Profile For Dennis L

California already does 55 statewide. Tennessee has segments at 55.

California is the incubator for a lot of regulatory stuff.

I’m old enough to remember the days of 55 mph for all vehicles on interstates back in the 70’s OPEC embargo era.

9/16/23 I had to wait some minutes for this train to finish picking up rail cars and move out so I could get to my dock door. This at General Mills in Cedar Rapids, IA.

About 3,100 miles paid from south New Jersey to San Leandro, CA with a stop in Fresno. It was a hazmat load.

Took a 7th day to get done on recaps when a day of zero hours came up on delivery day. Couldn’t get both stops done same day.

Glad you are ok, BK.

Today another truck driver decided to pass me on a two lane highway (US-400 in KS) with less than a half mile to a marked passing lane (ie 2 miles ahead sign).

There was oncoming traffic. I braked so he could get around me in time safely.

Some people are just impatient.

When I get into the passing lanes on US-54/Us-400 I always slow down to 55-57 so others can get around me. My top speed is 62.

Congratulations Bill!

I’m paraphrasing something I heard at Prime during orientation:

“No load is so hot that it won’t cool off in a ditch”

Michael emailed the Texas DMV and received a reply that somewhat surprised me as it seems different than what Errol experienced regarding the hazmat endorsement. Seems odd that a federal type of endorsement would require retesting and new fingerprints. Below is the email he received.

Good morning,

The only endorsement that will not transfer State to State is the hazmat. If you have hazmat, you will be required to retest and refingerprint.

I went through this same process in March moving to Missouri from Arkansas.

I had to redo my Hazmat endorsement including the TSA background check (for a fee) and retake the Hazmat written exam.

I chose to take a 4 hour online hazmat class to prepare for the exam (for a fee). This class went into much more detail about packaging types. It was actually interesting.

I’ve been driving for Prime Inc for 14 months now. I did my CDL training with Prime and wrote 3 training diaries that you can look up.

I am a company driver in reefer division. I’m in a Freightliner lightweight truck (one person truck), so I get a 5 CPM premium over a full-size condo.

I started at 53 CPM. Current starting pay is 55 CPM (50 CPM Condo). I get 56 CPM base pay (48 CPM taxable + 8 CPM Per Diem not taxable), but my average with performance bonuses is 63.6 CPM.

I get 7 days paid vacation ($900) at 85k paid miles. I’m 5,900 miles away.

I wouldn’t call Prime a “starter” company. There are many drivers with Prime for many years. The Springfield Terminal has a lot of plaques honoring multi- million mile safe drivers. It takes 7-8 years per million miles.

Prime is predominantly a lease / owner operator company (>80%).

I personally prefer being a Company driver. I don’t have to worry about my operating costs, etc. Of course my upside is lower, but my downside is less.

Prime has 3 primary terminals in Springfield, MO (my home terminal), Salt Lake City Utah, and Pittson, PA. We have trailer drop yards across the country. I’ve been to to drop yards in Fontana, CA (near Ontario, CA), Dallas and Houston, TX.

There is a smaller terminal at Minooka, IL on I-80 that I’ve been to a couple times. There are other Prime locations for tanker washouts, but I haven’t been to them yet.

I live 48 miles from the Prime Springfield, MO terminal. So I park my car there while I’m on the road and park my truck there while I’m home.

That is not a requirement. You can can live anywhere and take you truck home on days off. Just need secure parking at home or near by.

PS. John Wayne and James Stewart together in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin is great as Liberty Valance) and The Shootist.

Sean Connery as James Bond

Harrison Ford for Star Wars and Indiana Jones

Tom Cruise for Mission Impossible and Top Gun

Matt Damon for Jason Bourne

Now I’m going to cheat. My favorite actors are John Wayne and James Stewart.

John Wayne in the John Ford directed US Calvery films: Rio Grande, Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, and The Horse Soldiers.

John Wayne and Maureen O’ Hara in 5 films together. America’s couple in their day.

James Stewart in the 5 Anthony Mann directed westerns in the 1950’s: Winchester 73, The Bend in the River, The Man From Laramie, The Far Country, and The Naked Spur.