Prime Inc Pros And Cons?
Topic 32270 | Page 1
I have a whole YouTube channel about this
After 7 years I can say the worst thing is they have poor communication despite having an excellent media system to publish news. Often they will announces changes in either a Facebook post or YouTube video which doesn't get to everyone. Our immediate team members are awesome though
Prime doesn't push you into leasing but the other drivers do because they want the newbies to take the crap loads so the experienced drivers are left with the great paying loads. In the end... They all make about the same anyway and not really any more than a company driver.
Truth is... I make a lot more.money and do whatever I want. Love it. Ask away
You're making me want to drive for prime when I get out of school. Any issues of getting a load? I heard drivers of other companies say that the company will send them somewhere to pick up a trailer and the trailer isn't even there.
You feel like they treat you good though? I'd like a company that is professional about things and not underhanded.
I have a whole YouTube channel about this
After 7 years I can say the worst thing is they have poor communication despite having an excellent media system to publish news. Often they will announces changes in either a Facebook post or YouTube video which doesn't get to everyone. Our immediate team members are awesome though
Prime doesn't push you into leasing but the other drivers do because they want the newbies to take the crap loads so the experienced drivers are left with the great paying loads. In the end... They all make about the same anyway and not really any more than a company driver.
Truth is... I make a lot more.money and do whatever I want. Love it. Ask away
One thing you'll find out quickly is that many drivers are far better at complaining about their job than doing it.
Prime is a great company that takes good care of it's people.
However miscommunications do happen. They may have been given bad info and passed it on to you. It's just as frustrating to them as it is to you when it happens. So yes at Prime I have been sent somewhere for a trailer that wasn't there due to communication errors. But errors like this are the exception not the norm.
I got my CDL through Prime and spent about 3.5 years with them. I only left Prime because the OTR life was hard on my wife and kids. I now have a home everyday local job.
I highly recommend Prime.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
About how often did you get home time there? How many days was it?
One thing you'll find out quickly is that many drivers are far better at complaining about their job than doing it.
Prime is a great company that takes good care of it's people.
However miscommunications do happen. They may have been given bad info and passed it on to you. It's just as frustrating to them as it is to you when it happens. So yes at Prime I have been sent somewhere for a trailer that wasn't there due to communication errors. But errors like this are the exception not the norm.
I got my CDL through Prime and spent about 3.5 years with them. I only left Prime because the OTR life was hard on my wife and kids. I now have a home everyday local job.
I highly recommend Prime.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
As a company driver it doesn't matter if they send me looking for empty trailers. I get paid empty miles, lease guys don't. So they are the ones complaining. The empty miles increase my fuel bonus! So hell yeah I want those miles 😂. The past 2.weeks.i.got.7cpm on fuel bonus alone!! Yes I train teams...but it came to an extra $350ish per week.
Last summer I did seem to run looking for empties.... But I am always preplanned so I am never truly without a load unless I asked for something special and they are finding it. Example.... I was in California with my student and asked for a load to get me home time in NJ but would allow.me.to drop her in MO. It took 3 hours to find the load and we needed a 34 to do it. So we got some rest then rolled. Not a big deal.
Home time depends on your division and home location. Some people are intermodal (rail yards) and get home daily. Some are regional/dedicated getting home every other weekend. Most OTR can stay out 3 weeks take 3 days off. Stay out 4 weeks get 4 days off
Once there for awhile...many company drivers stay out 6 weeks and get 6 days off. If u suck as a driver that won't fly. If you are an awesome driver and later are willing to train...you get anything you want.
People go into leasing thinking it allows them home more often ...but it is the opposite. They need to stay out at least 6 weeks to be profitable and many due 8 to 12 weeks as lease before going home.
However.... My friends at other companies all feel the same way. Scott at CFI gets what he wants...Old School at Knight gets what he wants... G Town was at Swift and got what he wanted. People think I'm treated special cause I'm on YouTube ..truth is.. I was treated special way way before I went on YouTube. It's about being safe a d productive and communicating with dispatch.
Feel free to ask anything
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
One thing about Prime is that we are privately owned and the Owner is on site...playing basketball with the employees everyday from noon until 2pm. He walks around and is totally available. Every Friday there is a company safety meeting they put on YouTube and we interact with the various managers. For 3 years I was an appointed member of the Driver Advisory Board that sat with management heads including the owner several.times.a year to improve profits as well as lifestyle for the drivers. They truly care and want to fix things that don't work well.
We constantly have parties and family day events.... Charity fundraisers... And the owner knows me and has even made appearances on my YouTube channel. When my mom had a heart attack. I received a call from an operations manager saying that the #2 guy at Prime instructed him to give me any position I needed to assist with my mom. That never happened at any other job.
But I make it a point to network. Others on this forum have told me of frustrations they have had with dispatch or loads from time to time. But they had less time than me so I do t know if it was their lack of experience.
We have free nutritionists, physical trainers. And mental health professionals also.
They pay us $200 per quarter to stick to the program and pay for an annual $250 full blood panel to help keep us fit. I really need to start doing this.
We also have maintenance classes and they just paired up with a local company for self defense courses....all free!
I was on Reddit and a lot of the swift drivers there seemed really disgruntled. Saying they can't wait to quit and leave etc. Saying it was hell.
Swift is an attractive company to me because it's the biggest and most successful and I think that's a good sign of a well run company. But I don't know. Prime seems tops too but it might not be smart for someone from Shreveport, Louisiana.
As a company driver it doesn't matter if they send me looking for empty trailers. I get paid empty miles, lease guys don't. So they are the ones complaining. The empty miles increase my fuel bonus! So hell yeah I want those miles 😂. The past 2.weeks.i.got.7cpm on fuel bonus alone!! Yes I train teams...but it came to an extra $350ish per week.
Last summer I did seem to run looking for empties.... But I am always preplanned so I am never truly without a load unless I asked for something special and they are finding it. Example.... I was in California with my student and asked for a load to get me home time in NJ but would allow.me.to drop her in MO. It took 3 hours to find the load and we needed a 34 to do it. So we got some rest then rolled. Not a big deal.
Home time depends on your division and home location. Some people are intermodal (rail yards) and get home daily. Some are regional/dedicated getting home every other weekend. Most OTR can stay out 3 weeks take 3 days off. Stay out 4 weeks get 4 days off
Once there for awhile...many company drivers stay out 6 weeks and get 6 days off. If u suck as a driver that won't fly. If you are an awesome driver and later are willing to train...you get anything you want.
People go into leasing thinking it allows them home more often ...but it is the opposite. They need to stay out at least 6 weeks to be profitable and many due 8 to 12 weeks as lease before going home.
However.... My friends at other companies all feel the same way. Scott at CFI gets what he wants...Old School at Knight gets what he wants... G Town was at Swift and got what he wanted. People think I'm treated special cause I'm on YouTube ..truth is.. I was treated special way way before I went on YouTube. It's about being safe a d productive and communicating with dispatch.
Feel free to ask anything
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
I was on Reddit and a lot of the swift drivers there seemed really disgruntled. Saying they can't wait to quit and leave etc. Saying it was hell.
Swift is an attractive company to me because it's the biggest and most successful and I think that's a good sign of a well run company. But I don't know. Prime seems tops too but it might not be smart for someone from Shreveport, Louisiana.
As a company driver it doesn't matter if they send me looking for empty trailers. I get paid empty miles, lease guys don't. So they are the ones complaining. The empty miles increase my fuel bonus! So hell yeah I want those miles 😂. The past 2.weeks.i.got.7cpm on fuel bonus alone!! Yes I train teams...but it came to an extra $350ish per week.
Last summer I did seem to run looking for empties.... But I am always preplanned so I am never truly without a load unless I asked for something special and they are finding it. Example.... I was in California with my student and asked for a load to get me home time in NJ but would allow.me.to drop her in MO. It took 3 hours to find the load and we needed a 34 to do it. So we got some rest then rolled. Not a big deal.
Home time depends on your division and home location. Some people are intermodal (rail yards) and get home daily. Some are regional/dedicated getting home every other weekend. Most OTR can stay out 3 weeks take 3 days off. Stay out 4 weeks get 4 days off
Once there for awhile...many company drivers stay out 6 weeks and get 6 days off. If u suck as a driver that won't fly. If you are an awesome driver and later are willing to train...you get anything you want.
People go into leasing thinking it allows them home more often ...but it is the opposite. They need to stay out at least 6 weeks to be profitable and many due 8 to 12 weeks as lease before going home.
However.... My friends at other companies all feel the same way. Scott at CFI gets what he wants...Old School at Knight gets what he wants... G Town was at Swift and got what he wanted. People think I'm treated special cause I'm on YouTube ..truth is.. I was treated special way way before I went on YouTube. It's about being safe a d productive and communicating with dispatch.
Feel free to ask anything
What does Shreveport have to do with the company you choose?
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
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Hey all, I already got my CDL (no experience) and I think Prime inc has the best training program from what I understand.
Just wanted to know from new and seasoned drivers who worked for them, is their anything I should be aware of (that the recruiters may neglect to tell me)?
Any pros and cons you guys know of would be great. Could just be simple tips if any.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles: