Prime, never been insulted by employer before.

Um... you do realize that Primes Lease is NOT a lease purchase?

At the end of a 3yr lease with prime, there is still a $64,000 bill. Dont believe me? I'll be more than happy to take a picture of this straight from one of Prime's lease agreements and post.

Lets do some math shall we?

a 2009 Peterbilt 387, according to Prime, costs them $122,000. We ALL know thats a load of steaming cow manure. Prime has hands in the dealer they buy these trucks from, AND get a bulk discount. But thats neither here nor there.

Back to the point and math. Now for the first year you are charged $869/wk. 2nd year is $849. 3rd year is $829. Lets remember this is ONLY the truck payment, not all the other nickel and dime b/s.

1st year you have paid: $45,188
2nd year you have paid: $44,148
3rd year you have paid: $43,108

totaling: $132,444.

Now, since at the end of that three years you still have a $64,000 pay out, that means you only paid $58,000 in principal which means you paid a total of $74,444 in interest.

With an average truck payment of $849/wk, or $3396/mo... this means you would have had a 57% INTEREST RATE!

Now Prime claims you can get a total lease completion bonus of up to $24,000 given you've trained and never went home (they actually run the numbers in lease orientation avg 4200/wk for 3 yrs, and took some money off for what most drivers are charged for in damages, tires, brakes, ect). IF you were to take that off of the $64,000 you owe still, that leaves with with an even $40,000 on a 3yr old truck with 650,000mi on it. First of all, that truck isnt worth $64,000, or even $40,000 for that matter. And good luck finding a bank that will lend to you with a reasonable rate.

Prime steps in again and says we will loan to you. Now this is where my knowledge stops. I havent had a chance to sit down long enough with an ACE driver to know what their interest rate is, but I'm sure through Prime, its not forgiving. But for numbers sake I'll plug in a few nyumbers for everyone to see. I do know a lot of them pay around 300-400 for three years depending on the truck.

$40,000 for 36mo at 25% yields an approximately . $1590/mo payment.
That's around $17,254 interest.


Final break down.

$122,000 Truck has now cost you $213,698 over 6 years.

That's $91,698 in interest, or 75% of the vehicles actual cost.

OR an annual interest rate of approximately 20.5%.


This all assuming you've followed through and bought it AFTER you 3yr lease.


So again, Prime's Lease is NOT. I repeat NOT a lease-purchase program. In order to own the truck you must pay on this truck for another three years based on a bogus value.

 

I find it funny that people like you and the others in this thread are ones speaking up for Prime and telling everyone else how they should drive, and run a business... yet how much experience do you most of you have?

I KNOW i have less than two years which is why I'm not on her spouting on how anyone should do anything. Unless I've hit the 10yr or even 5yr mark i have no right to tell anyone they arent doing their job right.

I WILL how ever say this.

The fact that you say you SHOULD be pulling in $2400 but wont know till you get your settelment shows you arent a very good business person, in my honest opinion. You should be keeping up the the minute track of every dollar that goes in and out of your "business." You should know how much your fixed costs are every week. You should know by the end of the day on Tuesday how your total costs and total revenue was so you know exactly how much is coming your way. By keeping track you will also be able to look at your statement and know if anything is missing.

For a "newb" to call others a "newb" is just mind boggling.

It's also funny how you go quick to the defense and name calling when others bash Prime yet you are SO quick to smash Werner, having never working for them. Then use the lame excuse that because you heard it from others drivers on the road it must be true. But yet that argument does not hold for others.

 

From what i have seen in a short time is there are bad companies and good,but like so many said before OTR isn't a job it is your life.

Would i lease,hell no!
But if a guy can and make money ,more power to him.

 

Ahhh refilled???

Excuse me? Exactly where are all of these tractors that are being "refilled???"

The last time I was at the Springfield terminal, they had exactly 5 tractors that week on the reefer side that could be leased on a short term contract... i.e., a used truck. They opened up a dozen new ones that day to meet the demand required by new drivers.

From what I'm hearing its not a case of "refilled" as much as "expanding." And by the way, except for the tanker and flatbed groups, all of the tractors are retired at 3 years.

 

Ah yeah, I kinda noticed. It's called READING the #### thing before you sign it.

If you'd actually read the post I responded to, AverageJoe was under the impression that in a generic LEASE-PURCHASE deal you didn't end up with the tractor.

 

Actually I do. I find it rather mind boggling that you're so much of an expert yourself, Mr. 0 to 1 year experience.

 

I'm actually sitting at 1.5yrs, not that it makes it much better. Though i dont see your 3yrs being anything to brag about. As i said in my other post, its people like you who misinform the others. You have no right spouting off about a subject you have just begun to dable in. 3yrs does not make you a pro, or anyone in a position to persuade others into something.

as far as my comments go about money tracking, just because i dont have an amazing amount of time in the trucking industry like your self, means nothing. Running a business has the same basic principals no matter what the industry.

and once again it makes it very hard for most to take what you say seriously when you come off as a defensive immature hot-head teenager.

But i think we all should bow down to the ironpony... apparently his 3yrs makes him a seasoned veteran...


More power to you iron. I really hope the majority of people see through your cheer leading and stay far far from this place. Prime is a "prime" example of the very thing that is bringing this industry to a screaming hault. Driving rates so low that not only can no one compete, but even their own drivers cant make money. I once pulled two loads in a row for them that were less that 70cpm. the fact that ANY company accepts freight that cheap should be shut down or shunned. The fact that at least once a week I had freight that was that cheap is the very reason i left Prime.

BUT as many drivers will tell you, no one will stand up and fight for whats right. and you Mr Brass pony, are no help to this industry.

And i think you should tell the truth about Prime's 95CPM guarantee...

First of all, the 95cpm guarantee is not by load, but by a rolling average.

Lets say your first week you run 2,500mi and average 1.35cpm with $3,375 line-haul revenue
2nd week drops to 2,800 and average 85cpm with $2,380 line-haul revenue. This takes your rolling average to 1.08.

because your rolling average is still above the 95cpm mark, your second week you get the shaft. lets go a little further.

3rd week you have yet another bad week with 2,900mi and average 80cpm with $2,320 line-haul revenue. This puts your rolling average at 98cpm. Still above the 95cpm mark, yet another week of that cold shaft.

4th week still pretty bad at 2,900mi and average 80cpm with another $2,320 in revenue. Your rolling average is now 93cpm! finally below 95cpm, you get a nice chunk of money. Or so you think.

How does that work? well since you should have had at least 11,100mi at 95cpm totaling $10,545, but only got 11,100mi at 93cpm totaling $10,323. They give you the difference of $222. But you dont get to keep that. It's a loan.

5th week you are back on top bringing in an amazing 2,800mi averaging $1.30cpm with a total of $3,640 line-haul revenue. This brings your rolling average to $1.00cpm. Well now that you are over the 95cpm mark, Prime is going to take back that $222 you were given last week. How nice of them. In fact, if you ask about the 95cpm guarantee during the lease orientation they're explanation is VERY vague, and are quick to change the subject or move on.

So with Prime it is very possible to haul freight on a regular basis well below the 95cpm guarantee and never see an extra dime from them.

 

For a 0-1 year trucker you got a thumbs up from me. You are smart beyond your limited truck exp for trucking. A lot smarter than many that has been out here a good while.

 

So Emerson, did you actually read that lease agreement carefully? If you did you'd have known that the $860/849/829 does not just cover the truck. It also covers your Physical Damage insurance, Bobtail insurance, and Qualcomm rental. Also, if you wanted to purchase a truck, they have the ACE Lease, which financially is pretty much the same as going to a dealer and getting a 36 month loan.

As far as rates, I have gotten in settlements an average of over 58 cents a mile so far this year, with another 3 cents per mile in advances. So my total is over 61CPM to my bank account for the year, and as long as I keep going at the pace I'm going, am poised to NET $70-80,000 this year solo for 11 months, and team for 1.