Got My Start Date For Prime's PSD Today!
Topic 6808 | Page 1
Hey congrats Adam!
As far as needing the DOT physical before getting the permit, that varies from state to state so you'll have to find out from the DMV if they require a physical first or not.
As far as getting home for training or getting a regular truck instead of a lightweight truck - prepare for the worst, hope for the best. You know how it is when you're a rookie....you pretty much get what they give you and deal with it. I'm sure if they do give you a lightweight truck you'll be able to transfer into a full size at some point down the line, hopefully within six months or so. It's just impossible to say.
But plan on being gone a long time during the initial training. Prime has a lot going for them, but one of the downsides is that they tend to keep students out for a couple of months at a time in the beginning. I've heard people report time and time again that they left home to attend Prime's Company Sponsored Training and didn't get back for their first home time for two or three months. Personally I think that's deplorable, but every company has its good and bad. Prime has about the best starting pay in the industry, great miles available, and really nice equipment. But they won't get you home very often.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
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.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
Company Sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
That's about what I expected. Fingers crossed anyways. I'll give the DMV a call first thing in the morning and set up a doctor's appointment if I need it. Thanks!
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.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
You don't need a DOT physical before you arrive at Prime, MO for orientation. It would just be a waste of money if you believe you are in good health anyway. Prime will give you a full physical on day 1 of orientation. However if you have any doubts about your health it may not be a bad idea to get one at your own expense, that way if you find any issues you have a chance of dealing with them before you get here and saving the risk of being sent home for High BP as an example. I'm in the latter stages of my TNT phase with Prime, 9000 miles to freedom. Holly is great by the way, she was my recruiter from last year.
Good Luck Gary
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
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.
Thanks Gary. It looks like, in Alabama, they ask for a DOT physical to take the written CDL exam according to DMV.org. I couldn't get through to the one office in town that handles commercial drivers today, but I will try again tomorrow and go down there if nothing else. I still have my exam certificate from the last DOT physical I had and it's still good for another year. I thought it had just expired, but it hasn't. Hopefully they will be able to accept that.
On a side note, anyone here headed to Prime February 2nd?
-Adam
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
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.DMV:
Department of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The state agency that handles everything related to your driver's licences, including testing, issuance, transfers, and revocation.
Hi Adam congrats on being accepted to Prime Orientation I am going on my third day of the orientation and can honestly say I am still excited about being here. From the trainers to the cafeteria personal they are all great people. Mikey who posts on TT is also from Alabama and is here at PSD with me. I will try to get him to post you tomorrow, good luck Brian
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
- Enter program, study and test for Missouri CDL permit.
- Start driving/training at Prime Training Center in Springfield, Missouri.
- Work toward 40,000 training dispatched miles (minimum) with food allowance while without CDL (Food allowance is paid back with future earnings).
On-the-Road Instruction / 10,000 Miles
- Train with experienced certified CDL instructor for 3-4 weeks in a real world environment.
- Get 75 hours of behind-the-wheel time with one-on-one student/instructor ratio.
- Earn 10,000 miles toward total 40,000 miles needed.
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I will be starting my PSD program in Springfield, MO February 2nd! It's been a dream of mine to take one of these big rigs all across this country for a long time now. I started looking now as my financial situation dictates that I need to change things drastically. After poking around here I decided that this is the best time in my life to give it a shot. Big thanks to all of you guys here! The information on this site has been invaluable in seeing the whole picture of a career in otr trucking (without actually doing it) as well as solidified my decision to go with Prime!
I won't get my bus ticket info for a couple more weeks according to Holly at Prime, but she says I'm all set up for this stage. She gave me some homework as far as making sure I have all the required documents for orientation, and told me it would be a really good idea to go ahead and get the cdl permit with tanker endorsement while I wait to speed things up in Springfield. I've been reading here and going through the High Road training program (Thanks Brett!) for a couple weeks, and will go this week to get the permit.
I couldn't find clear info on my own. (Or maybe I just missed it) Do I need a DOT physical on my own just to test for the permit? I know Prime will do their own either way. Also, I understand the deal with recruiters, but Holly seemed to be a pretty straight shooter. She gave me answers I liked and didn't like, but they lined up with what I already knew from here. I explained that while my wife still has pretty good vision, she has secondary glaucoma, and her vision will decrease eventually. I explained that I really want her with me as a rider after we had been discussing the lightweight trucks. A big motivator for otr is seeing the country together. According to Holly, adding the passenger seat back to their new lightweights is not an option, but in my circumstance, they would get me in a full-size truck. It won't be a deal breaker for me if it doesn't happen, but it will suck. Does anyone on here with Prime have any experience with seeing this happen?
The waiting to get started and on the road is driving me crazy. I'll probably have everything ready on my end in a few days, that way I can go crazy waiting again, lol. At least we get some time at home together before that long training period out. I guess if I get lucky with a trainer I might get decent home time. But if not, we'll make it work until I get on the road.
Thanks to everyone here again!
-Adam
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
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