Question about prime inc

Discussion in 'Motor Carrier Questions - The Inside Scoop' started by Mcboo515, Sep 14, 2016.

  1. Mcboo515

    Mcboo515 Bobtail Member

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    Sep 14, 2016
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    Hi, I'm thinking of switching to prime as a lease op, can anyone tell me what I could see as my pay on average doing lease after all deductions or should I just be company with them and what could I expect as company for pay? Thanks
     
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  3. Iron-Man

    Iron-Man Light Load Member

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    Apr 14, 2016
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    I wouldn't even consider Prime and I've looked into them...it seems like a scam. Now I know there are guys that swear they are making money with them but I wouldn't believe it.

    They have a guarantee in place where you AT LEAST make $1.02 on all miles (unless they changed it but that's what still posted on their website as of a week ago). They give lease operators the opportunity to share in greater revenue if the loads are paying it but that's what you're guaranteed to make minimum. There's no promise they will ever offer you a load with more revenue than $1.02 so you need to run your numbers based off that. You don't pick your own loads but it's not forced dispatch.

    Here's the killer...it's a lease. NOT a lease purchase. You will never own the truck (this is my understanding). On top of that you will be making very high lease payments every week without any break only to end up never owning an asset. Many of their operators can't afford to go home. Doing so will put them in the hole. (You will end up in the hole with them due to something... meaning there will be weeks with no pay)

    I've heard a lot of Prime guys say, "Oh, you just gotta know how to run your business," but I think anyone with any real business sense realizes all they did was buy themselves a stressful job. The only business that's booming following that model is PRIME's. You can't even claim the depreciation on the truck during tax time... PRIME does that.

    Let's recap: Extremely low expected rates (you're going to be running hard with little to show for), extremely high expected lease payments that can't be paused if you get behind, nothing to show for at the end of your lease like an asset that you can take to another company...that's not exactly the owner-operator dream in my opinion.

    As far as the company driver...I have a friend working for them on the flatbed side, been there a year and gets 40 com

    I know there are some PRIME threads you can check out and maybe someone else will chime in and give you a second opinion. Good luck
     
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  4. skellr

    skellr Road Train Member

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    Or at least a 45' boat.
     
  5. SAdriver

    SAdriver Light Load Member

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    you can make the ace lease (you own the truck after it's paid off) work. anyone who says it's not lease purchase is lying or like the first respondent said, doesn't know what their talking about. to recap
    prime lease - turn the truck back in
    prime ace lease - own the truck after it's paid off.
    both leases are walk away. both can be used to make money. I know quite a few ex prime leases that now own those trucks.

    it is an option to take but #### it you gotta be smart with money and know what you are doing.
     
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  6. bsmoove

    bsmoove Light Load Member

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    Liar, it is a Lease Purchase. If you do a regular lease, you need to tell them you want to buy the truck within 2 months before completing your lease. You have to lease the truck for at least 2 years before you can opt to buy. If you buy at the end of two years, Prime will sell truck at its market value and break the payments up for you and require that you make a down payment based on how long you have worked there. Or you can complete the entire 3 year lease and put a down payment down(part of which can be your refund of unused tire/maintenance funds plus cash) and they will space payments out over two years. The 2nd option will cost more overall of course.
    Prime also has a Ace lease where you put down $5-14k depending on your tenure there. Every year that you stay at Prime, the required down payment drops $1000. You can opt for a 3 year or 4 year payment plan and at the end of the lease you will receive the title. If you pay over 3 years it will be a $1 buyout but over 4 years it's a $100 buy out. They even provide paperwork for you to show your states DMV to avoid paying sales tax since it's set up like a lease but some states don't have laws on the books to allow that. During the lease you can take the truck away from Prime by giving them 2 weeks in advance of payments. They figure that should be enough time to get a check for whomever you go to.
     
  7. bsmoove

    bsmoove Light Load Member

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    At this time I wouldn't go lease due to the lack of quality paying freight and abundance of drivers. Prime is a freight broker also and sells a lot of freight to other company's and independent operators. Their payments are to high to justify the drop in revenue. I did the Ace lease which is different than the regular lease you are thinking of. I suggest if you are going to lease then you might as well team or become a trainer. It can be fustrating as a solo due to sitting half a day for loads and company drivers being loaded first in many cases. I'm probably in the top 5 among drivers turning down loads. My yearly average per mile is $1.93 and I went from averaging $4200-$4800 to $3400-3800 since the beginning of this year. Almost every time I'm unloaded at a customer, I'm sent lowball rate loads around $1 to $1.20 that include the fuel surcharge. Prime will give a few drivers good revenue but more decent revenue and many more low revenue. The planners have their favorite dispatchers they provide freight to and the dispatchers will give their favorite drivers the high end gross revenue while chopping down others to balance out their $4000 a week average gross. When your dispatcher is off on weekends, others that cover will play games with you like sit you the entire weekend if you won't take a $0.80 cent load which includes the fuel surcharge from New Jersey to Illinois or elsewhere.
    They claim its non forced dispatch but they will call you and whine if you refuse a load and try to talk you into taking it no matter how bad it is. They are fined each time you turn down a load and even if you fire them and get another dispatcher. They try being "good buddy" routine to trick you into taking all loads.
    It will take you 6 months to a year to learn their network and know when to and when not to take a load. Also I did a 4 year Ace Lease purchase on my 2016 Cascadia and received my title in June of 2016. The last year paying the truck off was the hardest because they did what most of the industry does and that's cut your earning down. I guess to force you to quit so they can sell the truck for another $68-75k instead of allowing you to own it. The 4 year pay plan is $200 cheaper per week but end up costing you about a extra $5000 in interest that's built into the payments. Prime is a good company for newbies to get their CDL and be a company driver or trainer but as far as solo, it's not great and drivers are quitting in greater numbers. Why pay $955-1100 for a truck, $200 for insurance, and about 5 cents a mile for tires and a maintenance fund weekly for 3 years to clear $700-1500 weekly and possibly a $0-20k payout at the end of the lease? That payout isn't bonus $ they advertise, it's what's remaining from your account to care for the truck after any repairs are made when you complete the lease.The average lease driver at Prime clears $1100 and that's not including taxes at the end of the year you need to pay.
    Trust me you will live in that truck a lot more than what a company driver does. You have company drivers earning $800-1300 a week so why lease and not make much more? I'm still here because I only have fixed cost of $97 a week which includes insurance, our prime app to scan bills, charges for paper bills sent home, etc. Now after paying off the truck l, my earning have increased back to $4k and I normally clear over $3000 a week while driving a average of 2300 miles a week.
     
  8. 123456

    123456 Road Train Member

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    Interesting, thanks for posting.
     
  9. LeedoShuffler

    LeedoShuffler Light Load Member

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    I'm in agreement with bsmoove. It's much better to be a company driver with Prime.

    I did both company and Lease op with them over a period of a year. As a company driver my first six months I averaged 1698 miles per week. I gripes about the miles and they bumped it up to an average of 2200 per week. I had been told by the recruiter that 2500-3000 miles per week was "no problem, we definitely have the freight." When addressed the low miles my dispatcher told me, " Well the economy is down and we just don't have the freight." Hmmm? So, I switched over to being a Lease op driver thinking things would be better. After all the initial extra cost of equipment, setting up an LLC, etc. dropped off my weekly "fixed" cost were $1138 / week, then another in $600-800 in fuel. So, I had to make $1700-1900 just to break even. It was very stressful. Some weeks my take home was less then $600. The Lease there is really rip off they charge for the truck, the APU, $15 just to get your settlement statement etc.

    I eventually walked away from it to take a regional driving job.

    On the upside Prime does generally care about their drivers. Getting home time was rarely an issue, the equipment was kept in excellent shape and they had decent facilities spread around the country.
     
  10. Flatbedder73

    Flatbedder73 Medium Load Member

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    Eeerrrrrrrrrr....if it flys, floats, or drives.....rent it.
     
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