Info from L/O at prime, inc.

They quoted me $1300 per week including everything for a 2013. In round numbers, the $1000 or so in truck payment on a new Cascadia includes all of your insurance. The extra $100 or $200 includes fuel card, qualcom rental, plates and permits, federal highway use tax, occupational accident insurance. That's a little over a hundred. APU rental is extra on top of that. The truck payment goes down a bit every year. I'd recommend that you talk to leasing to get the correct skinny on the numbers, and have them send you an exemplar copy of the lease. 800.491.1240

All of Prime's in-house financing options require a $13,000 down payment, discounted by $1,000 for each full year of service at Prime. An ACE-II lease from the git-go will require that down. One thing you could do is either save enough to do the down later on and convert a regular lease into an ACE-II lease-purchase agreement, or do a used-purchase lease at the end of your 3-year lease on that truck if the truck has less than 450,000 miles on it. The "old" leases (like mine) all had an amortization table in an addendum showing the purchase price by month of lease and mileage... you can arrange your own financing and buy the truck at any time. The power-train warranty is for 350,000 miles, but much of the truck is covered by manufacturer's warranties for much longer... five years or 600,000 miles.

On a new 680 it'd be higher. You'd have to ask leasing about that, however it's my understanding the the Kenworth acquisition was limited just to round out the numbers of tractors coming in this year since Peterbilt and Freightliner couldn't produce enough. You'd be looking at picking one up on a used lease... which is a way of getting into a lease truck at a lower price per week.

It might be better to think of that "truck you love" as a longer term project. You control routing, toll vs non-toll, and how you go about buying fuel. All of these are important in running a tight operation. Additionally, how you manage your time after going empty has an effect on how soon your loaded again. What do you pay for? Well, everything. Unlike some of the scam lease-purchase outfits, Prime runs their operation about as close to an owner-operator outfit that can be done. You want your truck washed, you're paying for it. You want your truck worked on? Well, that's different, because for the majority of the lease, you'll be covered by warranty. One difference from a few years ago, you have to arrange your own health insurance... we're no longer included in a group policy negotiated by Prime.

In any event, leasing will be contacting you to see what your intentions are with the emphasis on doing another lease. If you have other intentions, then you need to let them know about it around 6 months before lease end. That's the time you'd want to let them know that you're thinking of buying the truck to keep it off of the auction list, or order a custom-spec'd truck. You need to stay in contact with leasing during this period, both the keep your options open and to keep them on track with what they need to do. The last week of your lease, you get routed in to your home terminal, hand over the keys (if you're turning it in) get the truck inspected, and off onto your next venture. The escrow accounts will be reconciled and moved into your main statement, turn-in repairs added to the mix, and your final number will be what you keep. Prime doesn't play games with the money, like many other carriers have been accused of.

You're welcome.

 

Gotta do the driving first! Took a bit to get everything taken care of yesterday when I got to the terminal, and well... beer call does happen. Good luck to you. I'm sure if you poke around enough, you'll find some Prime drivers who have nothing nice to say about Prime as well. Ask them some pointed questions about their numbers.

 

Ha we don't have to work for the company to understand the reality check when it comes to running the numbers. The truth hurts I know but to me the real business man in this equation is Robert Low
kudos to him for getting away with it. I'm really curious though if this is a true lease, your paying around $4000 mth over 36 mths. Are you telling me you have nothing to show for it after that time, or does Prime give you the option to buy the truck at the end of the lease? I know at one time they were giving cash back as reward for finishing the lease. But if they don't give you the option, then really, you're renting a truck, not leasing. I'm always amused that Mr Low even owns the dealership by all accounts, or at least one of them, maybe all. So he's making out very well on both ends. Now THAT my friends is a true entrepreneur !!

 

You end up with cash, and the option to purchase exists throughout the life of the lease.

 

You can lease and train with Prime. There a couple drivers on here that do that.
When I spoke to them I was told their policy is after you join you need 90 days of no accidents, tickets and all on time delivery to then apply to be a trainer.
You won't be doing much training, they have to be out with you for 30k miles AFTER they've already been out 10k miles with their permit with somebody.
It's a good way to easily earn over $3k a week but it is what it is.

 

Excuse me? There's a ton of training that goes on in TnT... everything that happens on a truck has to be taught from proper backing to customer service. 3 weeks with a CDL instructor does not make a student driver into a polished truck driver.

 

Having just completed this process, I have to 100% agree with what IP said. The first 10k of the training was about learning to safely operate the truck so that I could pass the test. The other 30k (40k in my case due to a minor accident) are when I was actually taught how to be a truck driver. I didn't go a day without learning and practicing a new facet of the job. That continued all the way up until we came back to SpriMo for me to upgrade. It is a true apprenticeship style program. I couldn't recommend it highly enough.