Prime: Orientation and Training?

I just finished the PSD portion of the training so.... The instructor part is to teach you how to pass the CDL tests. You are supposed to do a pre trip daily. Study the sheet whenever you can. The 1st 2 days you are only allowed to drive a maximum of 5 hours, it will feel like 20 lol Also during the first day you are not allowed to drive at night. After the first couple of weeks your instructor will not have drive time left, so you will have to pull full 11 hour shifts yourself. Each instructor is different so your exact experience will be different. The whole point is for you to learn what u need to pass the CDL tests. There are 3 tests; Pre trip, backing, road test. There are three different tests you do in the backing. The first is always the straight line backing, then either a right or left offset, then you either do an alley dock or a blindside or sightside parallel. Hope this helps

 

Hiya...

Ok, that helps. Are we actually going to be taking loads somewhere then, or is this just around the local area driving?

Great info you are supplying

 

O no... you will be EVERYWHERE lol You are actually doing the job, seeing the lifestyle. In the just over month Ive been driving Ive been to:
missouri, indiana, illinois, ohio, pennsylvania, west virginia, new jersey, maryland, virginia, washington dc, north carolina, south carolina, georgia, alabama, arkansas, texas, kansas, colorado, tennessee, mississippi, oklahoma, kansas, iowa, nebraska, wyoming, new mexico, arizona, california, lousiana. Thats just in the short time Ive been driving... Most of those states were during the PSD phase.

 

Thanks again OSD... great to know

 

It is a great program. You learn more than just how to drive the truck. You actually see what it is like to be doing the job. Just pay attention to everything going on around you.

 

I just saw this on another board (that I cannot link to, restricted access) and thought this would make a great post here... it deals with packing
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A recently released survey has revealed some British vacation habits ranging from men's sparse underwear usage to women's excessive packing.

Cultural stereotypes suggest that women pack more for their vacations than men and that men are less concerned with appearances and personal hygiene.

A new survey carried out by holiday deal site sunshine.co.uk among 1,294 British men and women who had been on a week-long holiday over the past 12 months reinforces these stereotypes and reveals the extent of the different packing approaches taken by the two genders.

According to the survey, released this week, British men consider underwear a waste of suitcase space, with the majority of those surveyed admitting to packing only three pairs of underwear for a week-long holiday. Women, on the other hand, overcompensated with the majority of female holiday-goers taking ten pairs.

Most men tried to justify their lack of underwear with 12 percent stating they planned to wash some items and 37 percent claiming they mostly wore swimming trunks -- it is not known what the remaining 51 percent planned to do.

The survey also found that British women take an average of 34 items of clothing on holiday and men a mere 14. While on holiday men used 98 percent of the items in their suitcase, presumably the underwear several times, while women used only 62 percent of items.

Additionally women tend to see holidays as a chance to expand their wardrobes with 47 percent claiming to have bought new items of clothing while away; only 7 percent of men did the same.
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Agreed, this is about vacation, but it could very well apply to trucking also

 

So I should buy a new wardrobe before going to trainning LOL

 

Make sure it all matches lol

 

Well headed out in 6 hours to Pittston PA. 15 hour Greyhound ride...oh the joy...lol. Orientation starts the 5th..

 

Make sure you have a jacket/hoodie... it does get cold in places this time of year. Especially in the perishable dock at a grocery warehouse.

Ah... matching fifth wheel grease stains helps keep from tossing stuff out.