Official Solo Primate Soon With Questions!
Topic 28452 | Page 2
So as some of you know, I started my journey back on April 8th, on my birthday to become a prime driver. Graduated psd April 24th and got on my tnt trainers truck on the 30th. Last week we put in 6212 miles and this week we put in 6700 miles, i only need 900 miles to finish my tnt before i have to be approved by safety for me to upgrade to solo.
My question is, i’ll be taking a LW if possible and was wondering if we have any LW drivers here that can share your setup for your truck so i can get a general idea on how i can set it up for max comfort (pictures if possible). Also can i buy my own appliances and have them install it for me? What size tv can go into a LW? What volt/wattage do i need to look for said appliances? Can anyone recommend a good gps?
I know company drivers get some bonuses, how much extra in pay is it or is it cpm? Also as a company driver, can you reject loads? I have a serious problem with the NE 🤬 really can’t stand the roads and traffic. Since i live in Louisiana, will i still be going coast to coast or certain regions?
My trainer is actually leaving prime next week, he got a job as a fuel hauler in montana with a girl he met on tinder about a month ago. He said he’s giving me his chains and detention stamp which will save me a little bit of money. He got on my nerves at times but we never really argued, he answered all my questions and showed me what and how to do something if i asked so all in all he was a good trainer. I lucked out and got good trainers for both psd and my tnt phase.
I’m taking some tips and advice for going solo, i’m pretty confident i’ll be able to manage without someone guiding me but any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Oooh ooh ahhh ahh...
Congrats on your progress, Mitchell~! :)
Just wondering..what the heck 'happened' to your PR ?!?!?!?! ;)
CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
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.
TNT:
Trainer-N-Trainee
Prime Inc has their own CDL training program and it's divided into two phases - PSD and TNT.
The PSD (Prime Student Driver) phase is where you'll get your permit and then go on the road for 10,000 miles with a trainer. When you come back you'll get your CDL license and enter the TNT phase.
The TNT phase is the second phase of training where you'll go on the road with an experienced driver for 30,000 miles of team driving. You'll receive 14¢ per mile ($700 per week guaranteed) during this phase. Once you're finished with TNT training you will be assigned a truck to run solo.
You may have to be solo 3 mos first for these to kick in:
Over 2000 miles per week: 1cpm safety 1cpm on time delivery
If you mess these up, you have to wait for the next quarter to start earning again. Look for SF (service failure) on your pay stub. You can also check these out under "My Progress" on the phone app.
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You will get immediately:
Fuel bonus can range between 1 to 8cpm. They say you have the potential for 10cpm, but i have never seen these, even being 1 on my fleet. It is calculated on a tier system, the more you save Prime in fuel, the more money you earn. You can see your comparison on the fleet under "My Fuel" on Phone app.
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LW only can earn 5cpm extra for loads that are "northeast to northeast" so NJ to ME. ME to Eastern PA. It doesn't include loads with only one end in the NE. So for these loads you get 50cpm + NE 5cpm plus the other bonuses listed here.
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You also get a wellness bonus for not taking sick leave. It increases as time passes and is a cpm. It increased to almost $20 per week before my surgery... then I started over and it dropped to $5 per week. It is back up to almost $20 per week now.
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Driver Health & Fitness for company drivers of more than 1 year:
If you take advantage of the dietician, exercise trainer and health programs, you get a free blood test for overall health and can earn up to $800 Per year to offset the costs of your health benefits (BTW, the health insurance drops almost in half by the 2nd year)
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Quarterly we receive "perks" ranging from hats, jackets, polo shirts. Duffle bags, diamond rings, $25 to $50 rewards points for the company store, salon, and eatery, We also earn points by scanning the trips with app, and fueling at the terminals.
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Monthly "Top Driver of the Fleet" awards are given in $50 rewards points for each Fleet Managers board. I recieved this 5 times in 2017. Three times in 2018. I kinda stopped paying attention which sounds concetied. But I just spend the points on massages and hair coloring lol.
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We have been getting an annual increase of 1 to 2 cpm in addition to our individual "milestones" increase.
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LW earn 1 week vacation $700 at 85k miles, condos at 125k ‐---------
When I started,, Prime was at 39.5cpm, but I am at 48.5cpm but average about 55 to 56 cpm including the bonuses etc. My former students told me they averaged about 55cpm in the LW to start out when bonuses were included.
I hope this helps. Just drive and do your best. You will see money added. You won't care why hahhahaha.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Fleet Manager:
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.CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
I always use the hotspot on my phone. I have Verizon’s unlimited data plan.
Don’t suppose anyone know how to get wifi on the truck? Trainer has a modem but his trainer was the one that hooked everything up. He says all he knows is you need a modem compatible with a sims card, an ipad/andriod notebook, an unlimited data sims card, and an internet provider. How does that all come together? 🤯
When my husband was OTR , he bought an antenna from c.crane WiFi for around $200.00, to enhance the 'hotspot' available on his cellphone. I'm sure these are much better nowadays, but it worked well enough for him, sans gaming.
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.
Got a call from my logs advisor asking if i slept any at all during training lol
My trainer trained me to only use on duty for fueling and vehicle inspection and off duty for everything else. So we talked for about 45 mins and everything she said sounded new to me (she also called my trainer bad which made me chuckle a lil bit), so i’m trying to see if this is the right way to do things.
Off duty (after sleeper berth , a new morning) go to bathroom etc.
Off duty pre-trip
Drive, do i stay off duty and drive or go on duty? I know statue changes to driving when going a certain mph.
Off duty, 30 min break
Off duty driving? Or do i got back on duty after break?
On duty paper work or whatever at a receiver/shipper when first arriving?
On duty yard movement to dock (below 20 mph and doesn’t eat clocks)
On duty loading? Or go off duty since i’m not the one loading freight?
On duty yard movement back to security shack and where ever receiving is?
Drive on duty
On duty post trip and to/until 2 hour off duty for the day has been reached.
Sleeper berth for 8 hours or 10?
From what i gathered, i only go off duty for when i’m not doing anything work related; bathroom, eating, etc. on duty for everything else.
Also how many truck washes do us company guys get per week/month?
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
Sleeper Berth:
The portion of the tractor behind the seats which acts as the "living space" for the driver. It generally contains a bed (or bunk beds), cabinets, lights, temperature control knobs, and 12 volt plugs for power.
Also forgot to ask about fuel, with the recommended fuel stop for this first load, it said to only fill up 86 gallons here in pittston, doesn’t say anything about the refer, seeing as this is a drop and hook , it needs to be full. What about the other trailer i’m picking up? I was trained by a lease op so he always gets reefer fuel before 2 hours for the credit back. As company, is this even a thing?
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
First off when at the terminals fill up all.... Truck DEF and Trailer. You do not need permission to fuel at the terminals. We get Prime rewards points which you will see on the phone app.
When filling reefer only you can message dispatch or call the fuel desk (after hours use primes main number) and tell them the station code and ask for 20 gals of reefer. The station code for the truck stop can be found via the phone app or the NavGo system. You will get an automated message approving "20 gals authorized at (insert truck stop)". It will give you a time frame... It leaves it authorized for 4 hours.
The macro 27 can be run every 12 hours. It will always allow you to fill DEF and reefer when you get truck fuel. So if it said "86 gals at Petro Scranton PA" even if you pump 86 gals, the pump will still allow you to switch to DEF and Reefer. It wont just shut off and not let you pump.
You have no need to worry about a reefer credit because we don't pay for fuel.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
Off Duty
means out of truck or in the front seat not working. Ex. I am eating a bowl of cereal in my passenger seat talking on the phone. I am outside the truck walking around
Sleeper
means in the bed. You could be reading, watching a movie or sleeping
Any combination of off duty or sleeper will complete your 10 hour break as long as no on duty time interrupted.
Example: 3 hours off duty/7 hours sleeper equals 10 hour break. 5 hours sleeper and 5 hours off duty equals 10 hour break.
Yard Movement
will interrupt your break and uses your 14 hour & 70 hour clock. It does not use your daily drive clock
As far as hitting "on duty" before driving... I don't. I just drive away. It will trip that is the point of the elogs
Be sure to log at least 10 to 15 min off duty between driving and sleeper. If not, you are legally stating that you jumped from driving straight to bed and vice versa. You never did laundry, showered, ate or went to the restroom.
On duty I use actual fuel time. Prime requires 1 min for every 10 gals pumped. PTI, checking in at customers, DOT inspections/dealing with officers, sitting roadside for repairs.
Once in the dock go in sleeper and relax. If you go on the dock to count produce, you should legally be on duty.
Truck Washes
We can wash the truck every 2 weeks OTR. Prime will pay for RainX at Blue Beacon. We get unlimited washes in the terminals. We get unlimited washouts and outter trailer washes. I washout almost every load because many lease ops do not. It makes me want to scream when I open a trailer that has multiple broken seals inside from prior loads. Our app now tells us the last time a trailer was washed out. The outside i usually do in winter cause of the grime and after muddy customers. We want our rigs looking good.
Elog:
Electronic Onboard Recorder
Electronic Logbook
A device which records the amount of time a vehicle has been driven. If the vehicle is not being driven, the operator will manually input whether or not he/she is on duty or not.
Elogs:
Electronic Onboard Recorder
Electronic Logbook
A device which records the amount of time a vehicle has been driven. If the vehicle is not being driven, the operator will manually input whether or not he/she is on duty or not.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
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.
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.
As always, much appreciated Kearsey! Finish my first load but this second load is starting off bad, no blue beacon or truck wash near where i needed to go. This trailer looked like it hasn’t been touched in months, rotten corn everywhere inside. 01 is at 9 but can be opened but the 90 is 6 am tomorrow. Really wished i was trained by a company driver and not a lease op. Anyways there’s another blue beacon 11 miles down the road, if my math is right, i have to leave before 12 and arrive before 8 at least to make the 90 appointment time, really should’ve added this in my journal 🤔
. . . 01 is at 9 but can be opened but the 90 is 6 am tomorrow. . . have to leave before 12 and arrive before 8 at least to make the 90 appointment time, really should’ve added this in my journal 🤔
Ok, please explain the numbers. (Think I understand the 6, 12 & 8.)
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When my husband was OTR , he bought an antenna from c.crane WiFi for around $200.00, to enhance the 'hotspot' available on his cellphone. I'm sure these are much better nowadays, but it worked well enough for him, sans gaming.
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.