Wannabe trucker concerned about entering prime

A company works differently for different people. What one company is bad for one person may be great for another. I would look at the fatcs and then look to see what fits your goals. If you have no goals then you need to make them. Where do you want to be a 1yr,5yr, and so on. Look at the benefits and how the company will help you.

The facts show that Prime has some problems. They are targeted to get inspected until they bring their numbers down. So that alone tells me a lot about a company and how they treat their drivers. Plus it also tells me who they hire. If it were me I would look around.

 

MetalHed529, have you considered the Salt Lake Community College for your CDL training?

Here's a link:

http://www.slcc.edu/cdltruckdriving/index.asp

Since you already have your learners permit, it'll be a bit cheaper.

 

First... if you post an opinion on this forum, expect someone to challenge you on it. You say Prime is one of the 10 worst carriers around. I disagree... and attempt to have a discussion with you on the subject...

EVERYONE... even YOU have a bottom line. I have one as well. Competition for freight occurs in a free market, so if I can haul a load at a lower rate than you there is no reason why I shouldn't underbid you to obtain the load. The same goes for a corporation. That's the nature of business in this country... unless we're going to turn the free American market into some sort of socialist disaster area.

This doesn't make Prime or any other carrier a bad corporate player... just more efficient than you. OTOH, Prime does a reasonable job of raising their rates as well when contracts come up for renegotiation. Understand that the only way that happens is if our service to a given client is superior compared to yours.

No... and neither can a large carrier. That means that we have to adapt to the conditions presented by the market.

Here's another area where we will disagree... about Prime. Now I will agree that many of the training carriers do exactly this. Werner and CRE certainly come to mind. You said yourself that Prime does a good job training, and there's a reason for that. To assure that they have a continuing cadre of excellent drivers.

You know what? A friend of mine, Chris, who has 12 years experience was hired by Prime. I know plenty of experience drivers who have been brought on by this carrier. I can't speculate why they weren't interested in you.

I believe they do both.

I don't have a "chip on my shoulder." However if you don't want to engage in debate, then provide some justification for your opinions. Frankly, I don't see any justification for you posting that Prime is one of the "10 worst carriers" other than your own sour grapes.

Well then you don't know diddly. 2 of the three alcohol violations are nearly 2 years old, and will drop off the back end of CSA later this year. The fact is, testing positive for drugs or alcohol at Prime will get you terminated instantly.

The majority of the "driver fitness" points that Prime has accumulated were for folks who had valid and current DOT physicals, but could not produce their med card during an inspection. In fact many of the large carriers have this same problem... its a paperwork violation. Since that became an issue earlier this year, management has started having drivers produce both their CDL and med card when we check in at incoming inspection in the terminals... just to make sure we can find the #### things.

So... if we are being inspected constantly, why am I always getting a green light on my PrePass? If your assertions were correct, I'd be getting inspected right and left. The last time I had contact with DOT in an inspection - January I think, the LEO checked my lights, and signed off on a level 1. He told me, "I don't need to see anything else. Prime is one of the safest carriers out here."

 

Heck more companies are getting HIGHER DRIVER FITNESS than ever before regardless of the name on the door of the truck. I know 3 or 4 small outfits ( 100 trucks max ) that suddenly are getting hit big time lately.

 

I have heard a lot of good things about May trucking.

 

you were a minor so there is no record dont worry about mentioning it there is no possible way they could look it up.

 

Anyone that loses the document that allows their livelyhood is not that smart. What's wrong with putting your medical card in your wallet?

Prepass, companies are assigned a % of red lights depending on their history. Getting all green lights is luck of the draw. Meanwhile another driver is getting more red lights than his share. So you can't base it on what you get.

It's nice the LEO signed you off on a level 1. But as long as he is not doing his job right, of course he won't find things wrong. I hope all don't have that mentality.

As long as drivers are willing to haul cheap freight, things will get even worse. You haven't been around long enough. Drivers are making less now than they did 10-15 years ago. New drivers are starting out less than I did in 1995. I made .175 in training. They are making .12-.13 now. When I got my first truck, I made .30. Now they are starting out in the .25 range.Why because companies are cutting rates to get contracts. How can they do that? Amongst other things, drivers are willing to work for less. You might think you are making alot, but you could be making alot more.

 

It goes back to the old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. If you do your research and form an opinion that is well thought out and go against it whos fault is it? If you are paid poorly per mile, but suposedely have a chance at good miles, with some drivers new and needing money what is gonna happen, they will push it to get miles, do a favor for dispatch etc..., what will eventually happen? CondoCruiser,well said, I agree anyone who losses a document linked to their livleyhood, well you said it.I wish I had known about this site when I was making choices very early on, I did not come across this untill I was half way through school, but guess how I found it by doing some research something we all need to do when doing anything of importance. I found out early on low pay per mile was a recipe for disater for me, so know I have a job that pays me buy the hour. 10 years ago I would be one of those guys out there pushing it to the limit, now 40 years old I have put to much into this to do it wrong.

 

That's what I do! Seems to be a problem industry-wide.

We have an accident rate of 0.46 per million miles which is dang good for the industry. There are quite a few so-called "good" carriers (at least by the supertruckers on this site) that are considerably worse.

And ya know what? He wouldn't have found anything wrong with my truck. Its 100% all the time.

Cheap freight? Please!!!

My average gross revenue against all dispatched miles - loaded and empty - is $1.731 this year. The "cheap freight guys" are all whining about sub-dollar-a-mile freight.

But lets start at the beginning.

Yup, they pay 12-cpm for trainees - but that's better than average in this day and age. But they also guarantee those trainees a minimum of $600 per week, as long as they are available for dispatch - whether they run the miles or not.

You started at 30-cpm? ####, got screwed didn't ya? Prime started me at 34-cpm, and I was making 38 to 40 cpm within 2 years depending on how well I did on the fuel bonus.

Cutting rates to get contracts? Not at Prime. The sales department works really hard to get us better than average rates, and we get those rates because we provide superior service. So go stick that up your kazoo!

 

Thank you so much CondoCruiser. Your last paragraph is exactly the point I was trying to make. Someone who entered the industry four or five years ago has no idea what the industry used to be before the rate cutting Mega-Companies came along and cut rates and wages and trashed it.

I purchased my first truck in 1979 and my second truck in 1987. I made about 0.10 CPM per mile more with the second truck. Now companies in 2011 are paying a rate that is almost the 1987 rate. Since some of us know what freight is paying, it isn't hard to figure out who is the screwee and who is the screwer.