Comments By Jason V.

I can deal with newbies getting decent pay and loads. Not a problem. The slap in the face didn't even come from Prime at first. It came from Henderson management. The president of the company, a GREAT guy named Josh Kaburick. That spineless coward didn't even give we owner-operators a heads up. I found out from a shipper. I didn't believe it until I get back to the home terminal and there's a Prime truck sitting at the yard. Imagine the surprise of all the drivers at the yard. The second slap was when Henderson started being a training company. When John Kaburick ran the show, no less than 2 years experience and a nearly perfect driving record got you in the door. Prime's slap in the face came with the sudden change in dispatchers. Here, work with a guy who has zero experience running owner-operators. It was one thing after another.

I can't stress this enough. What you say can turn a non-preventable accident into a preventable. The deer hit me is non-preventable. I hit the deer is a preventable. Always make the deer at fault. Never ever say you hit anything. Even a pole. It hit you.

Every part of that truck that has to do with you controlling properly will adjust to the driver. Notice the seats. They almost envelop you. They go up, down, forward, back, lumbar support, thoracic support (middle back), the steering wheel adjusts to you. Get comfy. You're gonna be there a while.

After a while, you'll learn to understand the "language" your truck is speaking. Listen to the engine. It will tell you when it's time to shift. Just remember the Addams Family song and you'll be fine. Don't panic if you lose a gear. Everyone does it from time to time. Just recover your gear and try again. About the paper tubes, if you press the clutch tube to the floor, that's way too far. Half way down is the most you should ever press unless coming to a stop or starting the engine. There are tons of videos on YouTube that show double clutch technique. Practice Practice Practice. It'll come to you. Be patient. Keep your cool. Don't panic. Also, don't try shifting down hill. You and a run away ramp will become good friends.

For the record, not married, no kids. I don't wan the hassle of having to manage a trucking company and a family at the same time. Honestly, I don't miss anything. Been married before, bother after bother. Trucking is kind of the same to me, but, trucking gets me paid. Marriage doesn't. Just my view of the world from that angle. Don't have to agree with it, also means you don't have to judge. As for the single miscommunication, no. That wasn't the first and only one. It was nearly constant after Prime seated their own dispatchers with Henderson. A friend of mine who's been with Henderson for years just quit because of Prime. At least he says because of Prime. They are a HUGE company. There are going to be things that come up, but don't make me, the driver, responsible for your mistakes. Take responsibility for them, reschedule or talk to the shipper. My time is precious to me and a company wasting it on a slip of the finger on a keyboard just wasted several hours of my time. As a back-up, Prime has a live loaded call system. That's to see if they screwed up anywhere with the load. I've talked to Swift drivers, they have a similar thing where they put the load information in at every stop. They send a macro saying they GOAL. Cya isn't bad, but, where's the line between driver responsibility and company responsibility? I run under my own authority now, which is great. Brokers can be...interesting sometimes, but, I answer for my actions. Makes me think about my actions. I'm not a super trucker. I will always learn in this industry. There is just a line in the sand I drew that I won't tolerate Crap after. If you're happy at Prime, stay and enjoy! Not many people can say they truly like their employer. I'm just happier on my own without a 100mph dispatcher trying to get me to do posted speed limit over snow and ice.

Some of their loads are misplanned. Example of this, at Newly Wed Foods, I have a pick on 5/19/2015. The shipper had me scheduled for the day after. Prime vehemently refused to accept responsibility for this mix-up and this lack of culpability ultimately lead to me terminating my contract with them.

First of all, how do you know it wasn't the shipper that put the wrong date in their books? What makes you so certain it was Prime's fault?

And second, you terminated a contract with a company because there was one miscommunication between Prime and a customer on one load? Well I hope you're prepared to terminate about 50 contracts a year because that stuff happens regularly in this industry.

Prime staff and drivers may be nice and all, but, the corporate part of Prime literally sees you as little more than a living breathing log book

And how do you view Prime the corporation? Is the success of the corporation the most important thing in your life? Would you give up your wife and children to help them be successful? I don't get this line of thinking. You're an owner operator who has made a business agreement with a corporation. What do you want them to do, plan your wedding for you? Baptize your children? Throw you a parade every time you come to town?

What is it they're supposed to be doing for you that they're not? Not that it matters I guess because you terminated the contract.

Like I said, this was my personal experience with Prime after they bought the company I was originally leased to. I was leased to Earl L. Henderson Trucking. Since Prime brokered the loads and dispatched, I was considered leased to Prime at that point. Great example of them pushing. I was in Cheyenne, WY early this year. Extremely cold, extremely windy and I'm hauling around 14,000 in the box. Winds easily 40+mph. I'm not going to move my truck. I know that at the very least, the trailer is going to be blown around like a piece of paper in those conditions. Told dispatch, they insisted that I get rolling to the 90 location. Worth mentioning I was on I-80E. Conditions were so bad that I couldn't, physically couldn't, put fuel in the reefer tank. The fuel line at the pump was frozen solid. I flatly told dispatch that I am not moving and that they needed to reschedule the drop. They threatened me with a service failure (my service record stood at 99.8% at the time.) It's my tractor and your freight. I understand you want your freight to move, but your load isn't worth my life if a gust of wind hits that light trailer and throws it off the road, dragging my tractor with it. Top that off with all of Prime's O/O being paid more per load, they run line haul percentage or by mile pay. 72% or $1/mi. Same as Henderson. Same load, same 90 location, Prime guy makes more. So, I have a special dislike of Prime. I won't lie about them, but I won't sugar coat the facts either.

Here's the problem. Opioids and any other narcotic drug, hallucinogens and their like, cause an altered state of awareness that detrimentaly impacts your ability to react to hazards, let alone recognise them. They impair your ability to make sound judgements. This job is safety sensitive. We have to watch out for the 4-wheeler who isn't trained.

Prey animals aren't built to have all the perks of a predator. Such as a CDL. Also, you never hit the deer. It hit you. What you say is critically important in judging fault. "The deer hit me." Saves your bacon. "I hit the deer." Turns into a DDAC, phone record pull, GPS track and all kinds of other, very unpleasant things.

Something new everyday. That's why there's no such thing as a super trucker.

From a place of experience, I will tell you that your logging class was probably wrong if your instructor told you to log off days. You can and honestly have to, but, you are learning how to log. A straight line in off-duty, not driving isn't helping you.