Prime Inc TNT Students Will See Increased Mileage Requirements In Training

Thank you both (and any other trainers here) for helping train and fine tune new drivers skills. I love helping people but would find it difficult having somebody else in such a small place. Regardless of how well you get a long after so long personalities are bound to clash. I wonder if prime will stick with this plan or go to something like CR England and Pam had where 2 new drivers were forced to team together for the first 3 or 6 months. I'm sure the lease trainers love this change. It will be interesting to see if this impacts the amount of students coming in

Could it also be that Prime is enjoying the better production of the team training arrangement?

Perhaps that's part, but not all of it. Most trainers pick up a new student as soon as one finishes their 30k anyway, so the production is there regardless of how many miles the student is required to complete. Some trainers even try to entice their students to stay on with them past their 30k commitment.

Whatever the reason, the changes could truly backfire, as you say. Either trainers will stop training, or recruits may stop coming to Prime. I guess time will tell. The suited bean-counters have crunched the numbers, I assume.

Meanwhile, I like my place as a PSD Trainer.

Why is there such a disparity in training miles from company to company? At Schneider I only drove two weeks with my trainer (plus or minus 6,000 miles) and then they put me solo. I loved getting out on my own, but in retrospect, I really needed more training.

Prime cut back on recruitment over a month ago. They are no longer taking people from CA, FL and GA. GA i just dont understand. It is the freight Mecca for both our reefer and tanker divisions. They are also going through trainers for a second time and eliminating bad ones. I have been hearing the "truck shortage" rumor since i walked through the door and never actually saw proof. However, the available trucks included ones turned in by lease ops who left. If people are not leaving, the lease trucks are not being turned in. Both of my Cascadias were lease op trucks before i got them. I got the 2016 in 2017... and it had been a lease purchase which required a $14,000 down payment. So the guy kept it a year and walked away (or fired).

We have a "Driver Advisory Board" that meets with management who complained some of the trainers were slacking and we need a revamp.

It wont have the effect you think. 75% of Prime is lease ops, and most of them need to team or team train just to pay the bills. Many prefer to take one person for long periods because as the trainee's driving improves, the trainer can sleep better. It also diminishes the lease ops liability for accidents. If you have one trainee who keeps improving, less chance to shell out thousands of dollars in insurance deductibles versus having a new trainee every month or two. Most students have some sort of incident in training.

The company drivers prefer to school those with permits because the money is better for company drivers, and you have better home time options. My guess is that they think the lease ops will be happy with the longer miles as they gain comfort with the students. However, the company team trainers will switch to PSD as CDL Instructors. This will affect the Fleet Managers. If someone upgrades to solo from my truck, he goes to my FM. That means my FM already knows what kind of a driver he is getting and that the person is trained good. Many lease ops just use the trainee as a steering wheel holder.

I have been considering switching or even drive my friend's lease truck for him, get a nice pay and get more home time without turning in my truck or training. i just hate change and moving, and my friend wont be ready until October.

I was waiting to post about this until I found out exactly how the training program was changing. How the training was changing.... not just the how long.

Why is there such a disparity in training miles from company to company? At Schneider I only drove two weeks with my trainer (plus or minus 6,000 miles) and then they put me solo. I loved getting out on my own, but in retrospect, I really needed more training.

I would never have come to trucking if that is all I got. I drove more miles with my permit than you did for your training. That is why I stayed away from Schneider.

I think it has a lot to do with people's perceptions. I have heard drivers go to companies like yours and declare "I am going there... I dont need to waste months of my life"... but people like me are too scared to try such a limited time.

Some drivers are better than others too. My last trainee who upgraded would have been fine after a month. But he did two months. Now he has been solo 3 months and says he wasnt nervous at all. He truly felt ready, even though he started in winter. He told our FM "I now laugh at WY. She made me drive it so.much, I know every mile marker." He was from MS and nervous about mountains and snow...so that is where I took us. lol

I would.imagine division would.make a difference too. Flatbedders need more time for securement... reefer more than dry van.

75% lease at Prime? I had no idea it was that high.

The Kool-Aid is very strong here. There's a fountain of it in the cafe.

Wow I’m glad I went with Roehl. Smaller company and maybe not the freight base that prime has but I only went with a trainer for 19 days. After 2 months from being hired I was in a truck by myself and it’s been great ever since. Looks like there are a lot of people applying and not as many trucks and or freight. I heard they stopped hiring from Florida too.

Rainy said: "I would never have come to trucking if that is all I got. I drove more miles with my permit than you did for your training. That is why I stayed away from Schneider. "

Rainy, I do understand your point. I really enjoyed and appreciated my trainer and would have benefited from more time with him. I'm a total rookie and can't even begin to understand the reasons behind company policy.

But I do agree that new drivers need all the training they can get.

Always keep learning, never stop learning. My thanks to all the dedicated, conscientious trainers out there.

75% lease at Prime? I had no idea it was that high.

Remember, Prime was 100% lease years ago.

I think this adds to the Kool Aid of which Turtle spoke.

Myths have gotten passed down from trainer to trainer about how awful being a company driver is....but most never have been. When they find out we have it as good or better... they post negative reviews and take lawsuits to the Supreme Court with statements like "No one told me I wouldnt own the truck at the end of the lease. Company drivers make more".