Prime Inc. PSD Covid Edition

I've read helpful reviews and diaries on getting a cdl here on trucking truth and figured it might be useful for some people to get some 1st hand experience of heading out for cdl training during this virus.

I chose Prime simply for the pay and good equipment and not much more to say on that.

I came into the program already having a class B CDL and about 2-3 years of driving local, mostly dump trucks, roll-off's, and other vocational trucks like bucket and grapple trucks. Had my class AP for about a year and drove some lowboys hauling heavy equipment so I'm not totally a greenhorn coming in. I'm going reefer because I'd rather bump docks than throw tarps and spend 3 hours shoveling mud out of tracks, I got my fill of flatbedding in boiling summer heat in the deep south.

I've been in Springfield for about a week and will start driving this week with the PSD trainer.

Since this virus is such a concern the program is a pretty big difference from what I've read it would be like.

I arrived the day before orientation as was requested by Prime. You can check in as early as 6am at the campus inn. Masks are required and they take your temperature at the front desk or if you get picked up by the shuttle they do it there also. There are 3 shuttle lines. One is the green line and it runs farther out. I think the red line just runs a circle from campus inn, to plaza building, to millenium, to Walmart, then back to campus inn lounge. They give a card at the front desk. If you rent a car, check in at the campus inn, get the shuttle card and room card, drop all your bags and stuff in the room, take your car and stock up on food and eat good in town then drop the rest of your food off in the room and return the car and call the shuttle. There is plenty of parking at the inn. If you get food or plan to bring it on the shuttle, be sure to bag it, they won't let you on if there isn't a bag for it and they won't wait for you to find a bag. You'll be waiting again. I haven't been reimbursed for the rental car but be sure to get them to email a receipt when you turn it in. Feel free to goof off this day while you've got a rental car because the virus has made it very, very slow paced and boring.

The rooms at the campus inn are just typical run if the mill motel. They're clean, housekeeping does a good job for sure, and there are a handful of amenities like a driver's lounge with some vending machines and microwave. The pool has been filled in and sodded over. I'm not sure if anyone is in it but there is a wing that is closed off with a sign that says infected/fever risk area or something along those lines. I guess that is a quarantine zone. The rooms are all single person only as far as I know at the moment which is nice because I've spent a lot of time in it. My room has a mini fridge, a queen sized bed, coffee pot, a ridiculously good ac unit, and tv. The tv channels are pretty limited though with about 25 channels that aren't 24/7 paid programming or talking head news stuff. I've pretty much kept it on comedy central to kill the down time. Bed sleeps okay, showers are spacious and will roast you if you turn them to full heat, the toilets are the longer seat style which is nice compared to most motel 5 gallon bucket style deals. There is a washing room but I haven't used it. Usually only 1 person in there so probably no lines to wash clothes. If it matters, there is a smoking area where the shuttle picks up. There is also a "cafe" for the inn and the food and drinks are exceptionally cheap but the food is pretty rough. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner with specials for each which is usually 1-2 items plus about 2-3 entrees for each time and some random sides. Sometimes stuff runs out and they only serve full service mon-thurs. Fri, sat, and sun have the cafe close at 2pm so be sure and get your food or you'll be SOL. They give cards that cover your full meal and drink for the times they serve food. You would have to be a really big individual or live on MRE's to run out your meal card and keep the food down, trust me. But the food is a lot of food for free within reason so I can't complain about it much. The soda machine is calibrated very well and the soda does taste really good though. I've heard one guy get placed at a local hotel for an extra 25 dollars a night because something went wrong with his room so I'm not sure if that is reimbursed or what the deal was with that. I haven't had any issues with my stay other than the door card dying which is commonplace. Just be sure when it starts to take a few tries to get the doors to open that you swap the card out when it is convenient that way you don't end up like myself and have to walk all the way back to the lobby with your hands full of food that is getting cold and soggy. Once the card dies, there is no getting into anything. It gives a warning but when it goes, it goes. I think the lobby is staffed all night so you won't be sleeping in the lobby to get a card should yours die at an in unfortunate time. Other than that, I think I've covered everything. If you are a light sleeper, the campus inn will give you your first trial. It can get pretty noisy during the day and at night there are people coming and going, sometimes dogs will bark, doors will slam here and there and cars without exhausts will roar by. Not much of an issue for me but I could see someone getting annoyed by it. But it's trucking, you better get used to it.

Next, training.

Welcome to the Forum and welcome to Prime.

Flatbed may not be your thing but I am loving it.

Looking forward to hearing about your journey.

Welcome, and thanks for sharing with us your adventure. Plenty will be reading along. Good luck!

Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Now for the orientation training. It starts with you being assigned a few things and getting your alcohol/drug Clearinghouse done. I honestly haven't a clue what the Clearinghouse is or does but it seems like a DAC for substance use while trucking. That is the first thing you do, once it is set up you give consent for prime to view it. From there you attend class in the morning on your orientation date which basically confirms what you told/gave your recruiter and you fill out a job application again to I guess check for inconsistencies. You're assigned CBT's which are online modules which are either forms to complete or videos. You can probably do it all in about 5 hours. This is when you get your meal card. My class had about 5 people in it I think. There were 3-4 orientation groups so probably 20 people or so for my orientation date. Out on the pad with the PSD trainer I've only seen 2 people from my group so who knows what happened to the rest of them. Afterwards you have a simulator class. They have about 10 simulators and they're cool looking and all but I think it is just a weed out kind of deal. They're very easy to do but not really that realistic. They make me a little sea sick personally. I can already float gears but they won't let you even have a go at them in manual mode. They don't even run manual trucks at all so unfortunately my unrestricted class B will be turned into an automatics only restricted class A. But that's lawmakers for you.

Anyways, that basically wraps up the day of orientation. They require everything be in place before you get up here so unless something had expired like a drug test preemployment screen, you won't need anything. Or should I say shouldn't. I ran into some problems but I'll get to that.

Second day you should have nearly all CBT's done. Class lasts maybe 30 minutes and most students get cleared for their green PSD badge. Sim class lasts about 2 hours on this day and you do a snow/ice Sim, a city Sim, one or two more then an assessment you have to pass. All forward driving stuff, no shifting, really basic stuff. Assessment is graded and you get 2 tries. I scored a high 80 or so. It is very touchy about maintaining lanes and turn signal usage. It also doesn't feel realistic at all so I'm not sure how useful the Sims actually are other than to weed people out. Apparently they used to do 1 week straight for shifting and maybe that is where they shine. Either way, the time on the Sims is so brief it isn't a big thing to even think about. I was on the Sims a total maybe 1 hour of drive time. I know one guy failed it the first go, haven't seen him since.

They want your CBT's done by 4 on the second day which is very generous timing. They have computer labs and recommend their use but I did them on my phone. I Driver Pulse or the prime website can access them. I laid in bedding watching them with the ac blowing. Pretty nice deal all in all. This the day you would do the flatbed physical. Most everyone else was clear at this point but my recruiter called saying they couldn't get employment verification except for to one job or education verification. HR was MIA for one job and couldn't be contacted and the education deal was running on limited staffing. So then the prime orientation people tell me references that are personal and not worm related will work for one job and education but the other job was DOT regulated and I operated a CMV so that would have to be verified. The big issue with this is I am nearly a total loner trying to track down phone numbers for people I don't stay in contact with while 1000 miles away from home. After about an hour I source 3 personal contacts and find emails for direct deposits to my last job. After getting back in contact with prime they say they heard back from my previous employer and everything is good to go except for a new MVR since the last one expired and I'll be badged on day three.

Lessons learned: Keep yourself armed with a smartphone and 4g data.

Keep up with at least a few personal contacts, not just work references.

The recruiter said everything was solid and good to go except for one employment verification "delay." I was pretty annoyed that I'd spent 450 dollars on a rental car to get up here and start treading the line of being a PITA that gets booted out because a dozen things went wrong on day two that I was told were all ready.

Day three rolls around and nothing much goes on. Get called by orientation office to get my green PSD badge and that gets wrapped up. Rests of the day is goofing off doing nothing in the room. I'm a hermit so I don't bother socializing at the driver lounge plus it might keep the cooties away that are floating around.

Some folks are assigned PSD trainers on day three by this point but I'm the back of the list because I was the last to get cleared.

Day four sees me and two other guys left to do the pretrip class while trainers filter in and take students. It's a quick easy class. Once you go outside you do mock pretrips with the other students and get called in for a tire class. Lots of interesting info in the tire class. Once that is done we all filtered back to the campus inn after a few of us check out the millenium building. Food options are a lot better, still cheap, and taste okay. There are a lot of amenities but I opted to get my food, give a forelorn gaze into the decorative fountain and make my departure. 1/2

Alright so day five, I do the same deal of waiting around pretripping that morning at the plaza building until I get a trainer. Something to note as well, nobody told me this but when you pass the Sim test and get a new schedule for pretrip class, the place you are going is the basement classroom in the plaza building. Pretty early in the morning my guy calls me, says he'll be there in a few minutes and when he shows up, we bs for a few minutes and he says meet him the next day to do some backing and driving. Rest of the day is free to goof off.

Nothing much goes on at this point. I decide to walk to the subway in Walmart but they're out of what I want so I say it isn't a bad idea to just walk around to avoid cabin fever. I walked to the long johns up the street and tried calling because if the Covid stuff but they just hang up when you call so I try the Burger King and it looked abandoned the closer I got so I got McDonald's instead. After spending about an hour walking around, I'll suggest you try not to look too unsuspecting, I had a few bums ask me for money or some of my food but didn't get any issues when I told them no.

And that pretty much sums up orientation. Pretty well painless all things considered but I'd recommend being a little assertive with your recruiter to try and ensure all is truly taken care of and you'll be ready to go. I'd have been pretty ****ed if they just wrote me off as lying on my application or being a headache and sent me packing for another 450 dollars rental and another 12 shot back home. But luckily that didn't happen and everything seems to exceed expectations here at prime so far.

The very limited class time, Sim time, and the handful of CBT's are nice for me since I don't have to go over a million basics that I've already been through and done. I'd be far more apprehensive if I didn't have prior experience though. Jumping in a truck for me is par for the course, this is just a different job with a ton of new smaller things like starting with any kind of new vocational truck, freight, or job. I'd imagine PSD might last a week or two longer for your average student since there is such a brief intro period. Within 4 days most that come here are in a 75 foot rig and moving it around no matter what your experience is. It is definitely something to consider. I don't know if this is always how it has been but I'm sure the 5 or so hours in a classroom and Sim is probably a new thing. Then again, you can't scribble on a chalkboard how to drive, it is seat time.

One final note I've observed about orientation, don't even bother speaking about your driving experience or past driving jobs of how you did this, that, or the other somewhere else unless it is to a recruiter or your PSD trainer. You're just going to **** off the teachers. Made that mistake. And don't get me wrong, I didn't act ****y or anything I just talked about how I did my pretrip when I had to do it while making small talk to another student and it got shot down pretty fast lol. I made brief mention of the automatic restriction situation and I think that might have been taken wrong as well and they might have inferred I was just going to cut and run once I got my fill class a license which isn't the case.

I'm young and only drove for a few years so far and not going to act like a know it all and I have definitely learned just to stay quiet and sit back and watch everyone else but even stuff that seems harmless to you can be taken the wrong way. I'm sure they've seen a lot of young kids waltz in with a lot of talk and no skilld but take my advice, keep your head down and pretend to know nothing. The orientation folks are friendly enough up front but there are certain ones that seem easy to offend or annoy.

I'll do a post once I finish out PSD, so far that side of things is going fantastic. Glad to be driving again, and coming from the mom n pop grading company deal, the dump trucks and the solid waste world, prime trucks are like Cadillacs. Big and SLOW Cadillacs but nonetheless, eh?

I don't know if you guys knew this or not but apparently big trucks can be equipped with this magical thing called air conditioning. It is the best thing since sliced bread.

As a TNT trainer I can tell you that some Class B drivers are the worst students who know everything and dont want to listen. They are also the first ones to hit something because they aren't used to the trailer, but you can't warn them of anything. I have seen quite a few sent home for "not prime material" after literally arguing with the trainers that they know what they are doing, despite not being able to back a combination vehicle. One woman shouted across the pad "i have been driving a box truck for 20 years. I only need to borrow your truck for the test, i dont need you to tell me what to do". Then she failed out and was sent home. Literally screamed across the lot

Training is hard for the trainers too. I just removed a TNT from my truck after she repeatedly accepted calls and texts on her phone... even took pictures while driving through a construction site. I am done repeating myself.

As a TNT trainer I can tell you that some Class B drivers are the worst students who know everything

After being around them at quarries for a couple years, I definitely don't doubt that one bit lol. I'm surprised that many even come to prime seeing how slow the trucks are governed too. It was rare for me to see dump truck drivers who didn't drive like they were suicidal.

As a TNT trainer I can tell you that some Class B drivers are the worst students who know everything

After being around them at quarries for a couple years, I definitely don't doubt that one bit lol. I'm surprised that many even come to prime seeing how slow the trucks are governed too. It was rare for me to see dump truck drivers who didn't drive like they were suicidal.

The speed limiter on the company trucks has very little to do with the paychecks. What matters is the drive within the operator, experience, and the ability to apply what is learned.

I keep intense records of everything involving my numbers: hours, miles, average length of haul, MPG, shipping lanes, etc.

My average speed for all miles driving for the past 4.5 years has been 54.71 MPH.

Welp passed the CDL test with nearly a perfect score. Only got 3 points on the driving test. Was aiming for perfect all the way around but oh well. It's a $250 bonus either way. Got my TWIC applied for which you pay back over your weekly paychecks and got my purple comdata Prime ID badge. The rental car reimbursement goes on the same check that the trifecta bonus goes on along with your first 700 dollars as a Prime employee. I'll be getting my first real paycheck almost 4 weeks after day 1 at Springfield. I didn't touch any of the advance money they give you. Your recruiter is the one that handles the rental car cost and fuel so save your receipts. Currently waiting on my tnt trainer to call.

The TWIC is suppose to take about 30 days which routes you back to Springfield since they don't mail it and it is activated with fingerprints or something like that. They give you 2 weeks to route back to your home state to change your license over. Hopefully I can smooth talk the DMV people into letting my class B manual endorsement transfer to my class A but I doubt it will work. A bummer that my ability to drive normal transmissions is going to be void even though I've spent 2-3 years driving 10 speeds, 4and2's and 8LL's. I wonder what the DOT folks would think about holding onto that class B and driving class B's with sticks even though the license isn't valid since you can only hold one. They'd probably frown on it. Rather annoying that I can't drive something I was cleared to drive before just because I upgraded to driving something more complicated. I'll definitely argue my case though at the DMV even though it won't get me anywhere probably lol. Politicians writing laws on subjects they've no experience with though I suppose. I plan to go ahead and try to book a knowledge exam for doubles/triples since it can't hurt and the test is easy enough.

Anyways... Ready to get on the road and start whittling away at those trainer miles. 3 weeks in a motel has grown old for sure. I think Prime will probably stick to this model of getting all your stuff in order before coming up here. Apparently class sizes used to be nearly 100 people a week and maybe 20-30 seeing it through to a real class a license. Now it is probably 20 people a week with 15-18 passing. I know 1 guy from my class passed but haven't seen anyone else from it so who knows how accurate that is.