New Prime Inc cdl training no class room training Springfeild Missouri

I am a CDL holder (Texas) and Prime has one of the better training programs in the nation. They provide 1 on 1 school and field instruction (not cramming 4 into a tractor at a time) PLUS they pay a higher training wage ($600/wk) than any other company school. If I am not mistaken also, they have a "try before you buy" time. That is, after a short time, if you feel that this life is just not for you (and it isn't for some, trust me), you can simply quit, owe nothing and go home. That simple. Also, almost all schools recommend that you get your Class A permit BEFORE showing up for school. Trust me, I did and it saved a helluva lot of heartache. So the moral of the story is check out the school BEFORE enrolling. There are some companies that are simply "driver mills" and they make their money off of schools, sticking you with ridiculous loan terms (Stevens is 3 years I believe) while some schools just simply require a one year driving commitment and then you owe nothing and can go where you want. Prime's main haul is reefer and that type of cargo is pretty much recession proof all year. 

A good site for reference is:

www.truckingtruth.com

Click on the Trucking Schools tab and there is a section there on companies that offer training.

Be safe out there!

First, this is an annoying post to read due to the massive run on sentences and basic nonsense blather.

First thing to do, is to get your CDL permit BEFORE you arrive. Your recruiter should have told you that as well as common sense. A class room is NOT the best way to learn about the trucking business.

Prime provides you with real world, hands on training with an experienced company trainer for a few weeks, then you come back and take your CDL skills test, get your CDL and hit the road with a trainer for 4-6 months REAL WORLD driving experience. After that, you get your own truck and hit the road!

BEST ADVICE: Don't lease!

    From my perch, this is the best way to learn and gain experience. If you had gotten your CDL permit, you would have had time to work on the CDL simulator instead of cramming tons of info into your brain overnight. Most people fail at this stage.

    The cost of Prime CDL training is only $3,500 and if you drive for them one full year, it's PAID OFF!

    If you had done your home work prior to getting there, you should have known this.

    Perhaps trucking is not for you. I suspect not based on the immaturity in your words.

 Hey Dave,need a good driver,39 years here.

This is a subject I could go on all day about but I'm tired of talking to myself.

 So if the actual truth was told here I bet alot of these stories would change.  

 I wish all you folks nothing but the best and God Bless.

 martym5@hotmail.com   
 Marty

Who are you to recommend anything? Your not a truck driver or a CDL holder. Really you have no truck driving experience at all, you never even sat in a big truck before. You should have past writtin test on your own at home before comming to Prime. Good God you got the book, can you read? Book has all the info you need. Its not the BAR exam.

 BTW Prime has electronic logs not much to learn there. We have a building full of classrooms, what do you think there, there for? OMG. Folks can blame anyone for where thier  at in their life. What you want someone to study the book for you? You recommend someone to pay a school spend six months at a state college? Thats crazy, Prime will pay you $600 bucks a week to learn how to do the job that they want for you to do. Btw a year before I started driving a truck I took the CDL written test, got the book read it over took test. No big deal. I hadn't ever talked to a truck driver never sat in a big truck just read the book and took all three test. Then took all my endorsements in my spare time. A Instuctor doesn't teach you how to READ a book. We teach you how to pass you Pre-trip exam,7 way air brake test, maneuvers, and road test. A trainer teaches you how to do your job in real life scenario.

 You simply dont know enuff about this industry to recommend,' how to' advice.How about you focus on becomming  a CDL holder before you tell other folks how to.....Prime has been doing what the do for over 40 years, longer then most DR been Doctors. I trust they know what thier doing little more then you do.

With all of these people saying they have been ripped off by Prime , has anybody notified the Attorny General about this companies practice, or even the Better Business Buraeu.....or even the DOT on some of these over hour issues...

Dave

In my theory ; you don't get expeirience sitting in a class room.. Books and drawing on a chulk board turn people into educated idiots..You don't learn common sense and you are unable to learn from your mistakes sitting in a classroom..Granted there are some things to learn in a class room, but alot of it can be taught by the guy who is training you .. These truck driving schools are turning out the most dangerous drivers I have ever seen in my life and in my opinion should be out lawed. Most of the insructors do not have much experience in driving themselves, and to try to teach a guy who has never sat behind the wheel of a 80,000 pound torpedo is just plain neglegence on the Federal Government's behalf.. Myself I was taught from a young man on the farm driving farm tractors then from there to class3 driver(that was before cdl) then to class 1.. all of my training was done by guies with 20 to 30 years experience...Training me while they were doing their everyday job and training me free of charge.. This was done all the time back in the day..When you got your lisence you were trained by professional drivers , not these idiots who are in these driving schools or some of these idiots from these big companies who are driver instructors...and it took me a year to get enough traing to be a good driver

The government needs to crack down on these types of driver training schools. I don't call 6 weeks of training nearly enough to train a person to call them a professional driver..After nearly 30 years of driving myself, I am still learning new things in driving technics.. This is heavy equipment and it can kill people if in the wrong hands...,and believe me I have seen alot of drivers who I can tell didn't get a lot of training

I know there is going to people who are going to disagree with me , but thats the way it is.. I myself am thinking about buying more trucks. But I am scared to death in what is going to walk through my doors as drivers.. I will not hire truck driving school graduates

Dave

Notice how every horn-blower for Prime says the same old "I heard there is a McDonalds" over and over again? There must be some Prime response book out there somewhere.

The behavior described in this rip-off report would be followed by the typical CDL A Mill. The class failure rate suggested here points toward incompetent instructors. Since they are supposed to be licensed by the state, they could be reported to the state's Driver Education Department.

If this particular Prime discussed in this report, is the same as the over-the-road company Prime, I am surprised since I have heard they are a good company to drive/lease for.

As for Prime Inc. goes, they are probably the best company to go with if your looking for your CDL. No ther company does training like Prime. When I started I had a choice to pick from almost all the Company Paid CDL programs, I chose Prime because they just don't stick you in a classroom, you go through the 4-day program, I already had my CDL permit when I arrived and I strongly recommend you have your permit before you arrive. I went down there with no money hardly at all and Prime gave me a $240 advance that friday to help me get by. Friday I got assigned to a trainer and went OTR for 3 weeks, I learned the ins-and-outs of the company and learned way more being OTR with a trainer then I would have been stuck in class for a month. They gave me $240 advance every week to help me while I was out with my trainer for the first 3 weeks. We returned after the 3 weeks and I received my CDL, then I got paired with another trainer and I started making $600/week or .12 cents a mile whichever was greater. They took $60/week out of my check for the advances they gave me while I was training for the first 3 weeks. When I comleted my last 3-4 weeks of OTR training, I got to go home for 3 days while I was waiting tractor assignments. I got a call monday saying they had me a truck ready to go, and my first load and I was off and running. Thank You Prime for probably the best training hands down. My truck is a beautiful Freightliner Classic. Also my schooling will be completely free after 1 year of service. Only way you will owe money is if you get fired or quit, like most company's.

Its me again. i still think your an idiot looking to place the blame for Your own shortcomings on someone else. Hey its the American way anymore. Ive been with Prime since the turn of the century and were both still going strong. Like I said before Trucking isnt rocket science, but its not for sissies either.

1) as a lease operator (which is what Primes system is set up to train you to be) you are basically a small business owner. with all the benefits of an employee.

2)If you couldnt pass the CDL permit test after reading the answers in the book maybe you arent cut out to be a truck driver.

3)I hear McDonalds is looking for a janitor

I went through training at prime and didn't get ripped off until I leased a truck. Your first mistake was showing up there without a permit. Primes training program is probibly the best in the industry. Their goal is to get you into the lease program and that is where the ripoff starts. The trainer not only gets paid to deliver freight but he or she gets paid to teach you everything you need to know about controling that truck. If he's not teaching properly it's your responsibility to contact the fleet manager to get placed with another trainer. especialy if he's sleeping while your driving. The student is supposed to do the majority of the driving while the instructor sits in the passenger seat and teaches.

My instuctor was also my trainer. He did an exelent job and we're still freinds today. The way to beat their system is to take a truck with a 1 year lease. After the one year is up turn the truck in and find another company to drive for. Thats where I made my mistake. My third year is when I lost everything.

it figures another company Hornblower boasting up prime inc!!! your probably sitting some where trying to get prime inc to fix your leased truck or cant get a load or maybe there giving you a bonus out of the thirty seven hundred bucks they ripped some poor guy off for just to make them look good fact is prime inc sucks and they are a RIP off!! as for holding my hand your probably laying in your sleeper dreaming about it you sicko so just go blow your horn where the sun don't shine you ignoramus oh and good luck getting them to fix your truck just keep blowing there horn or what ever your blowing!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been an instructor in Prime's cdl school since its inception in 2002, and have seen many students come and go. Many leave trucking in the school stage because trucking is a VERY hard life style change, and most people cannot handle the rigors of this life.

As for your not being able to read the manual the State of Missouri provides, I think you should file a ripoff report on the Warrenton School District. If you read the book instead of running around the hotel all night, you would have passed the permit test the first day like 10% of your class. Or even on the second day like an additional 20% did. You didnt even mention the third day.

As for life in the truck, my students do 90% of the driving i am up, alert, and in the passenger seat. The paperwork is done when we park for the evening after we back into a spot (student does 100% of backing after leaving Springfield).

I do have to agree with you that there arent enough hours in the day to accomplish all this but I teach 10 students in a year for 5 years now and NEVER had a student fail! Nov 2004 contractor of the month was my student in 2002. (go Todd!!!) This isnt rocket science but you do have to apply yourself and pay attention. If you need someone to hold your hand all day at work, I hear Mcdonalds is hiring.

Even with all the companys shortcomings, overall I think it is the best trucking/training company out there. Dont take the easy route and blame Prime for your mistakes.