Prime Inc - My New Career
Topic 20543 | Page 1
I look forward to next week, I also start Prime orientation on Monday, 8-28. Seems like you will be good company, I was a Corrections Officer for a little over a year before starting my Prime journey.
I look forward to next week, I also start Prime orientation on Monday, 8-28. Seems like you will be good company, I was a Corrections Officer for a little over a year before starting my Prime journey.
Cato - Awesome man! Will be nice to meet a former Correctional Officer like myself at orientation. Whats your name? ill keep an ear out it. Or we can try and meet up during down time. If we get any! lol
Good luck to you Strongman. Just an FYI, we are practically neighbors; Pottstown.
I look forward to next week, I also start Prime orientation on Monday, 8-28. Seems like you will be good company, I was a Corrections Officer for a little over a year before starting my Prime journey.
Hey Ed and Cato -- looking forward to seeing you guys on Monday. Good luck with the journey.
G-town - yes we are neighbors! you're right down the street pretty much! and thank you!! im excited to start this new adventure!
Paul and Cato - Looking forward to meeting you both!
Looks like I will miss you all to.borrow I had to push orientation back by a week. I had something come up last minute I have to take care of. Good luck and I hope to see you all around. Good luck.
Good luck tomorrow Ed.
Prime Orientation Day 1 8/28/17: The greyhound trip out there was tough but I arrived at the campus inn at 3:30 AM Monday morning. I was very fortunate enough to get my own room. I was only able to get about 2 hours of sleep before I had to be in Roll Call at 7:00 AM. Monday morning Roll Call consisted of introductions, application review, physical review, simulator group assignments, and discussed the computer based testing due by Wednesday night. At 9:00 AM we were dispersed to get our drug test, DOT physical, Agility test, and file review. Everything went smoothly except for my blood pressure. I would have to get it re checked on day 2. Monday afternoon I had Group A simulator training where I learned how to double clutch. Using the simulator to learn how to shift was awesome! After this I was able to work in some of the CBT testing and relax for the rest of the day.
Prime Orientation Day 2 8/29/17: Tuesday morning began with 7:00 AM Roll Call and program review. At 8:15 we had an hours of service and logging class. At 9:00 AM I went over to Medical to get my blood pressure re checked and it was still high and was high again later in the afternoon when I get it checked. I made an appointment at there in-house doctors office for Wednesday morning to discuss going on blood pressure medicine. Around 10:30 AM I headed over on the shuttle to the DMV to take my CDL permit tests - general knowledge, air breaks, tanker, and combination. I passed all 4 tests on the first try. I needed this after worrying about my blood pressure! I went back to the campus in where I worked on my CBTs and had simulator class again later that night.
Prime Orientation Day 3 8/30/17: Wednesday morning begin with Roll Call / pre trip inspection class at 7:00 AM. 9:30 I had the Sleep apnea meeting (I was flagged for the sleep apnea study on day 1). It looks like once I come back to take my CDL exam I'll be getting a sleep study done to see if I have sleep apnea. At 11:00 I had my appointment at the doctors office and I did not pass my blood pressure again. I was placed on blood pressure medicine to see if I can lower it. (It needs to be under 140/90). I then finished up all of my CBTs and had simulator class at 6:30 PM. I was able to test out of the simulator 1 day early and I did just that! You'll need to get at least an 80% on the simulator driving exam.. I received at 94%. That finished up day 3.
Prime Orientation Day 4 8/31/17: Thursday morning consisted of benefits and wellness class at / Roll Call at 7:00 AM. I then went back to the doctors office to get my blood pressure checked and it was still high (but lower then yesterday). I would have to go back tomorrow. I then had simulator training at 5:00 PM.
Prime Orientation Day 5 9/1/17: Since I was not able to get my purple badge yesterday because of my blood pressure still being high and not being medically cleared yet.. Friday morning at 8:30 AM I had Roll call. I then went to the Doctors office and my blood pressure had dropped a lot but the bottom number was still slightly too high. I was able to be approved to stay over the holiday weekend and get retested on Tuesday morning. I've been really strict with my diet and will be ready for Tuesday! That pretty much summed up my day since I have finished everything else.
Saturday/Sunday/Monday: Since I'm being held over the weekend for not passing the blood pressure test there was not much for me to do.. only studied for the pre trip inspection but that's about it.. unfortunately all I could really think about was passing my blood pressure test.. I really did not want to go home. Role call on Saturday and Sunday at 8am. Saturday was fun.. Prime was having a picnic.. I did not get to eat what I wanted but it was still a lot of fun to see the different truck designs. Monday all I did was try to relax and keep my blood pressure down.
Tuesday 9/5/17: Today was the day.. I was either going to pass my blood pressure test and continue in the PSD program or have to be sent home. And well.. I PASSED! I passed around 9:30am.. ate a very big well deserved breakfast and waited to receive my medical record and DOT card. But, I didn't receive the packet today.. a new orientation group started today so they were very busy so I understand. Tomorrow I'll have to pick up my Medical packet and get over to the DMV to get my license and CDL Permit. Then back to Prime to get my purple badge and everything else I need. Also, A trainer contacted me today and i might be heading out tomorrow evening if everything works out good.
This pretty much completes my orientation week (week and a half lol)! My next post should be when I'm on the road with my first haul with a trainer. Wish me luck!!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Sleep Apnea:
A physical disorder in which you have pauses in your breathing, or take shallow breaths, during sleep. These pauses can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Normal breathing will usually resume, sometimes with a loud choking sound or snort.
In obstructive sleep apnea, your airways become blocked or collapse during sleep, causing the pauses and shallow breathing.
It is a chronic condition that will require ongoing management. It affects about 18 million people in the U.S.
Double Clutch:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.
Dm:
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.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
PSD:
Prime Student Driver
Prime Inc has a CDL training program and the first phase is referred to as PSD. You'll get your permit and then 10,000 miles of on the road instruction.
The following is from Prime's website:
Prime’s PSD begins with you obtaining your CDL permit. Then you’ll go on the road with a certified CDL instructor for no less than 75 hours of one-on-one behind the wheel training. After training, you’ll return to Prime’s corporate headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, for final CDL state testing and your CDL license.
Obtain CDL Permit / 4 Days
- Enter program, study and test for Missouri CDL permit.
- Start driving/training at Prime Training Center in Springfield, Missouri.
- Work toward 40,000 training dispatched miles (minimum) with food allowance while without CDL (Food allowance is paid back with future earnings).
On-the-Road Instruction / 10,000 Miles
- Train with experienced certified CDL instructor for 3-4 weeks in a real world environment.
- Get 75 hours of behind-the-wheel time with one-on-one student/instructor ratio.
- Earn 10,000 miles toward total 40,000 miles needed.
Ed, thanks for the update! I am so glad to hear you got past the blood pressure test. I hadn't seen you around before I headed out yesterday so I feared the worst. Good luck out there!
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Hello!
My name is Ed Bamberger. I am 30 years old and from Boyertown, Pennsylvania. For the last 10 years I have been working in Law enforcement. I just worked my last shift as a Sergeant in Corrections this past weekend. I leave for the paid CDL training program at Prime Inc. this Saturday to start orientation on August 28th in Springfield, Missouri. Is anyone else going to be there on the 28th?
I have been considering a career as a CDL Truck driver for almost 2 years now. In the last few months I finally made the decision for myself and my family that this is the career I wanted and needed. I researched many different CDL schools and paid schooling programs. I narrowed it down to three different paid CDL programs and Prime Inc. ended up being the winner. I applied on Wednesday, August 9th. I received a phone call from a recruiter on Thursday, August 10th. I then was approved on Friday, August 11th to go to orientation for Primes paid CDL program! Talk about a fast recruitment!
After researching the different Divisions within Prime Inc., I definitely want to join the Tanker Division. I’ve read that there are not as many Tanker division trainers as there are in the other divisions... But are there any Trainers on here that live in the Northeast and that will be available to train? I’ve read many training diaries on Truckers Truth and it has helped me immensely in making my decision to pursue this career. I plan on doing the same and making a weekly post within this thread with updates of my CDL career.
Keep a look out for my updates!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles: