Prime Inc Week 2 Of CDL School, Day 1 Of 1 On 1 Instruction
Topic 25721 | Page 2
Thanks very much for the encouragement. I know this will work out and I look forward to updating here.
Many PSD instructors avoid backing OTR because when you get to the pad you use reference points. Some students try to replicate what they did OTR but the pad has set boundaries you wouldnt have had in large distribution centers. This causes them to fail.
Learn the reference points. I went from failing the backing....to getting no points. Once my 2nd PSD instructor taught me Primes references, I passed backing with zero points. And it only took 2 hours for me to learn all of rhe manuevers after hours of frustration without the reference points.
In general, most learn driving OTR then come back to test. Worst case scenario, they have pad instructors that will teach you with extra help to pass. This was true for me as well as forum member Splitter. Get the nervousness out of your head, that will cause distractions. Think of the backing as a puzzle.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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.
And we look forward to reading your posts, Thorpester!
Yeah man.
The backing is such a concern for that period and then you just find yourself practicing it in your head more than anything. Until I understood why exactly the fundamentals work on a vehicle this size, I had kept backing it like a car.
Things like, when you don't have a good line up on the alley dock or you're unsure about the blind area in a offset maneuver are hard to get written help with for some folks like me who need hands on learning.
Best advice...read some of the recent pages from Turtles last student. Dude bipped and bopped some lines and still passed backing. Just consider the statistics of how many folks got their CDL doing the same requirements. Bull your head through the challenge with the confidence of affirmation.
I suck at backing still but I know when I get to a truck stop with 2 min on the clock and I need to stay for the break, I'm gonna take any spot available. Just knowing I HAVE to do it somehow makes me calm and focused.
During my few hours on the pad before my CDL test my trainer had to really get me figured on the alley dock. We never established hand signals so there would be lots of yelling back and forth and sometimes he would slip behind the trailer in my blind spot and a second later pop out frantically motioning something. Then he'd scream "what are you DOING?!!" and I'd scream back "what are YOU doing?!!" We would laugh, he would throw something at the cab, then we would try again.
Man, I wish I could help more. I know these are just feeble words and the test looms on the horizon as a much more real thing. You have two of three items knocked out sounds like and I want you to get the backing down without it playing games in your head.
Also helps to hopefully train and test on same equipment. I got nothing but closed axle loads on a 53 then tested on a spread axle 48. If you're going flatbed now or in the future , that first loaded trailer backing when the trailer wheels start binding and fighting back made me think I had hit something.
So what exactly is the backing issues? Just concerned or can't nail a maneuver specifically?
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.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
So good news! Meeting with an in house trainer tomorrow morning to get evaluated for what we need to do to get me ready for my MO CDL Testing. Whatever they decide I'm ready for the task.
And we look forward to reading your posts, Thorpester!
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.
That is some good news!
See! They want you to pass. The guy who evaluated me said "wow, you really cant back" i was like yeah i KNOW!!! He is now the head trainer at Pittston. He gave me the best trainer at prime....Turtle had him too.... and BAM! i nailed it. everyone learns at diffrrent paces and in different ways. finding the way is important.
A huge part of this is getting past the frustration and looking at it as a puzzle. I wrote this article awhile ago to encourage people. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy but if we can concentrate on only what we are doing and not everyone else, you can calm down and get it done. Problem solve the puzzle. And to this day, i sometimes say in my head "Which way do i want the back of trailer to go? Turn the opposite. Which way do i want the front of the trailer to go? Turn the same way."
Failed tge CDL Exam, Dont Sweat It!
I failed the backing once and the drive test twice. Yet here I am... nominated for trainer of the year...nominated for female driver of the year 2017, almost 4 years of on time delivery and safe driving.
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.
TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
What did the trainer get a citation for?
It was a criminal misdemeanor. That's all I know.
What did the trainer get a citation for?
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I see that point, but
On the flip side, I want my PSDs to do as much real-world backing as possible prior to learning the reference maneuvers. In the event they screw up or forget the reference points during the the exam, I need them to be able to save themselves with good old-fashioned knowledge of how to back a truck without reference points.
Once we get back, and are preparing for the exam, it's all about reference points though. They do make it easy when all goes well.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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
On-the-Road Instruction / 10,000 Miles