Bloomberg Article On Blue Collar Student Debt

The non-compete clause is a separate contract saying that after you leave the company, you can not go to work with a company in direct competition for a period of 1-3 years thereafter depending on the company who is issuing the contract without paying a large fee first. This is regardless of whether you have completed the terms of your training/employment contract and have thus effectively paid off.

I am not aware of any companies out there that are forcing drivers to sign a non-compete contract that states you can't go to work anywhere else even if you're fulfilled your training obligation. Can you give me the name of a company that's doing that? I would love to look into it and ask them what that's all about.

You just don't know what you're jumping into with a smaller company though and I'm even more leery of them with less information and transparency available.

This I agree with completely.

I drive for Prime (where I'm happy contracts and all btw). It's my understanding that most of the other major carriers are doing the same now. This is where start getting into rumorville though since the contracts are supposedly trade secrets and it's hard to find out the details. Anything to clear these up would be very helpful.

The non-compete clause is a separate contract saying that after you leave the company, you can not go to work with a company in direct competition for a period of 1-3 years thereafter depending on the company who is issuing the contract without paying a large fee first. This is regardless of whether you have completed the terms of your training/employment contract and have thus effectively paid off.

I am not aware of any companies out there that are forcing drivers to sign a non-compete contract that states you can't go to work anywhere else even if you're fulfilled your training obligation. Can you give me the name of a company that's doing that? I would love to look into it and ask them what that's all about.

You just don't know what you're jumping into with a smaller company though and I'm even more leery of them with less information and transparency available.

This I agree with completely.

Anybody who signs a contract without understanding the implications of said contract is an idiot. I would not work for a trucking company that required a non compete. There are plenty of other companies that do not require one. I've heard people say that they were so rushed through the paperwork, there was no way to understand it. BS. I told them I needed time to look through the contracts. And guess what, time was provided.

So why would you not educate others so they could do the same?

Anybody who signs a contract without understanding the implications of said contract is an idiot. I would not work for a trucking company that required a non compete. There are plenty of other companies that do not require one. I've heard people say that they were so rushed through the paperwork, there was no way to understand it. BS. I told them I needed time to look through the contracts. And guess what, time was provided.

CB Frank wrote:

They are not one in the same. The non-compete clause is a separate contract. (I know because I've signed both an employment contract as well as a non-compete contract). The non-compete clause is a separate contract saying that after you leave the company, you can not go to work with a company in direct competition for a period of 1-3 years thereafter depending on the company who is issuing the contract without paying a large fee first. This is regardless of whether you have completed the terms of your training/employment contract and have thus effectively paid off.

I'm confused. PRIME had you sign a non compete clause that disallows you from working for another company for YEARS after you complete the pay off???

I don't believe it. Take a pic of the contract or type the text here please.

My contract is a year older than yours and stated that if I leave I owe the balance.of the contract and it was prorated. It stated prime could collect $70 per week from my future earnings at my next company. If I left after six months I owed half the original.amount of the debt. If I stayed 9mos I owed 25% of the amount

There's enough prime newbies on this site to get the real info. I'll call training on Monday to find out.

But your last comment confused me.cause then you stated you are going g by rumors..... So did you go to another school before prime ?

From the article: "There was no real training in backing up. One guy got hypothermia"

Thanks for my morning laugh.

Frank...I think you are seriously mistaking and confusing a general non-compete with one as a condition of meeting or not meeting a training obligation.

When a non-compete/restrictive covenant is part of a training contract it's potentially enforceable but only if you, the driver do not meet ALL of the obligations specified in the terms. Case in point; CRST.

Otherwise a general restrictive covenant or non-compete without tangible conditions of enforcement or boundless, preventing you from driving for another company for 1-3 years (contracts are not usually written with ranges) is NOT worth the paper it's printed on. This is especially true in any State that is designated as a "Right To Work State" (most are). It's unenforceable! Period!

Non-competes or restrictive covenants are in place to, for example, prevent pilfing (stealing) of customers or selling trade secrets or knowledgeware within the same market or industry to a competitor. Are you stealing Prime's customers?

By you driving for a competitor of Prime, it does nothing to irrevocably damage or harm their business. There is nothing unique or proprietary with "driving a truck"...there isn't a legal way to unconditionally restrict a driver from freely working for multiple companies throughout the course of their career.

Think about the amount of job hopping that occurs in this industry. If there was a shred of truth to the notion of prolific existence of non-competes; moving from company to company wouldn't be the prevailing culture like it is.