Prime, never been insulted by employer before.

For the record, there is NO charge for your settlement. The charge is for the Operating statement, which takes all the data off of the settlement, and categorizes it, and breaks it down over week, year, and lease by cost per mile.

 

How is the GPS prime's fault? They dont provide it do they?

Why should you have to pay for equipment the company requires, and infact, buy it FROM the company?

Why do you think a padlock is going to stop a criminal? Any padlock can be cut off within the time it takes to get a scale ticket...

As for that pawtucket bridge, 1) I agree, i've even gotten to the point of having a low bridge 50 feet in front of me, but..I STOPPED! See the difference? Most kids woulda hit that and been like.."i dont know metric" (bridge was posted 3,95m LOL..thats about 12 fet..) 2) Why are they so #####y about that bridge anyway?

Why should that cost money, and is it required?

 

Nope, the operating statement is not required - however, it's information that's essential to running a business. That's the basic information on income, costs and where your money is going. As an independent contractor, I'm paying for a service - and I wouldn't expect to get something for nothing in this case, as I would if I were still on the company side. The value obtained in having this information is much greater than the $15 invested. If you can't read and understand your operating statement, you aren't going to know whether you're making money or not.

As far as your starving lease op is concerned phroziac, I'd imagine you were talking to someone who thinks that the lease op gig is just employment on steroids - which its not. Most of the guys who can't manage to turn a buck leasing, will never be able to do it on their own. It starts with the company driver mindset they can never shake. Controlling costs, knowing where your money is going, building an operating reserve are a few of the things these guys have never heard of. As well as paying yourself... not just blowing every cent you make.

Paying for a couple of load locks and a set of thief-proof locks? Wow, I feel so used! (Sarcasm) I've made more money off of load locks I was reimbursed for than I ever put into the system. The lock set I got from Prime would cost about triple what I paid for them if I were to have bought them online. Still have the original set I bought... and they've outlasted every cheap Barjan or Master padlock I've ever bought. I'd have spent more on the cheap crap in a couple of years than I ever spent for locks with Prime - and that would be an on-going thing. So I'm really ahead of the game by buying the two stinking load locks, and those two padlocks. Do the math.

The lease price on a truck at Prime is based on a three-year payoff, with the interest compounded on a weekly schedule. In other words, you pay a lot less interest doing it this way than stretching it out over say five years. The payments are higher, but the note on the truck is retired two years sooner - and you're paying less in the long run than the guy whose into it for five years. Do the math. If you're doing a lease/purchase - instead of a five-year-old, million mile truck that will need an inframe shortly, you end up with a three-year-old, half million mile truck - that still has life in the engine. Enough left on it to make some money, and put aside the cash to keep it running.

I don't see this "revolving door" crap that keeps coming up either - that may be due to the fact that I don't spend much time at any of our terminals. Much has been made of all of the people that Prime brings in... for the last year the company has been expanding. So yeah, it stands to reason if you're putting more trucks on the road, you just might need more people. I also see a lot of folks there who have been with Prime for years... so the nonsense about driver churn here is just that - nonsense.

So some guy spends a couple of weeks at Prime, doesn't get the red carpet treatment his ego demands, has a bad time of it due to a poor economy/timing - and then decides to paint the entire company as being a bad deal without ever really knowing what the rest of the company is about. I do get a little hot when I read crap like that - and then because I have the nerve to call them on it get called "a cheerleader" by a-holes who have never worked for the company. I've been with Prime for over three years now. I've seen some good things and some bad things, but overall I've been treated fairly and with respect. The company tightened it's belt during the downturn, and has come out stronger - U2 I'm sure will agree - that he and I certainly didn't do badly on the company side, compared to many other outfits. I've seen threads here that tell newbs they shouldn't expect to see even $30,000 in their first year. Well I made $47,000 my first year, and about the same the next year when the trucking industry saw its worst year in decades... that ain't exactly chicken feed.

Is Prime the best thing since sliced bread? Nope. Never have claimed it was. It's a trucking company - better than some, and not better than others. Am I a "cheerleader" for this company? Nope - if one actually takes the time to look at my posts, you'll see that I've often not agreed with something they're doing - like those lightweight crappers they've put a lot of company guys into. Do I occasionally mis-state something? Yup. Sorry guys... I'm usually busy trucking, not sitting on my a%% in a truckstop, so I might just be tired enough to let my fingers run the keyboard a bit ahead of what I'm thinking. None of this is cheerleading. The naysayers spew BS like it's going out of style, and when someone who actually works for the company says that's not the way it is, then that's when the 8th grade name calling by the BS-ers starts.

 

The lease price on a truck at Prime is based on a three-year payoff, with the interest compounded on a weekly schedule. In other words, you pay a lot less interest doing it this way than stretching it out over say five years. The payments are higher, but the note on the truck is retired two years sooner - and you're paying less in the long run than the guy whose into it for five years. Do the math. If you're doing a lease/purchase - instead of a five-year-old, million mile truck that will need an inframe shortly, you end up with a three-year-old, half million mile truck - that still has life in the engine. Enough left on it to make some money, and put aside the cash to keep it running.

The flaw in that staement is that at the end of the "lease" the truck still belongs to Prime, so who cares what the value is?

 

"Average Joe..." In a lease-purchase deal, you end up with the goods. That's why it's known as lease-PURCHASE.

 

In other words, i'm getting raped in the ### by prime but they brainwashed me to think its normal.

I've never made money off loadlocks or pad locks. I find it funny that you do..

 

You guys got this semi right Its like the Taxi Cab business they lease you a used car and find people who need a ride so you can make money and pay the high price of a truck leese

 

I stand corrected then. With him I can never tell. I know he is co or was and posts about lease all the time. At least with you I know what you are doing and don't feel like you are trying to lease me the golden gate bridge.

 

i'll lease you the ambassador bridge. It only has a couple hundred potholes in the truck lane..you know you want it...

 

Even though I don't have a dog in this hunt, I have to say that it is very refreshing to hear from intelligent, well-spoken people like iron pony. This is an idividual that obviously has is act together and operates in reality.
Thank you for your honesty and insights. It really helps me to know that people like you exist in our industry.