Newbie What To Take With Me While I Go To Atend Classes For Prime Truck Driving School

I plan to go to Prime Trucking in a few months . I plan to save some money first, so I will have pocket money. I live in Tennessee and I will be traveling on the hound bus with a free ticket and all. How much clothes should I take with me?? Should I plan to stay out for a few months durning my training? Would it be better if I go and get a training book for my CDL first and study it? I would like to know anything that will be helpful. Thank You for any help...

I am pretty sure Prime has a list of stuff to take with you. You could call the recruiter you talked to and ask if he has something with a general idea of what to take. Steven's Transport sends you a lot of good information maybe go to their website to get a good idea..

Adam, welcome to the forum!

This is a very common question, and yes your recruiter can usually provide you with a recommended list of things, but we also have a list of things that I think was a compilation of several peoples input. It tells you which Items To Pack when you head off to training. Save as much money as you can to take with you - life on the road can be very expensive until you get the hang of how to manage it. I'm not familiar enough with Prime's program to remember how long it is before you actually start getting paid, but I think they will forward you a couple of hundred dollars a week after the initial part of your training. Then they payroll deduct it a little at a time until you've paid it back.

I think Free Spirit aka Miss Hashtag can jump in here and give you the details on that, so hopefully sh'll see this and help us out.

You get a $200 advance every Friday, starting on the fourth day of orientation (the day you should be cleared and hooked up with an instructor). Once you get your CDL , which should take no more than a month, you are hired and start gettting your $600 minimum pay, minus the $25 a week for the advances. And for the first two weeks they take out the money for your passport and CDL.

You should get your CDL permit from your state before you go. I didn't, and it set me behind. There are two different schedules starting on day one of orientation - one for people with permits, and one for people without. If you have your permit, you will get more opportunities to practice on the simulators and the practice pad. If you don't have it, you can't do anything until you do. If you do come without a permit, then you should definitely be studying. Use the training program on this website first. That will get you most of the way there. Then study the Missouri CDL handbook. That will fill in the few things that Missouri asks that aren't on the training program here. I recommend doing the training program first, because it's very easy to learn from. Then when you have all that knowledge, it's easier to read the Missouri handbook and soak in the information.

Just to clarify, Prime does not teach you the information you need to pass the CDL permit exam. You have to study yourself. You are expected to be ready to take the exam when you get here. Prime teaches you how to drive, not how to pass the written exam.

As stated earlier your recruiter will give you a list of things to bring, my suggestion slim it down a little. I followed my recruiters suggestions and when I showed up at Prime I had way too much stuff. It wasn't bad for the time I was in the hotel but when I got in the truck it was just too much crap. Have the enough weather appropriate clothing to last you about a week and a half. A pair of comfortable shoes (I wear Croc's 99% of the time) and a pair of work type shoes / boots for when you have to get out with a customer. Have about a months supply of toiletries to carry you through your PSD and most of the TNT phase.

Also as mentioned earlier if you are NOT coming to Prime with your CDL Permit BE READY to take the test, they had us take ours on the second day. Those that had it already were sent to the training pad and got to get hands on with the trucks which gave them a little advantage IMO. The study guides here helped a bunch!!

Good idea on having your own pocket $$ before getting here. Prime will LOAN you $200 a week during your PSD phase but they will take it back in $25 chunks until it is repaid. Also, the $600 a week during TNT will have taxes taken out of it so don't count on having a flat $600 a week coming in as it will vary slightly depending on your tax situation.

Most important show up to training with a positive attitude and an open mind. Learn everything you can.....even if it is what not to do!!

Adam, you'll want to go through our High Road Training Program and get your permit before you leave for Prime. Actually, everyone should be using our High Road Program before taking their permit test or beginning truck driving school of any sort. You'll be a mile ahead of everyone else and it's stuff you're going to have to learn at some point anyhow. So it's a whole lot easier learning it on our system in the comfort of your own home on your own time.