Mark, I think Klutch is giving you good advice. When I read your post I thought Schneider would be a good fit for you. I went through Schneider training and they take good care of their students. Excellent instructors, excellent training. They are at the very least a great starter company and you will always get your paycheck on time. But there are plenty of other companies that are solid. CFI may be a possibility, etc.
However, there is no such thing as an all expense paid training company. You will have to invest some of your own money to get to solo driving and the regular paychecks. But think of it as an investment in yourself and a great profession for your life after 60. Good luck to you sir!
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Welcome to Trucking Truth, Mark!
Here's those links Dennis was speaking of: Dennis' Prime PSD Diary and Dennis' Prime TNT Diary. Very detailed; excellent information!
Also, here's some links from the site admin/owner:
Truckin' Along w/Kearsey!
Hope this helps, and again, WELCOME!
~ Anne ~
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Dm:
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.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.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
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.