TNT PHASE WITH PRIME

Hey y’all ! I currently have a cdl B (driving school buses). I am really interested in Prime Inc and I have done hours of research on YouTube and on this forum. To my understanding during the TNT phase, you’re basically running the truck as a team until you hit your 50k miles. One sleep while one drives. My question is how long is the sleep time ? I’m Kind of confused about the 14/10 policy. Or even if there is one LOL. Are drivers expected to drive a certain amount of miles before stopping or does it go by the hour ? On average how many days are you given to deliver a load (Ik it’s based on distance), but does dispatch give you a reasonable amount of time to get there ? I have many more questions lol but I’ll stop there for now . Thanks in advance for responding. 🙂

Hello and you have come to the right place! We have quite a few Primates here....and I am a TNT trainer...and I have a YT channel lol

The clock allows you to drive 11 hours within a 14 hour period. So stopping at the customer, a restroom, fuel or for food is workable. You then get a 10 hour minimum break. That doesnt necessarily mean you will sleep that whole time. Sleeping in a moving truck can be hard...and imagine you wake up after 5 hours when you feel the truck stop so you run to the restroom when available

Stop over thinking. 😂 if you didnt have enough time to get the load in we wouldnt have any customers left, so yes we are given time. Some are much tighter than others. Loads are usually planned at 50mph

Today I have a 1200 mile load and have about 5 hours extra on it. We usually run 1100 miles in 24 hours.

Sometimes I get 3400 miles loads as a team. Sometimes 600. It depends. As a solo my loads are usually 300 to 1200.

Yesterday I only drove 300 miles then had a load issue. They took my load from me and gave me another...but I will get layover pay.

Somedays solo I drive 580 miles others a few hundred. It depends on the load and how I am feeling

Hello and you have come to the right place! We have quite a few Primates here....and I am a TNT trainer...and I have a YT channel lol

The clock allows you to drive 11 hours within a 14 hour period. So stopping at the customer, a restroom, fuel or for food is workable. You then get a 10 hour minimum break. That doesnt necessarily mean you will sleep that whole time. Sleeping in a moving truck can be hard...and imagine you wake up after 5 hours when you feel the truck stop so you run to the restroom when available

Stop over thinking. 😂 if you didnt have enough time to get the load in we wouldnt have any customers left, so yes we are given time. Some are much tighter than others. Loads are usually planned at 50mph

Today I have a 1200 mile load and have about 5 hours extra on it. We usually run 1100 miles in 24 hours.

Sometimes I get 3400 miles loads as a team. Sometimes 600. It depends. As a solo my loads are usually 300 to 1200.

Yesterday I only drove 300 miles then had a load issue. They took my load from me and gave me another...but I will get layover pay.

Somedays solo I drive 580 miles others a few hundred. It depends on the load and how I am feeling

I’ve watched a few of your YouTube videos and you answered a lot of questions I had about prime in general. So thanks for that lol. Thanks for making the time clear about the 14hr period. You’re right i probably am overthinking it LOL.

Yay... You watched my videos...happy dance.

Everyone gets excited and you dont know what you dont know...lol. Dont get too bogged down with info before hand. Take everything one step at a time. Otherwise you will feel overwhelmed.

Neeeeexxxxtttt question????

There is no company expectation on how many hours or miles you drive. The only expectation is that your team delivers the load on time. Every truck runs slightly different, as does every team. Your trainer will be in charge, and they may just lay down their rules without discussion, or they may have a discussion where you two will come to some type of agreement of how you will function. Some may do fixed shifts of 10-12 hours. Others may alternate shifts so one driver is not always on nights. Another option is each driver just drives their clock out and stops during their final hour whatever time that may be, and the other driver takes over. You'll never know until you meet and speak to your trainer.

10 hours is the DoT requirement to reset your daily drive time.

Not to frighten you, but be prepared for the worst when it comes to schedule.

Essentially, my trainer only used our 14 hour clock for pure driving predominantly after we loaded. For example, I would drive through the night . Then we would unload in the morning. But my trainer wouldn't start his clock until after we loaded, which was sometimes 6 or 7 hours later. He used personal conveyance. So let's say, I would drive through the night until 7:00 a.m. Then we would unload, me staying awake. Then he would drive on personal conveyance to the next shipper , we would load, let's say 1600. Then he would start his clock. So, if I had started my clock the night before at 1900, I often wouldn't get to sleep until 1700 or 1800 the next day. In addition, this caused my sleep schedule to flip flop. Because we unloaded, drove to the next shipper, and loaded, all off duty, now I have to try to sleep at night, when I just drove the night before.

This was just my experience and I'm not saying that you should except this, but if it happened to me, it could happen to you.

He was driving illegally and that should not have been done. However...in reefer your clock flips constantly. Therefore I dont stay on a team schedule in training.

The student needs to get used to flip flopping....and also learn to sleep in docks

I made a YT so that I could subscribe to your channel LOL . How big of a duffel bag would you consider bringing for orientation and the tnt phase ? I know it says we can bring two bags but would a 22in duffel be too large or is that perfect ? I don’t want to be that student that brings too much stuff lmao. Also when you drive as a company driver can you choose the brand of truck you want to drive or just the size ? Thanks so much for the advice 😊

Yay... You watched my videos...happy dance.

Everyone gets excited and you dont know what you dont know...lol. Dont get too bogged down with info before hand. Take everything one step at a time. Otherwise you will feel overwhelmed.

Neeeeexxxxtttt question????

Thank you so much for the advice. Luckily it will only be a temporary situation. Hopefully the trainer will allow for time to adapt LOL

There is no company expectation on how many hours or miles you drive. The only expectation is that your team delivers the load on time. Every truck runs slightly different, as does every team. Your trainer will be in charge, and they may just lay down their rules without discussion, or they may have a discussion where you two will come to some type of agreement of how you will function. Some may do fixed shifts of 10-12 hours. Others may alternate shifts so one driver is not always on nights. Another option is each driver just drives their clock out and stops during their final hour whatever time that may be, and the other driver takes over. You'll never know until you meet and speak to your trainer.

10 hours is the DoT requirement to reset your daily drive time.

Oh wow sounds like he was running hard. I wonder will the experience be different compared to a company driver trainer and a lease driver trainer ? Thanks for the info 🙂

Not to frighten you, but be prepared for the worst when it comes to schedule.

Essentially, my trainer only used our 14 hour clock for pure driving predominantly after we loaded. For example, I would drive through the night . Then we would unload in the morning. But my trainer wouldn't start his clock until after we loaded, which was sometimes 6 or 7 hours later. He used personal conveyance. So let's say, I would drive through the night until 7:00 a.m. Then we would unload, me staying awake. Then he would drive on personal conveyance to the next shipper , we would load, let's say 1600. Then he would start his clock. So, if I had started my clock the night before at 1900, I often wouldn't get to sleep until 1700 or 1800 the next day. In addition, this caused my sleep schedule to flip flop. Because we unloaded, drove to the next shipper, and loaded, all off duty, now I have to try to sleep at night, when I just drove the night before.

This was just my experience and I'm not saying that you should except this, but if it happened to me, it could happen to you.