PRIME 30,000-40,000 Miles Or Local Trucking School?? For CDL OTR Or Local??

One more thing to consider...if there is anything that would prevent you from getting hired such as medical issues, DUIs, criminal background, or even lack of work history, a company sponsored program will.let you kmow BEFORE you commit. However, if you pay for schooling then apply to companies and find issues you will be out of the tuition and not have a job.

Dee, Welcome to our forum!

You'll see that we are pretty big proponents of the Paid CDL Training Programs. The others have given you a lot of the reasons why.

Most newcomers to this get all hung up over that one year commitment. I understand their misgivings concerning it but I'll guarantee you it takes most people more than a year to save up enough money to pay for a private school. Either way there is considerable commitment. Since you seem to be a bull rider, you might enjoy reading this thread about Commitment.

The thing you have got to keep in mind is your ultimate goal, and how you accomplish it. If you want to ultimately drive local, then you have to formulate a plan to get some Over The Road experience. That is what most of your local driving jobs will require. All of the company sponsored programs can provide you with that. The beauty of them is that you are promised a job once you've successfully gone through their training. That is worth a lot of peace of mind.

I went through a private school because I thought it would give me more options. I was totally wrong. I had a really difficult time landing my first job. Having a CDL doesn't put you in demand. Having a year or two of experience using your CDL in an Over The Road capacity, now that will set you up for success at applying to just about any local driving job. Since they all want that one year level of experience, why not save your money and let the company who trains you finance that expense for you?

That first year flies by. They will keep you so busy you will be done with your commitment in what seems like no time at all. Who knows, at that point you may love driving Over Th e Road, but if not, it should be very easy to find a local job at that point.

Per Old School's reply about Company Sponsored Training , here is an excellent article Brett wrote on the subject:

Why I Prefer Company Sponsored Schools

Very Helpful.. Thank You...

The reality is that what it costs a company to buy insurance for you to drive their truck is super expensive until you get 6 months to a year of safe driving experience on the road trucking. Small companies have a much harder time paying these costs then large companies like Prime and the others. There is no downside to being under contract as long as you fulfill your end of the contract. In fact if you are under contract with Prime they are more likely to forgive the little things like fender benders at truck stops that so many new truckers get involved in because they have time and money invested in your career. Go OTR for a year and most of these local jobs become available to you. Some get lucky and get local jobs right away, but then don't have that year of experience that you really need. You learn so much in that first year that makes you a safer more effective driver.

Hi RainyD.. Thank you for all you helpful advice and information... I am ready to get this ROLLIN, Iv'e been ready and i know its a BIG transformation to a different lifestyle but i am ready... I have no kids, no GF, single all i have is my little puppy dog poodle/Jack Russell..

Anyways... I submitted a complete application on Friday 12-29-17 and i called directly and was sent to a voice mail.. today is 1-1-18 i still have not heard anything... i called Prime 2 times and left messages again?

What would you personally recommend for me to study on before i go out to SLC when that time comes??

Thank you very much.

Hi welcome!!! Im a trainer at Prime, and did the student program and TnT two years ago. I intended on just doing the year then going home, but love it so.much i stayed.

Things to consider:

Primes student phase with the permit is driving OTR making deliveries which means you will be driving downgrades, fog, various times of day, various traffic conditions,in major citiies and backing into docks. i drove 10,000 in just over 3 weeks witb my permit. This is a major advantage over a local driving school when preparing for the CDL driving test. You are one on one over the road with the trainer next to you the whole time. There is no sharing the truck/trainer with 3 or 4 other students.

30,000 miles TnT is the TRUCK miles as a team, not your individual miles. It doesnt take forever but that phase counts towards your employment contract. If you go to a local school its 40k because you did not get the OTR experience a Prime student would have. They do provide reimbursement, but pay $600 the first 6 weeks i think, then it goes to $700. If you do PSD at Prime, you get the $700 from the start of the TnT phase. So going to primes school and gets you paid more and do less miles in TnT

The year contract doesnt really matter because no matter where you go, you SHOULD do one year with your first company. There are many reasons for this, but one is stated in the prior post--- your first company will be more forgiving with newbie accidents. and you WILL have some sort of accident or critical event as you are learning to control that trailer and swinging wide. Also, if you job hop the first year, you look unstable to future employers so you could limit future possibilities. Another reason is that learning the industry can be frustrating, and many new driving blame the company rather than the lifestyle. They hop from company to company before realizing "wow, now that ive been doing this awhile i realize that first company was great but i didnt appreciate it".

OTR experience is required for insurance purposes as stated in the previous post. Many oppotunities open up after that. You mentioned gas tanker which is not only HAZMAT but tanker itself is a whole different issue with new drivers due to the surge. When slowing down, the surge can literally push you into an intersection if you do not know how to slow down properly. That is where that year of experience comes in. Most of the fuel tanker companies in my area want 1 to 2 years OTR and HAZMAT. Often OTR pays better than local jobs also.

Hometime: Yes 3 to 4 weeks can suck. But Prime like many mega carriers has various regional and dedicated routes that might get you home more. We do have a western regional division that runs the 11 western states, but i dont know much about it, so be sure to ask recruiting.

Trainimg: No matter where you go, you need training. Getting the CDL does not a trucker make. Many newbies have a false sense of self with a "I have a CDL now im important" attitude. No, without experience you are a liability. You need training. Mastering downshifting can take a couole months, and backing can take 6 mos. Therefore 3 weeks of school is nothing. Trucking is frustrating as a newbie and stressful. Training is not just to train but to weed out those who will not suceed.

Many of us here are still with tbe mega carriers who trained us because of the various options (diviision, regional, dedicated) they provide, as well as the new equipment and dedication to safety. Also, changing companies means starting at the bottom and proving yourself all over again

Big Scott loves CFI and gets much better home time than Prime, but I get more CPM than he does. We both get plenty of miles. However, the trainimg phase he had was 7800 miles with his CDL. I did that just with my permit, so my training was much longer. And i dont care how long you train for, any new driver is nervous going out solo. Even 40k miles total doesnt feel like enough lol

Remember that most drivers do not make it through their first year. It can be a culture shock. It can be too stressful for some. Treat training like boot camp, and going solo feels like you just broke out of jail lol. i had "Born Free" playing in my head once I got off the trainers truck lol

I rarely talk to dispatch and often feel.like my own boss due to.my freedom. Ill never be able to go back to a normal job.

good luck and i hope thia helps.

HI!!! Definitely do the High Road Training Program. Study the information and do not memorize the question/answer. Many questions are word.for word, however, you could come to a question that has slightly different wording and not understanding the material or the reasoning could mess you up

High Road CDL Training Program

I took the written test on paper and each question had 4 answers. i went through them all and skipped the ones i wasn't sure of. Often the answers are in later questions. Eliminating two answers gives you better odds of guessing the correct one.

For the Pre trip, check.out Apex driving Schools pretrip video. The parts are all the same, just in different places. So if you know how to identify the brake chamber on the Volvo, it is the same part as on the Pete, just might be in a different position. This is actually really a great way to learn it.

As for recruiting, they were probably limited due to the holidays. DMVs and offices that do background checks were probably closed. Give it a couple days and see what happens. If you don't get a response, call Angela Gomez in recruiting. Rainys not.my real name so she wont know me lol

All your information was very, very helpful and it all makes seance... I'm very confident that i will start with PRIME... One thing i will admit after really thinking about it driving around 30,000 miles TNT I'm actually going to be thankful to have all those miles experience because like you said i will always be learning new things DOWN THE ROAD.. get it?? LOL even years later... So now that i understand and for that reason i want to learn as much as possible.

Thanks for your info... Anything you might wanna add??

The reality is that what it costs a company to buy insurance for you to drive their truck is super expensive until you get 6 months to a year of safe driving experience on the road trucking. Small companies have a much harder time paying these costs then large companies like Prime and the others. There is no downside to being under contract as long as you fulfill your end of the contract. In fact if you are under contract with Prime they are more likely to forgive the little things like fender benders at truck stops that so many new truckers get involved in because they have time and money invested in your career. Go OTR for a year and most of these local jobs become available to you. Some get lucky and get local jobs right away, but then don't have that year of experience that you really need. You learn so much in that first year that makes you a safer more effective driver.

Thank You... Honestly i have not explored into any other company's other then CR England, CRST and PRIME... but honestly i am very happy with what i read and hear about PRIME?? i feel comfortable with the program if all is true and correct.

I am glad to hear you are doing good and getting closer to your goals... I cant wait till i get in that driver seat and handle my business LOL

Happy New Year!!! First of all you came to the right place for straight answers. Welcome. I understand your wish list pretty well, I had many of the same feelings 4 years ago when I started driving. First off you need a flexible plan in place. Have you explored the oppurtunities you describe as local??? Since that sounds like the ultimate goal you should have an idea what is available once you acquire the needed experience. In my case I had several companies I could drive for close to the house delivering granite. They leave out on sun/mon and are back in thur/fri every week and make good money. That was my ultimate goal. They are all decent size companies for what they do but run very small fleets of trucks. I explored their requirements and set a plan in place to make myself marketable to them. Smaller fleets are not self insured and therefore are dicated to by the insurance industry to a large degree. In my case I had to have a minimum of 2 years experience. Here in the southeast that is common. Not sure where you are. I wanted to be home as much as possible during that initial period, so companies I looked at were the ones with better home time. Bottom line is figure out what your priorities are, make a flexible plan within that framework, and see who can help you achieve what you need. It took me 3 years instead of 2 to get where I am today and I had to change my plan a bit along the way to accomplish my goal, but I did it successfully. You can also.

Nice thanks, information was very helpful .... Thanks again.. i will more then likely get on with PRIME if it's GOD's will to be done..

Thanks

Dee, I'm just going to add to the chorus. The best plan to stay your trucking career is the most established, and I believe the safest path: 1) certified 160 hour training course to get your full CDL-A. 2) Hire on to your chosen company and go through their road training with can take several weeks (you'll get paid a training rate) 3) Stick with your first company for a year.

With your clean driving background many companies will be happy to talk to you.

Two routes to get your CDL are either a private school or a company school.

If you go to a private school, you'll sign a contract for the tuition, study/practice for your CDL, find your company (maybe the company will cover your tuition) and drive a year for them to pay off the tuition loan.

You can also go to a company school. In this path you will be all but hired by your company when you start your CDL training. You'll still have to do the CDL basics, and go road training and then stay with them for a year before you should move on to another company.

As others have written, each step trains you just enough to prepare you for the next. There's enough liability and danger in pulling around a 40 ton beast that any company wants to make sure you know what your doing with a semi before they cut you loose on your own. Several know-it-alls have posted here saying they have been driving six months so they know what they are doing. We just laugh..

Your first reads. The High Road program is a great (free and worth your time) way to prepare for your CDL written test:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

For many more resources, touch on the three-bar menu at the top left to learn about trucking schools and companies and many more details.

Best if luck in this New Year!

Hey Old School, Thanks for your input =]

Yes i have to agree, It is worth a piece of mind for sure.. I like everything you wrote here and thank you.. It looks like i will start with Prime and to TNT if all goes well.

Dee, Welcome to our forum!

You'll see that we are pretty big proponents of the Paid CDL Training Programs. The others have given you a lot of the reasons why.

Most newcomers to this get all hung up over that one year commitment. I understand their misgivings concerning it but I'll guarantee you it takes most people more than a year to save up enough money to pay for a private school. Either way there is considerable commitment. Since you seem to be a bull rider, you might enjoy reading this thread about Commitment.

The thing you have got to keep in mind is your ultimate goal, and how you accomplish it. If you want to ultimately drive local, then you have to formulate a plan to get some Over The Road experience. That is what most of your local driving jobs will require. All of the company sponsored programs can provide you with that. The beauty of them is that you are promised a job once you've successfully gone through their training. That is worth a lot of peace of mind.

I went through a private school because I thought it would give me more options. I was totally wrong. I had a really difficult time landing my first job. Having a CDL doesn't put you in demand. Having a year or two of experience using your CDL in an Over The Road capacity, now that will set you up for success at applying to just about any local driving job. Since they all want that one year level of experience, why not save your money and let the company who trains you finance that expense for you?

That first year flies by. They will keep you so busy you will be done with your commitment in what seems like no time at all. Who knows, at that point you may love driving Over Th e Road, but if not, it should be very easy to find a local job at that point.