Tanker Division Of Prime
Topic 9315 | Page 1
I am wondering if the tanker division the Prime runs still only do the Northeast or has it expanded to more areas? I guess for me "based" in Michigan I would be considered Northeast so that wouldn't be a problem, however I would love to have some long hauls as well then be limited to just the same areas all the time. I cannot say I have seen Prime in my area but since I am in the middle of nowhere it does not surprise me either. I only put it down as a choice because I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to pull yet, so I guess that makes it easier to change my mind now than later.. maybe not.
Have not been with Prime for over a year now, but they did run more than just the NE while I was there. I have seen them in the midwest as well as the SE.
I do know that while I was there they had lost 3 very large accounts, so the tanker guys were have a tough time of it for a little while until they picked up a few new accounts.
By the way, Prime only runs food grade tankers in case you did not know that already.
Ernie
Talked to a Prime tanker driver last night at a truck stop and asked him the same thing. He said they do get occasional loads to California, Washington, Idaho, but not often. He said he spends a lot of his time in the Northeast. His current run is PA to Texas.
There was a Prime tanker on here a while ago, hopefully he'll give you better info.
When I was interested in Prime's tank division last summer, the recruiter told me that it ran primarily NE. All food grade, as Ernie mentioned. I don't know your situation, i.e. if you don't have a CDL A yet or not, but Schneider runs OTR tanks and hires recent grads (who already have a CDL). Schneider isn't solely food grade though. Indian River is OTR food grade, but you need experience. Prime would be the only tank division I know of that has their own CDL school.
Surprisingly enough, there are a decent amount of tank companies that will hire new grads, at least in my area. Most of these are regional or local, hauling fuel. Your mileage may vary depending on your location. Of course this assumes you're not going the company-sponsored route.
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.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
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.
I knew they did food grade tanks exclusively but just didn't mention it when I made the post, late night plus being tired made my thought process a bit scattered. Although I am not entirely sure why that should be should be overly important, unless it is limited loads? There is a local company, called Carry Transit, that is a local tanker company however they want minimum 2 years experience before they will even consider you, to me that is hurting them as there are trucks just sitting in the yard but that is their rule I guess. My thinking is that if there are a lot of folks going to Prime for just flatbed or refer and they are waiting for trainers that maybe going into tanker might be the better route to go and switching if I feel the need to get more miles, if that is even a problem at all for that division and of course provided I can switch after a certain time. Just mulling over thoughts in my head right now and seeing what sounds like the better option. Thanks for the insight!
I believe he brought up he food grade issue because hazmat tankers get paid more typically and is one of the reasons people choose to be a tanker. Just a guess.
HAZMAT:
Hazardous Materials
Explosive, flammable, poisonous or otherwise potentially dangerous cargo. Large amounts of especially hazardous cargo are required to be placarded under HAZMAT regulations
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
If you come to prime with no cdl and go thru the PSD program I can assure you that you'll do the PSD with a reefer. At least you will REALLY WANT TO. Prime won't let PSD's drive loaded tanks so you can only drive them empty. That means taking 2-3x's longer to get your 75 required hours of driving time to test. Then you can do TNT with a tanker trainer. Not very many of those so you may wait awhile to get one. Also prime doesn't have alot of tank loads coming thru Springfield so if you come here and get your cdl thru the PSD program, you'll likely either : ride with another driver to meet your tnt trainer. Or they may bus you to them. I talked to one tanker driver that prime rented him a car to drive to Georgia to meet up with his TNT trainer.
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.
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
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
- 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.
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.
If you come to prime with no cdl and go thru the PSD program I can assure you that you'll do the PSD with a reefer. At least you will REALLY WANT TO. Prime won't let PSD's drive loaded tanks so you can only drive them empty. That means taking 2-3x's longer to get your 75 required hours of driving time to test. Then you can do TNT with a tanker trainer. Not very many of those so you may wait awhile to get one. Also prime doesn't have alot of tank loads coming thru Springfield so if you come here and get your cdl thru the PSD program, you'll likely either : ride with another driver to meet your tnt trainer. Or they may bus you to them. I talked to one tanker driver that prime rented him a car to drive to Georgia to meet up with his TNT trainer.
So it sounds like going flatbed or reefer might be a better alternative then. Yeah right now I do not have my CDL other than my class b permit that I could upgrade to an a, however I dunno how much that would help honestly. Thanks Terry I guess that I will consider the other ones rather than doing tanker, I would rather be out there than waiting around or playing the shuffle game.
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.
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
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
- 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.
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.
Just because a company says they want 2 years or OTR or whatever means that they require it. From what I've seen, a company:
A) will say what they want (especially in a Craigslist ad) to minimize the risk of hiring a new driver but they are still hiring new talent B) stipulates what the prerequisites for employment are, and therefore are not flexible, or C) may not advertise jobs at all (burned on Craigslist too many times maybe)
Or they can advertise they hire new drivers, but from what I've seen, the loads are more inconsistent and the pay is lower in this case (starter companies)
I'm sure I didn't hit them all, but the bottom line is, if you are interested in a company, call them and ask. Make an excuse, tell them you were told they needed drivers and were top notch and you didn't know the prerequisites to be hired.
I found a job that fell under A, and was advertised as needing 2 years experience. I had NONE under my CDL when I was hired. One driver never even drove a 10 speed and was hired. All I had was school and military drive time with a skateboard years ago, but I could drive.
I never had to go through a starter company and now I drive tankers. Hiring criteria is always between what the company wants and what insurance will allow them to do.
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.
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.
Yeah Dave I went to the place and was told no by the owner himself that they do not hire any drivers without 2 years experience. From what I gathered talking to some of their drivers it has to do with some issues they had back a few years ago, although I do not know what exactly happened. I do have another place I have to call in the morning that does local only flatbed and they are willing to train to help get you a CDL , and they only run instate so it will be good practice of backing skills since I will be in and out of places.
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.
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I am wondering if the tanker division the Prime runs still only do the Northeast or has it expanded to more areas? I guess for me "based" in Michigan I would be considered Northeast so that wouldn't be a problem, however I would love to have some long hauls as well then be limited to just the same areas all the time. I cannot say I have seen Prime in my area but since I am in the middle of nowhere it does not surprise me either. I only put it down as a choice because I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to pull yet, so I guess that makes it easier to change my mind now than later.. maybe not.