much all aspects of this job except one very major part.... backing up the truck and trailer. My trainer has been real supportive lately. Which is a nice change I see sticking with him and just talking with him and the FM is all that was needed.

Anyways back to, well my backing maneuvers. So I have been taught to come in real close, about a door length off the nose of the trailer or the truck depending on where I am parking. Then two spots past the one I want I do a full right turn until the truck is 90 degrees from where I started. ( if you can, not every place has that much room) Then I start back to the left to give the combo truck and trailer a banana shape. At this time the trailer end should be pointed at the spot. For me it is 50/50, usually it is pointed at the truck to the right of my spot. So I sharp turn to get it in, then I usually come in at an angle instead of rotating the trailer into the spot. Fir you new guys you will see what I mean in training. The angled parking spots cause me even more trouble if I have to back into them. I was struggling with doing a pull up parking job, but I have finally figured out when pulling forward how to manipulate the trailer with my "S" turns to get the tandems and front straight in the hole. If I can turn any back into a straight line I am much better there. All in all I haven't caused any damage yet, and when I get in a jam I tend to find my way out if it. Just might take me 30-45 minutes to get there.

Well I'll end it there I'm hoping to get two big runs back to back so I can finish this up, and show off pics of my new truck. Once I figure out how to add pics here.

Thanks to all that have been following. A. If thanks to all for the advice and encouraging words. Until next time be safe, it is summer which means more cars on the road.

The Griz

You're so close you can almost taste it huh?

You will develop your own style of backing. I was taught to pull 3 truck wiidths past my parking spot instead of 2 before making my sharp turn to the right. Through trial and error, I learned to actually position myself about midway in the third truck before turning, lining myself up perfectly.

Either way, it's better to be a little close to your driver side vs your blind side. You'll get "the feel" in time.

Well we finally got a long run. Over 2000 miles leaving me with about 3000 to go. We deliver on the first and we will be there tonight so can you say 34 hour reset. FMwants us to stay with the load too, so no option to drop and continue.

My trainer spoke with the FM when my 30k is up we will head back yo the terminslnin Salt Lake City. Then we will spend a day or two working on backing maneuvers. I backed into a angled spot last night at a truck stop just perfectly. When we stopped today we did some practice too before the Cali heat took its toll on us and the truck.

So I hope to get a couple of two day runs to equal the miles I need. That does a couple of things keeps us on the west coast, and doesn't mean I'll need another 2000 mile run after my 30k to get back to the terminal. Which means I could feasible be solo next week sometime. Keep your fingers crossed.

Anyways the APU in the truck is blown if hot air so I sit inside the Pilot in Barstow, while my trainer tries to sleep. Then he will take us to northern Cali before we park for the next 24+ hours.

Until next time. Stay safe

The Griz

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

Fm:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

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.

Ok so here it goes. We didn't get a long run to start we got a one day 700 mile run. We got it fine then bam.. 3k mile run to bama. My miles are done. Along with that my backing is getting much better. All I have to do is get back to Salt Lake to upgrade...

Stay tuned....

Alright, so if you can see now, I have changed my status. That's right I have completed my upgrade and passed with flying colors. I will go in today and have the log review and speak with my fleet manager , then I get a truck. Next steps included getting something I have here in storage, wal mart trip to get some food, and somehtings Ill need in the truck, then ill be off on my first load. (as long as the truck has no issues)

I want to thank everyone here that has followed my journey. those moderators and veterans that have been there with great advice. those rookies who dredged through the sludge with me.

I look forward to staying up to date with this site. however I am stoked to be on my own now.

thanks again to all who have helped.