Prime, Inc. - Springfield, Mo.

First let me say a great big Thank you for serving our country to keep us free and to protect our freedoms.

I suggest you look at Willis Shaw Express....

 

Thank You DBook, I would do it again, but The Age Thing Would Get Me...LOL

I went to check on Willis Shaw, not much of a website. Guess they want to talk with you in person. I guess that is something i can do tomorrow. I will let you know what i come up with.

Semper-Fi
Nick

 

I've looked at Schneider seriously. Their training seems to be a real training program. A program you could be proud to complete. A program other companies respect. It can be carried over to another company if you could find one that you like better. Or you can stay with them. They seem to be a company worth staying with. Like you I don't want to waste time.

I have also been looking at Prime. Supposedly the new Prime. The old Prime had a poor reputation, it could even be called bad. The problem for me is the training seems more like a team driving program rather than a real training program. You see most people don't want to do team driving, so they kinda hi-jack people into some kinda indentured servitude. Just think about it 60,000 miles , thats at least 2 mos. in another guys truck. And the drivers I talk to sound like they were train by Amway. I hope I'm wrong on all of this because I do believe I would like to go with them if what they say is true.


Problems seem to keep poping up in may search with Prime. Most recently I've asked about their trucks. they use Frieghtlner, Kenworth. These trucks don't get the best mileage. Now remember I'm just learning but is seems to me if you where buying new trucks you would buy the ones getting the best mileage. Volvo gets the best according to drivers I've talked to. We're talking 7 mpg at 70 miles an hour. and one guy said they expects 8 mpg after the break in period, this is a 2009 Volvo. Another guy said he gets 8 mpg at 65mph.


It begs the question, what does Prime know that we don't. Are they just hardheaded or what.



Ya see you can't just read and listen. You have to read between the lines and ask your own questions.



I also believe May, Maverick, Gordan would be good candidates.



Write you latter

 

Volvos aren't all they are cracked up to be. Swift bought a bunch of these (I think that was part of the reason Jerry decided to buy out "his" company and kick out the one who bought them). They continually have electrical problems; the dash vibrates so bad that wires must be coming loose. Some have even caught fire for no reason. Freightliner Centuries are good, fuel efficient trucks. The Pete 387 is also a good fuel efficient truck. The Century has the best internal storage of most company trucks and the Pete has a fairly stable ride. They are both much more reliable trucks than the Volvos.

 

Sorry Jerry I gotta strongly disagree with you about Volvo's. I just talk'd with another Volvo owner tonight. He has a 2005, 780, Cummings 500hp, 13 speed, 4:25 rear end. He gets 7 miles to the gal. at 62 mph. He showed me his figures. Just 10 mins later I talked with a Prime driver for about a 1/2 hr, a young guy with a family, he told me that he got about 5.7 to 6.3 mpg. I told him about Volvo and asked why Prime don't go for the Volvo's. He said that Prime gets a break on the price from Frieghtliner, etc. Ah! He also said Prime gets the trucks for about $48,000.00. If this is so it may not be worth it to pay $100,000.00 for a Volvo to get the extra 1 mpg.

Addition: A week ago I talked with a Volvo driver with a 2009, with Volvo's largest eng, It was a 16L, auto I shift 12 sp w/overdrive, 3:25. Not yet broke in got 7mpg at 70 mph. I don't believe these were fleet trucks. The guys with fleet trucks usually reported lower mileage around 5.5-6.5 mpg.

 

Well, I have talked to plenty of Prime drivers that are average 7 to 7.5 mpg at 62 miles per hour in the Century Class. And again, it is not just the fuel mileage, it is maintenance issues. And like I said before the kind of Volvos (usually 660 or 670) that fleets buy have a higher maintenance problem, including electrical fires, which rapidly reduce any fuel savings.

Besides, had you talked to a Volvo driver who was reporting extra savings with a Volvo engine then you would have a better leg to stand on. The "fuel savings" on the listed Cummins would go with how the rest of the truck is spec'ed. The gear ratio, the speeds of the transmission, the horsepower of the engine. If you took that same Cummins and put it in any other combination of the above of the above it could get either higher or lower fuel economy.

The brand of truck (other than weight of the tractor and aerodynamics and there is not a lot of aerodynamic difference on the front end between a Century and the Volvo) really has nothing to do with fuel economy differentials unless they are using their specific engine. It is not like buying a Ford or a Chevy. Try going to your Ford dealership and tell him you want to buy an F-150 but you want the engine from a Chevy Silverado in it. He will laugh you out of the dealership. Go to a Freightliner or a Volvo dealer and you can have your choice of engine for the truck. Then they will spec the truck for your work. That includes # of speeds in the transmission, horsepower rating of the engine, rear gears, etc. Those are the things that play the most in fuel ecomony.

There is are a couple of other things. How the driver drives. If the driver is learned to keep the rpm's lower while cruising and when shifting, fuel economy goes up. You could talk to another Volvo driver who shifts at 1600 RPMs and runs at 1400 RPMs and he would have totally different fuel economy numbers. The other thing is the average weight of the loads carried. The heavier the average load weight, the less fuel economy. Heck, I deadheaded a Columbia from SLC to Fontana and got about 8 mpg so I guess we ought to all own Columbias for better fuel mileage.

So your argument about Volvos having higher fuel economy, based on the engine you listed, does not hold water, because that same engine and set up in a Century Clsss would get the same mileage given equal driving habits of the driver.

 

I've drive several Volvos over the past few years, and for what it's worth, here's my take on them. The older Volvos do have alot of electrical problems! And, the dashes shake so badly that it was hard to play CDs, as they'd skip all of the time. I've heard that they have made some improvements over the past 2 years, and that they are better trucks. Not sure about that, as I haven't driven one for about a year, and they were the older models. The century class freightliners have been phased out and replaced by some other model(can't remember the name-getting old I guess!). I was talking to a diesel mechanic in Kingman,Az. last week, and he said alot of the Volvo electrical problems were related to the dash vibration, and the optimized idle some companies use. The last Volvo I drove got about 6.5 to 7 mpg, which of course, varied with the weight of the load.

 

Maybe the Columbia? (I didn't know Freightliner was phasing out the Century,to be honest with you)

 

I'm reporting the info rec'd. Asking the same info from Volvo drivers and Prime drivers. The difference I can at this point I see is the transmissions and fairings. I can't speak to aerodynamics except to say I believe Volvo looks more sleak.
I will cont. to refine my questions for drivers if I can.

Side note:Oil's at $142.12 this morning . With the way things are going we will be lucky to have any jobs to go to.

 

Nick have you checked CFI there in Joplin I was there for a year and there a great company with great equipment Kenworths and friegthshakers Casscadias.They akso pay practical miles and pay you as soon as you get dispatched not when they get there bills back.I have two friends still there and they get anywhere from 2800 to 4300 miles a week.My friend Ron has been shut down 2 weeks in a row because hes driven over 4300 miles in 7 days and when you do that CFI will shut you down for 24 hours.They have great training.! week of trainig at a community college.Where you get skid pad training and 7500 miles in training truck.About 3 weeks total.Get continual pay raises all year pre-pass OK. pass,XM radio.And you will truely drive all 48 states.If I didn't persue local employment because of family I'd still be there.I've been with 4 over the road companies and there was no comparision.13 months with cfi and the rest with werner, snieder,Gainey,windy hill.and i think they all sucked.CFI has no Idle restrictions so you don't get hounded if you like to be comfortable while you sleep.Check them out and good luck with your future.