Jean I’m a swift flatbed trainer. We are not required to team drive the truck with a student. That decision is left to the trainer to make with the student. The first 50 hours it is mandatory that the truck runs solo with the trainer in the passenger seat. After that it is based on your confidence if and when the truck would run as a team. Most of my fellow trainers in flatbed do what we call super solo. That means you drive your full drive clock, then maybe I pop in the seat for a couple of hours to position us to were we need to be if we got slowed down by accidents or weather for example.
New! Check out our help videos for a better understanding of our forum features
I recently got off the truck at PRIME and refused to continue training during TNT because I felt unsafe to drive due to lack of sleep, my body would not adjust to sleeping in a moving truck; I expressed this to my trainer as well as my fleet manager to which they suggested I take Zzzquil to help me sleep which I did but the Zzzquil left me too drowsy and confused to drive for hours. I realized pretty quickly that "team training" is mostly in the benefit of the company and the experienced driver because as long as you can operate the truck safe enough the A seat driver will sleep but the 'less experienced' driver is placed in a compromising situation causing them to drive while tired. Im not a complainer nor do I shy away from hard work. I have no problem driving 11, doing load securement or any other trucking related duties but I refuse to put my life or anyone else on the roads life at risk because the company wants the truck rolling at all times as long as they have two people on there which implies "team driving' rather than training. Are there any flatbed starter companies that run solo training trucks? would switching divisions help? I am located in South Florida.
I like trucking but not enough to die or go to prison for it.
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.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.