ask your questions about prime inc here

Self Intro

Hi all I have been reading various forums for the last couple of days. I am deployed with the Army right now and I have less than a year to go before they put me out with 17 years under my belt. I have been researching companies and ran into this forum. If someone could give me a no B/S asessment of the three companies that offer CDL schools. Prime Inc., Pam and Swift. It would seem from what I have read that Prime is the best one to go with. I have no interest in leasing but want to be a company driver. I live in Tennessee if anyone has anything on hometime in that area. Also does it matter if I study the TN or MO CDL, I will be getting my permit in TN and that is where my CDL will be as well. Thanks. ​

 

A no bs response,stay away from Swift and Pam. Prime (and I dont drive for them,I just know their training standards) has the best program I know of for getting your cdl and learning safe driving.

 

There is no such thing as a "no BS answer" on the internet...

There are a few more training companies out there; CR England (CRE), FFE, Roehl; Knight, USA Truck, Schneider, and CRST come to mind. CRE first caught my attention with their free tuition for veterans program, but I quickly found that they aren't the only company doing free-with-commitment training.

Reading the various trucker boards, I quickly decided that I didn't want CRE, given the sheer number of complaints that are posted just about everywhere. Some of the others only hire from certain states. Some do subsidized payroll deduction for training (looking at you, pumpkin truck!).

The thing that first made me pay real attention to Prime is that once you get through the first few weeks and get your CDL, they guarantee that you will make at least $600/wk for the rest of your training. After reading horror stories from some people getting <1000 miles/week after a month of driving, that really caught my eye.

Investigating further, I found that they have one of the better training programs (relatively speaking). The equipment is only a few years old at most, and the trucks have APUs and inverters. The thing that really set the hook, so to speak, for me was that Prime will only put a female student with a female trainer. That is huge for me, to the point that I don't mind that it puts me on a three month waiting list.

The bottom line is that all the "bottom feeders" (training companies) are more alike than they are different. You are starting at the bottom. Pick a company that has those few things different that agree with you, and ignore the things that are irrelevant. Stick it out for a year, and you'll be able to go to nearly any company.

And oh yes, do NOT let them talk you into a leasing arrangement while you're in school! Yes, you can make more $$$ that way, but you MUST know what you are doing first! Drive company for a few years and get to know the industry, then decide if you want to start your own trucking company.

 

No BS would be to tough out 3 more years in the Army and retire at the 20 year mark. (If you can) Military retirement pay + Trucker pay is better than no pay + trucker pay. You're 80% of the way there.

Prime, or any other company you decide on, will probably still be there when you get out.

 

Thanks for the input MsJamie and Chuck T. Chuck I would like nothing I would like nothing more then to finish but I am over my RCP. My plan was to stay. MsJamie Prime sounds the best to me too, I have read a lot of the threads the last few days. I was looking for an honest opinion. I noticed there are a lot of Prime haters in some of these forums, thanks for the help.

 

Pick any company, and you'll find haters in these forums. Keep in mind:

1. Only the whiners seem to find these boards. Very few of the happy drivers are on here.

2. You are only hearing one side of the story, and that side is usually highly "embellished", if not an outright lie.

3. Someone who starts a thread titled "Company X SUCKS!" is probably a troll, and most likely never even worked for that company.

I've noticed that the Prime positive : negative ratio is a LOT higher than most of the other training companies. Then again, a company like CRE grinds many more people through their CDL mill than Prime does.

 

Thanks for your input MsJami I have noticed that Prime does have more of a positive thread. All of the investigating I have done Prime seems to be the best bet. It also seems like more drivers stay with Prime longer then anyone else.


Thanks agin.

 

whats the guaranteed pay for trainee's? seems like 4 - 6 months with a trainer is just an excuse to have a cheap team operation, much like werner does.

thousands of truckers do just fine with 3 - 4 weeks with a trainer at other companies... what makes prime different?

 

When you get your license it is only about 2 to 2 1/2 months with a trainer, 30K miles. We do it because it gives the trainee more experience and makes them much safer when they get their own truck. The "thousands of others doing fine, Aren't and Ihope idon'e encounter them on the road, Shortened training to get someone out faster is not conducive to good safety.

 

I agree,some of these companies are teaming new cdl holders after just a week or two with an experienced driver. Now thats scary,two fresh newbs "training" each ither.