My Training Experience With Prime.

He did in fact drive on my clock. So I didn’t understand the QC because he would never let me touch it. But at times when i would drive i would see that the Dot time would say 4 hours & some minutes left even if I had not driven in 24 hours. I realized he drove on my clock when I went home one day & I received a message I was using personal conveyance even tho I was home. I let my fleet manager know immediately. Nothing ever came of it because he continued to do it. But like i said at that time I didn’t know & didn’t understand the clocks so i gave up.

He would literally make me wait 14 hours between restroom breaks & would not pull over when I needed to go. Idk how he did it

I don’t know how he did it either… anyone else see this?

Driving on his clock and hers could make this a possibility. Or, if she goes to sleep while he is driving and he stops without waking her, then resumes driving, it could leave a person to believe that he drove for a a longer period without stopping.

She mentioned having difficulty understanding him, so it seems like there is a definite communication problem here.

At some point you have to take some responsibility. If half of this stuff is true you were/are letting it happen. It would take one call to safety, that’s it.

A 30 min break is required before driving beyond 8 hrs. Were you chained to the bunk and not allowed to get out of the truck? Seriously?

It’s honestly difficult to describe every single detail but this isn’t even half the story. But to answer your questions Yes i did try to get paired with a female but they said it was going to be a long wait as they were all tied up so i agreed to go with a male because I wanted to get on my own truck asap. I completed my training miles 3 weeks ago & i have to continue being on my trainers truck until they have a truck. People have been waiting several months now. I did end up complaining about my first trainer but nothing ever came of it as he had a new trainee the following week I got off. & as for my current one the same complaints have been brought up against him before but he says he can get away with a lot of things. My mistake has been not recording every negative encounter. I listen & try to do everything when I can but its not sufficient. One of my difficulties has been backing, I know not everyone gets it right away so why am I expected to and being belittled for it?

I have a difficult time believing that companies would blatantly make statements thst appear to be discriminatory about gender, especially ones as woke and large as pepsi.

I find it very plausible that that there may be much more context that is omitted, and in doing so, it paints a narrative. For instance a statement like "employees are required to routinely lift 75 pounds throughout their shift, are you capable of this?" Is not a sexist statement. You might interpret it as "why do you want to work in a man's world" but the reality is that in physically demanding jobs, such as local food service and beverage jobs, irrelevant of gender, one must be able to perform the tasks.

Also, I find it difficult to believe that reputable local companies would be hiring CDL A with no experience unless it was training programs that require physically demanding dock and loading/unloading portions of work at times.

Some questions come to mind

Why didn't you ask to be paired with a female trainer from the start?

Why didn't you escalate complaints with the training through protocol from the onset?

I understand there are bad trainers, but do you have any culpability in any of this?

It seems odd that a company would force you to go teams rather than solo against your will. Especially one the size of Prime, it has a solid reputation as a quality company. Have you asked in writing to go solo?

What can you do to remedy this and take charge of matters in an effective and professional manner?

He would stop on the side of the highway for his 30 min break & wanted me to do the same.

A 30 min break is required before driving beyond 8 hrs. Were you chained to the bunk and not allowed to get out of the truck? Seriously?

Call safety. If any of this is true and he’s driving in your clock etc. how hard is that? End of story.

He would stop on the side of the highway for his 30 min break & wanted me to do the same.

A 30 min break is required before driving beyond 8 hrs. Were you chained to the bunk and not allowed to get out of the truck? Seriously?

If this sad tale teaches us anything it is these two things...

1) Lease Operators are desperate for revenue. These two trainers have to be leasing.

2) New students just don't seem to understand the chain of command. This poor woman has counted on her fleet manager to rectify her situation, but they obviously could care less.

The trainee should have been given information on how to deal with this during orientation. They don't seem to know what to do. I'm not sure where the problem lies, but students need to pay attention during orientation and keep all information and phone numbers so they are easily accessed.

I talked to the FM about it. At the time I didn’t know about any other departments that would deal with the issues. But unfortunately him driving on my clock didn’t stop.

Call safety. If any of this is true and he’s driving in your clock etc. how hard is that? End of story.

He would stop on the side of the highway for his 30 min break & wanted me to do the same.

A 30 min break is required before driving beyond 8 hrs. Were you chained to the bunk and not allowed to get out of the truck? Seriously?

People are NOT waiting months for a truck. 3 of my former students have upgraded within the past 2 weeks. Yes, they were number 65 and 80 when they got on the list and it took a few days. One was in the Salt Lake city terminal. The other 2 in Springfield. If someone goes lease, they get to select the truck.... Meaning they are offered a truck and if they reject it, then they wait for another offer. I do know someone who sat at the terminal in Springfield for 3 weeks cause he rejected 3 Cascadia waiting for a Peterbilt to come in.

If you go on the Prime Facebook groups you will find owner ops looking for new drivers to drive their trucks. You could get a truck right away. I personally know one who is looking for a driver at the moment for a truck that is empty in Springfield. There is even a Highway Diamonds Facebook group filled with a bunch of experienced women and the female driver liaison to help answer questions and give advice. Prime also has a Driver Advisory Board on which I served for 3 years that can be contacted through the phone app under "Ask DAB". I get and answer those questions, along with about 50 other people, everyday.

She also stated in our emails that there were dozens of men who did infact helped her and answered questions. So I don't think she is as sexist and playing the victim card as much as it appears in this thread. I think she is venting and frustrated.

Contact Steve Tassin as I said and make sure you have been approved for upgrade and are on a truck list. Contact Brooke about the trainer's behavior. Once you complete the miles... Every department including logs, citations, and safety evaluate you. They can deny upgrade due to tickets, accidents, speeding etc. Then they add miles. If you are on the list, they should be able to tell how long the wait and what number you are.

As Davy stated, some of the jobs she checked out did ask about lifting limits. That would in fact be asked of everyone. One trainer stated that she was struggling due to women and men seeing different angles... This is true and even I stated that women cry and give up more often than men when backing. I did too. In general, women are better drivers. Men see backing as a challenge that insults their manhood and solve the puzzle to get it in the box.... After they yell and slam some doors. But men are more aggressive drivers than women. These are generalities but often true

No, Prime does not allow solo team training. As a TNT trainer, I often run someone a week or so solo but honestly, I get paid less than I would solo cause they give me the team rate.

What is intriguing is that the wait for a woman trainer was very long... But she quit to be with her husband.... She could have been getting paid $900 per week to sit home and wait for the trainer and be with her husband at the same time. If that was 3 weeks to a month, so be it.

I think most of this is #1 not understanding the resources offered. #2 not utilizing the resources if she did understand. #3 frustration.

If someone yells at me, I yell back. You are going to get yelled at on the road. People you never met before will say nasty things. They are not paying your bills, so who cares? I lived through so much crap in my life that being with a horrible trainer was just a short time in my very long career. A career that has opened up a whole new world of opportunities and allows me to be me and help others... and keep my Jersey "screw you" attitude at the same time. 😂

Good luck to the original poster. I gave her my phone number and grant her permission to give it to anyone at Prime who needs help. I am just one more resource in a company who allows drivers to work closely with management to correct issues.

As a Prime driver, of the female persuasion, who got my CDL with them, in a PAD based scenario I would have to say that the story coming through for me, is that you came in with a chip on your shoulder, and have taken everything as antagonistic. Yeah, some things sound really shady, and need to be addressed, but if you addressed them in the manner you typed here, nobody will take you seriously.

I highly suggest before you reach out to anybody Kearsy recommended, you get your thoughts together, sort them out, and leave the histrionic "he did this because I'm a woman" out of the equation.

Most of the personality issues I have seen between a student and trainer, are usually based in poor communication, and lack of understanding each other's expectations.

My road at Prime hasnt been a cake walk, but it would have been made exponentially worse, had I used the "because I'm a woman......" Mentality.

You are a truck driver. It's time to knuckle up and get 💩 done, regardless of someone else's personality.