Team Lease at Prime? Yay or Nay?

I do not now, nor have I ever worked for Prime. I know nothing about their lease program or how it works. That being said, I do drive team with my wife as my co-driver.

team driving is very hard. You will get very little good rest and it is VERY cramped living space. I would advise you to think long and hard about jumping into a financial commitment with someone who is essentially a total stranger. His work ethic may turn out to be less than what you feel is acceptable. His personal hygiene and cleanliness may turn out to be less than what you feel is acceptable. Does he live in the same city or even in the same state as you? How will hometime work?

If these "little" issues start to pile up, how will you handle being stuck in a closet sized place with this stranger for weeks on end? Little resentments can turn big when you are less than two feet away from this person at all hours of day and night. What if you're trying to sleep and he wants to listen to awful music to stay awake while driving all night?

Your priorities and goals and values and lifestyle and tastes must be very closely aligned to make team driving work. It is difficult sometimes for me, and my teammate is the person who I love the most in the entire world. I could never handle this lifestyle with a stranger as a teammate, no matter how well we "bonded" during a week of classroom time.

My advice would be to NOT get into a financial commitment with a stranger. I think that you both will regret it. That's just my opinion though.

 

Well put, one couldn't agree more.

 

Start here: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/prime/182163-leasing-prime.html

Ironpony, the person who started the thread, is a real advocate for leasing at Prime, but he says that anyone considering a lease should drive as a company driver for at least a full year. Learn how to be a trucker before starting a trucking business. If you have any questions, send him a private message. I've met him in person, and he really wants to help.

I would say that his advice is even more important if you want to team. Personality issues aside, which the others have mentioned, there are business issues to consider. Simply splitting the expenses 50/50 won't cut it. What if your teammate drives with a "lead foot", and burns an extra $100 worth of fuel every shift? What if he insists on fueling at a truck stop that charges an extra 10 cents per gallon for fuel, solely because the showers are "nicer"? These are all issues that can be worked out while teaming as company drivers, and you always have the option of going solo when it becomes apparent that things aren't working.

 

1st NO DON"T DO IT

now the why
before you even think about doing it you NEED to be on the road for 1-2 years just to learn how things work.
in that time run the truck as if it was a lease truck.... track EVERYTHING on each load fuel, repaires, down time...remember that if you breakdown and sit in a motel for a week (happens all the time) as a lease truck YOU pay for the motel (company pays for company drivers) when you breakdown you still OWE all the fixed cost for the truck AND your not making money, when you go home for home time your not making money BUT you still owe the fixed cost on the truck.... so say you breakdown for a week and then you go home for a week.. thats 2 weeks that month you didn't make any money but you still owe a months worth of fixed cost.... did you make enough in the 2 weeks to pay the fixed cost of the truck and make any money for you to take home.... remember that the company will take there money first before you get paid.... and by the way you will be the one that has to pay for the repair too

have you ever run or managed a business because this iS a business 1st and for most

you want to do this running team... so who's the boss....? only 1 of you will sign the contract (thats the boss) thats the 1 that is on paper responsible for everything, and the one that gets paid (no tax 1099) and must pay the other (no tax 1099)
also remember that when you get paid it's not taxed so you will need to take care of the taxes on what you do get

sorry to be so hard but i don't want to see you fail..... do i think you can do it YES i do just not yet

 

Read the whole thread, not just skip through , there's important comments in there. He's one that made it work - solo, so - it can be done.

 

Sounds good in theory but reality will kick you in the #####. You got along with someone in class now you want to be stuck in a truck with them 24/7 for weeks on end.Usually fizzles after a few weeks when you both realize that you can't stand each other for whatever reason.Another thing is I have no idea how Prime pays but if say you lease the truck all fees come out of you correct?How is your co driver paid.Does Prime pay them a set rate or do you have to pay him from your settlement.If you pay him are you giving him half your settlement after expenses?Now brings up the fact of him having equal say in loads,repairs,fueling,hometime etc.If prime pays him a cpm pay are you taking expenses from his check or are you going to figure out all the money and give him his cut from your check?Then there's tax issues to figure at the end of the year.

Trucking is not for everyone so when one of you possibly quit who's name is the truck in and if its say in yours and you decide to quit he's hanging in the wind.If you do some really good research you'll find that there are guys making money with Prime leasing but the BIG money your looking for is probably not there in the first stages of your career.Maybe in a year or two when you get a better understanding of the business it could work but 2 new drivers leasing a truck is in my opinion a certain failure.

 

Wait!!! You need more time then just a few months, trust me. When I started out I wanted to hop into a lease too, I look back now and im so happy I didn't and in just over a year I know so much more then I did back then, im still learning every day. Do yourself a favor and find out if you can even handle living in a truck because in the beginning it's fun but after reality sets in...your living in a truck maybe your partner can't handle it after a few months and your left with that 950.00 a week truck payment plus your insurance and everything else. I'm not saying prime has a bad deal, I thought about it a few months back and decided against it because of the high payments and taking 6 years to own the truck. Give yourself time and sleep on it for 52 weeks. You'll be very happy you did. Good luck

 

I know Prime lease drivers can become trainers or take on a partner driver, usually a new driver, and make great money. That way it is your leased truck and you are in control. You can set the rules or get rid of a team partner you can't get along with. But definitely don't do this without more experience. And drivers who succeed in their own businesses work very hard AND very smart. That takes experience. If you jump right in, you are asking for it!

 

First, I recommend that you have at least two years of experience before you even consider trying a lease. During that two years you need to learn how to run your truck efficiently... lease guys make their money off of the fuel they don't burn, read everything you can about business, and stash away as much money as you can. Then have your head examined, and if you still really want to do this go down to the leasing office and get a copy of both contracts. Make sure you read them and understand them before you do anything else.

Someone has to sign that lease and be responsible for the truck and the money. If you don't treat your codriver as an employee (Prime will take his pay and withholding out of the settlement before you see a cent,) then you'll need to form a partnership under an LLC to deal with the distribution of costs and profits. If you decide you hate each other after a couple of weeks locked up in a little rolling closet, the divorce will be messy.

Most folks right out of TnT or with a few months of experience don't really have a clue about trucking, let alone how to go about trucking as a business. I see many guys barely able to clear half of what their campadres who stayed on the company side manage. Then they think with a few of months of experience we'll get into training because they can't make enough money. Yeah, right. Remember the part about they don't know enough about trucking to run it as a business? That means you don't know enough to really "train" someone.

Industry-wide, I'm told the failure rate on leases and lease-purchases is around 90%. Before Fred E. retired, I spoke with him about how it pans out at Prime. Fully 4 out of 5 fail to make it through their first lease, with the majority dropping out in the first year... and to be fair, there are many reasons for this. The point is, the deck is stacked against you, and if you don't prepare yourself the statistics will catch up with you. 3 months of solo experience ain't preparation. Fully across all industries, 80% of new business fail in their first few years. You will be a driver, but you need to be a business person as well.

I'll also say, if you do prepare properly, put back enough cash to make your business viable, Prime is a place you can make a lease work, and make more money than a company driver would.