Prime Inc driver thread

This is exactly why I dont come on this forum much anymore! Its just full of miserable rude know it all A wholes! Its like they just come to piss and moan and start arguments with whoever they can! You know why happy succesful lease ops on here are few? Because they are to happy out there making money then come here and waste their time with all the miserable garbage. I have met a lot of lease ops that are making good money, way more then company drivers, that arent trainers and are quite happy at Prime.

 

The successful L/O are too busy being successful. They don't have time to sit and *itch.

 

You guys nailed the point to a T, if you are busy working why would you be on here with extremley long drawn out posts. I am not working for a few days so I have time to burn, want to gather as much info as I can and make as informed of a decision as possible, I work local in Vegas driving a gas tanker for $20 an hr, no hours avl for many months to come with really no future to speak of so I am looking upwards and onwards. Hope this could help make a decision to a better ooprotunity.

 

Its okay we know your'e just starting out and don't have enough experience to make an informed decision on anything in this industry let alone driving a truck as a business.

You don't have to like me or any of the myriad of other drivers that attempt to inform and educate newbies here at TTR. Understand that my comments are not meant to be an "attack" per se. They are meant to challenge others to substantiate their posts with some hard data. If my posts ruffle some feathers then so be it provided they create a useful discourse and provide newbies (like you) some valuable insight.

It's tough to shut your mouth and listen sometimes but the sooner YOU learn to listen more than you speak (or type) the better off you will be. Your profile shows you as a student. One of the first things you should have learned from your trainer is to "listen." If you are unsure of something ask questions. Don't shoot your mouth of buddy because bottom line is you are way out of your league right now and will be for several years to come yet.

Happiness is a frame of mind. The fact is it all depends on where you come from and what you expect. Newbies have no idea what is possible in this industry or what it takes to get ahead. You will learn soon enough.

The question is; "will you be man enough to come back in a couple of years and let the rest of us know how you did as a lease op?" I suspect you won't.

My money says you will disappear within the next year or so and never be heard from again. It's okay. You will be replaced by dozens of others taking the same path as you and expecting different results. In fact I believe that is the definition of insanity isn't it? Doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results?

Rest assured I will be here watching and trying to help others avoid the mistakes you are making (but don't yet realize).

 

And there we have it. You are a company driver who thinks that running a business is just mashing the throttle. You couldn't make it work, therefore no one can.

That's all you have, so don't bother trying to act like you have a clue.

 

I have a question. To be honest i didnt read all these posts so my question may have been answerd but i didnt see it. How long is the cdl class and how long are you with a trainer. Do they provide housing or is that out of my pocket? I looking into getting wia to pay for my school locally but if i dont qualify then i need a plan b. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

*sigh* Search function. Primeinc.com.

However. PSD is about a week in classroom, before they send you out with an instructor for a minimum 100 hours of drive time. That can take you about 3 to 4 weeks, depending on you. Then back to SpringMO for testing. Then you get a trainer and go out for the 30k or 40k or whatever it is this week (and also depends on when your trainer thinks your ready). Then you upgrade and get your own truck. This part can take up to 12 to 16 weeks to get done. It can get done faster if you hustle, and get the loads. Coast to coast runs tend to get it knocked out fairly quickly.

They put you up at Campus Inn. You will have a roommate unless you pay extra for a single room. They even give you *some* meal tickets. During your student phase, they will give you and advance of up to $200/week that they will take out of your check in $25/week increments after you get your CDL and are out on your trainer's truck.

 

I can see more info is required to demonstrate my knowledge of this issue.

In 1998 I was working for a company called TSL (Trans-State Lines) based out of Fort Smith Ar. They had recently down sized from a fleet of over 700 trucks to half that size due to losing some major accounts and some internal management restructuring. Part of the restructuring campaign was to offer a Lease Purchase program to the current drivers. The program was as follows;

$400.00 per week for a FULL SERVICE lease on a 1995 thru 1997 Volvo. All maintenance was covered (bumper to bumper) during the 1 year contract. At the end of 1 year (per the contract) we were to turn in our lease truck. That truck would be used as a down payment on a BRAND NEW truck of OUR choosing at any local dealer with TSL acting as cosigner for the new truck (provided we stayed with TSL).

We paid for Fuel, Bobtail insurance, tires, Pre-Pass, fuel, trip pak, workers comp/occ insurance, and in my case Family Medical insurance.

Plates, Permits, Cargo, and liability insurance was covered by TSL.

Compensation was .83 cpm loaded and empty with a .07 cpm fuel surcharge on all miles. Later in the program it went up to .09 cpm.

The contract consisted of less than 10 pages. No I did not have a CPA review it. I read it and signed the contract after reading it several times (and discussing the program with my wife for a week).

As a company driver I was earning .35 cpm and turning 3000 + miles per week so I decided to give it a shot.

I ran my truck pretty hard to try and deliver loads early and was considered a top performer by the company. When I was running hard (up to 72 mph) I was still able to manage around 6.5 mpg (with little to no idleing). I turned a little over 130,000 miles during that year by taking every load I was assigned. I got home about every 3 to 5 weeks depending on the loads and spent 2 to 4 days off each time I got home.

I fueled up where the company had the best fuel discounts (about .05 cpm off the cash price). The company calculated and filed all road use taxes. I never got charged any extra nor did I get any refunds for road use taxes so I believe the company paid for this.

At the end of the year I (and a dozen other drivers that signed up for the lease) attempted to turn our trucks back in to the company. We were all told that due to the down turn in the economy and the used truck market being so depressed they could not fulfill their end of the contract. Several drivers left the same day. I opted to ride it out and negotiated a new contract.

The new contract was written up as follows; I would pay $250.00 per week for 18 months, cover my own maintenance and breakdowns thru a maintenance fund set aside at .07 cpm. At the end of that 18 month term I would own the truck I was currently driving.

A few months into this new contract and a week before Christmas, my eldest daughter (10 years old at the time) collapsed in the shower and was rushed to the hospital. I was in Lebanon TN at the time waiting at Dell for a load to NJ when I received the phone call from my wife. I contacted Safety at TSL and was told to forget about the load and head to the TA truckstop in Nashville Tn where I was to catch a taxi to the airport. The company flew me home first class to Harrisburg Pa. Another taxi ride out to Hershey Medical Center in time to find out my daughter was now brain dead and would never recover. I said good bye to my first child that night and held her in my arms as she died.

The company was very decent to me and did not charge me any payments for the month I took off. I returned to work but my heart wasn't in it anymore. I went thru the motions and made about $120,000 for the year. A little over half that amount went to the business and I kept the rest. The following Christmas my home caught on fire (a candle left burning in the living room window caught the curtains on fire and spread). I lost my home that night and took another month off of work to get my family resettled.

When I was ready to return to work at the end of January I was informed the company was being sold to Burlington Motor Carriers and I was welcome to sign a new lease with the new owners. I declined the opportunity and turned my truck into the Fort Smith Ar yard.

I made money as a lease op. I also spent over 300 days on the road to do it. After all the business expenses I made around 45 grand for myself and had to pay tax on that.

Now I am home EVERY weekend. I make MORE money than I ever made as a lease op AND have benefits. Factoring out all my paid time off and weekends at home I will have spent about 270 days on the road this year.


So to sum this up; I have been there, done that, AND got the scars to prove it.

 

And you are trying to prove... what?

That I'd rather be a company driver? Good freakin' luck. Been there, done that, its not part of my plan going forward. You've got "scars." Like I said, you don't have a clue about how to run a business, or you wouldn't be in your situation. Go get some more bennies, because you don't have what it takes to do for yourself.

 

Not whining at all. You made some assumptions about my experience and knowledge regarding leases. I believe I have not only cleared that up but pointed out some of the problems with leases. The top 2?

1. 300+ days of the year to make LESS money than a company driver.
2. At the mercy of a carrier when they decide to "change the rules" or fold up shop.

Plenty of examples of companies screwing drivers over the years INCLUDING PRIME. Only takes a little research about your beloved Prime to realize your'e the one that has some delusions.

The fact is I have more knowledge about this subject than many of the other posters that chime in with "lease purchases are a bad deal."

You seem to like the gig you have right now but in time you too will sour on it. Some catch on quicker while others keep banging their heads against a wall. Which are you?

One last peice of advice for you MR BUSINESSMAN. Dump the lease BS and go get yourself a truck that YOU are paying off through a 3rd party leasing agency or a dealer. At least then you will have more say in your "business."