Prime Or CFI?

I wrote- taking home $3900/wk… Yes, I am standing by- that this was said publicly at the Prime Inc Friday 8am weekly Facebook safety meeting. Will I provide a link to the you tube meeting were it was said in 2021? I don’t want to dig thru the you tube videos to find this statement. It was during the pandemic recovery. It was not said, at the meeting, how many months this 3900 average was achieved….. I have no desire to create or be involved in a rabbit trail that deviates from x100’s original purpose of this thread. And this is really all I want to contribute on the 3900 issue.

We don't have APUs. Our trucks will idle when the outside temp is 30 and below or 70 and above. Mine will idle any other time by raising the idle with cruise control. We have dry van and temp controlled (refer). We have terminals all over the country. We do run into Canada.

Our trucks have Sirius/XM radios and have a TV mount. The newest trucks will have refrigerators. We are governed at 65 and can have an extra 2 MPH for passing. We also have shops around the country. Getting anything fixed on the road is simple.

I am happy with our benefits.

If you have to pay for showers or parking it is quickly reimbursed. We are paid on dispatch and can see what your earning with each load.

I hope this answers some questions.

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

Dry Van:

A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I can attest you misunderstood. Yes TEAM trucks averaged around $3300 per week after expenses. At the height of covid. The solo trucks average around $1600 to $1900 per week after all expenses paid. When you look at their checks... Their checks can appear to be very large $2500 for solo even $10,000 for team until you calculate their down time, home time and shop time.

I literally have hundreds of lease op settlements. Not one in 7 years has proved they make more than I do as a company driver.

At the height of covid, many were making 80 to 90cpm after expenses but before taxes. However, when you include the years they have the lease, it averages out to 70 to 75cpm before taxes with no benefits and limited workmen's comp. When you add our health benefits, workers comp and employer taxes.... It evens out. When you add my tax return and 401k, even the lease completion bonus averages out. However... All of their bonus is their money prime took from them over the years... Half of mine is primes contribution to my 401k.

Those same people who were making $3000+ on a team truck are now back to normal prices and upset that they "made more solo than teaming now". The markets are going back to pre covid rates and they don't like it.

I am not overly concerned with pay rates. Of all the numbers I have seen in trucking I reckon that I will comfortably exceed where I am now? Currently averaging $850/week take home after 25+ years in the parts business. Adjusted for inflation, about the same as when I started in 1994. Yes, it has varied considerably over the years. The proverbial straw is that our dealership is now switching DMS (major software) to a new system that has very mixed reviews. I have, however, been seriously considering this career change since long before that decision was made.

Below is my most recent pay statement from Prime.

The gross earnings plus the travel allowance equals my gross income for the year.

I have been with Prime for two and a half years. Half of this year I drove flatbed. Since August I have been driving tanker.

Hello Chief,

What does your typical home time pattern look like throughout the year? How many weeks out at a time?

Thank you for posting this. 👍

Below is my most recent pay statement from Prime.

The gross earnings plus the travel allowance equals my gross income for the year.

I have been with Prime for two and a half years. Half of this year I drove flatbed. Since August I have been driving tanker.

So there is a company driver flatbed to tanker making roughly $1650 per week average.

Here is a lease tanker... Making roughly the same amount

In this settlement, his lease to date he paid out $137,876 in expenses to make $85,325. Divide that by the 51 weeks he has had the lease.... And bam! Same amount as Chief Brody.

However Chief has workers comp, full benefits and 401k.

Scott M, I hope you are paying attention to the facts presented here by the participants in this conversation. I wasn't trying to be aggressive with you or confrontational. Your statements were clearly misleading. I don't want new folks in here to be confused. Your statement about "take home" pay is way off. You clearly don't understand the numbers and that's why your comments are misleading.

A lease operator is not an employee. Therefore they don't even receive a paycheck. You cannot look at their checks and call the numbers "take home" pay. Those checks are still leaving out expenses that must be dealt with. Kearsey made that clear.

In a commodities industry where the mean profits are typically 3 to 5 percent, there is very little extra money to be paid out to any sort of contracted driver. Don't fall for the hype. The money just isn't there.

I know you saw a video. I know you thought the video showed something special. The truth is that rates bounce around a lot. Nobody gets rich when the rates are elevated. They're usually lucky if the rates stay up long enough to counter the losses from the last plunge.

We try to keep the truth foremost here. That's why I questioned you. I can assure you none of the people in that video reported income on their tax returns like you thought they should. The reason isn't because they lie on their tax returns. The reason is because that's the one place they make sure they are honest.

Hello Chief,

What does your typical home time pattern look like throughout the year? How many weeks out at a time?

Thank you for posting this. 👍

Below is my most recent pay statement from Prime.

The gross earnings plus the travel allowance equals my gross income for the year.

I have been with Prime for two and a half years. Half of this year I drove flatbed. Since August I have been driving tanker.

I run resets so I generally have a 34-hour reset each weekend.

Plus I take 3 to 4 days home time each month.

I think all reputable companies such as Prime and CFI will set a driver up in a hotel/motel if something goes wrong with the heating or cooling system of the truck. If a driver sleeps in a driver’s lounge, it’s probably because he wants to, not because that was his only option. The safety dept. of my company wants their drivers to be comfortable and well rested and never refuse to pay for a motel or Uber transportation when necessary.