Prime- only newbies sing the praises 2

Well I dont exactly intend to sound that way. But obviously when you lease it is a gamble. If you got a choice of a brand new truck, and it is brand new. Has say 4000 miles or less on it, would you take that, or a beat up ragged out 2007 that was a company truck reject? Ironpony pointed out lease is 65mph, company is 62mph, this particular persons truck being set at 62 says "company reject". I would take a new truck anyday over a company reject, wouldnt you? Sure, it looks better on paper for the 07 that the payment is slightly a bit cheaper. But like anything else, if you dont do it right the first time you lose your butt on it with all the breakdowns and stuff. Bushings arent hard to inspect. Especially on a 5th wheel, mean to tell me Prime wouldnt let you go hook to a trailer real quick to inspect bushings that you say you cant tell without the trailer that they are bad? I mean gees, your only at the mammoth of terminals, tons of trailers you could hook to. You get what you pay for. You want the junk thats a couple hundred bucks cheaper over a brand new truck, you get what you pay for. Dont want the APU? No problemo. But when you get stuck in snow, idling that truck or whatever, stuck anywhere having to idle, you will be angry that you wasted so much fuel, companies fault? NO! You had the option and declined. You gotta be smart about it. Have as much as possible under the warranty. You arent going to be able to save squat holding out 10 cents a mile for mileage. You barely got enough to cover a tire, in some cases. Then bye bye maintenance fund on the new tire. Thats my opinion. Take advantage of everything. I would take the APU because I know it will eventually to get paying for itself. I would want the new truck because I know ITS ALL under warranty. Chances of you screwing it up so warranty wont fix it, unless you are completely dumbfounded or just have a bad accident are not really as great as the odds the truck the company didnt really want to use as a company truck costing you so much to upkeep. You get what you pay for, bottom line. Not just with Prime, with any place. IDK if they offer what JB does, their lease maintenance program is 10 cents per mile bumper to bumper up to certain mileage. You could decline that, and go with the 5 cents per mile deduct, but then when you need something done, and dont have the money. Your done. Its risk, gotta be business minded, and prepared. Taking a used junker is not too bright.

 

Here are some of the reasons why prime's behavior is typical of a teetering organization.

Deceipt (bait-and-switch)

Exploitation (slash-and-burn tactics)

Lack of integrity

Changing economic and political landscapes

Mounting legal problems

"Prime Inc. must pay $100,110 because it failed to respond in a timely matter to a notice of claim concerning alleged false logs, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Assistant Administrator John Hill ruled."
-Highbeam.com

"The Way It Works: Your driver manager can, at any given time, see what your truck is averaging per mile. They can see how many miles your truck is averaging per day, week, month and quarter. They are instructed to not allow your truck to average more then $0.89 per mile. If you do, that is when you will start receiving loads that will lower your average. If you refuse to take these loads, nothing else will be offered and you will sit. Keep in mind that while you are sitting, you are still paying for the lease. This is what will keep you 'paying' their game.

Your truck also may not run more then 3800 miles per week, even if you are running as a student-team. If that happens your Driver Manager will be fined $100.00 for each 'offense'. When 'doing the math' finally paid off I was making $0.21 per mile in a market that was paying $0.35 per mile for a company driver."
-ComplaintsBoard.com

 

Just Thought I would post this in case people still think Prime is the best place to work!

 

I never would say you dont over pay for lease. But its just that, a lease. If you got a Tv from rent-a-center or Aarons. Sure, 52 inch big screen you coulda got it for $1200 anywhere else. But there is cost of lease too. You always pay more than its worth when its said and done. Even when you get your own financing for a truck. You are still going to pay more than its worth. Anybody on here saying "you could buy brand new off the lot for blah blah blah", reason their sayin it on here is cuz their like the rest of us, dont have platinum credit to go and buy a truck outright. If I could, of course I would go to a dealer and get my own truck and pick my own company to lease it to. I mean I understand, of course you are going to pay more than its worth, but your paying it out, driving it, wearing it out. At least with them if you dont want to buy the truck, at the end of the lease you trade up for new. If the buy out really is the same for all of one companies truck though, i would be more comfortable knowing I had that new truck from day one and I was the only person who drove it. Rather than "x" amount of people with all sorts of driving habbits. But I dont have the $100k lying around for me to go get from the bank and go buy a truck. So, til then all I could do if I wanted to even try something like owning a truck is leasing. But thats just me, and my opinion. Some agree, some disagree. Lots of good and bad points.

 

See thats the problem people think you HAVE to get a brand new truck fact is there are many truck lots that have GREAT used trucks with a engine/transmission warranty, that don't rely on your credit but more or less your work history. Also alot of used used truck lots will lease you a truck with no maintenance or mileage restrictions with a low and reasonable monthly payment with no balloon payments.

 

Prime is mostly a vertical company. They own almost everything they use or charge for.

The hotel they host their apprentices and guests in.
The restaurants they charge for to feed their employees with.
The medical practice the use to validate their claims with and examine and charge their people for.
The repair shop they use and charge their L/O with.
The leasing company they fleece their employees with.
The insurance they insure themselves and their employees with.
The health insurance outfit used on all employees and most contractors.
The real estate they house themselves in.
The tax preparing and accounting companies they use.
The daycare center for the employees.
They do not own the truck and trailer manufacturers or people they use but they would if they could.

This pooling of resources makes for a very convenient and flexible setup for the owners of the company. They can make projections with a lot more control than otherwise. This is one textbook example on how you should run a business. Notice how the concept of a trade union is conspicuously absent in this model. The owners can virtually do whatever they want including pilfering from anybody they wish!

 

So what you're saying is that if the owners of Prime Inc. can provide these services to their employees and contractors at a lower price by performing them as a part of their business than by contracting out for these same services... then somehow they are stealing from the same employees/contractors - who for the most part can reject the use of these services and go outside the company structure in any case?

- The hotel they host their apprentices and guests in.

If you don't like the accomondations, you can go across the street. New hires are provided lodging free of charge during orientation.

- The restaurants they charge for to feed their employees with.

Same deal... if you don't want to eat in the cafeteria, then there is no one forcing you to eat there. Actually, the food is pretty good, and is more reasonably priced than eating over on Glenstone.

- The medical practice the use to validate their claims with and examine and charge their people for.

I've never been charged for consulting the company doctor, who is an employee. All of my DOT medical exams have been paid for by Prime at no charge to me, through Concentra.

- The repair shop they use and charge their L/O with.

It's not uncommon in the industry for a company to operate their own maintenance facilities, at a lower internal cost than going outside the organization. Anything that requires repair on the road that affects safety gets repaired on the road. Something that can be done cheaper in the company shops gets done there.

- The leasing company they fleece their employees with.

You can always buy your own, and work under the logistics side of the deal.

- The insurance they insure themselves and their employees with.

Prime self-insures their side of the equipment, so you deal with that as a company employee or lease operator. Your choice of dealing with them as a owner-operator or not. Again, not unusual in the industry to self-insure.

- The health insurance outfit used on all employees and most contractors.

Prime has nothing to do with health insurance. BlueCross BlueShield of MO and Ameritas - have nothing to do with Prime as a business entity. Where do you come up with this crap?

- The real estate they house themselves in.

And why is this a problem? They own their own facilities, and don't pay rent to anyone.

- The tax preparing and accounting companies they use.

Huh? Perryman and Assoc. is an independent firm. Otherwise, payroll is an internal function - numbers are supplied to the CPA of your choice.

- The daycare center for the employees.

It's convenient because it's there. Don't have to use it, now do you?

I don't see what your beef is with Prime on any of this.

 

Are you serious 65 MPH for an independent. I couldnt pay that much for a truck and have it governed at 65. One driver I talkd to from prime a few months ago that left said his truck ran 78 and to me is very accceptable.
I just see post after post of negative things about the lease option, if thats your choice go for it and dont look back.
Best of luck my friend.
CF

 

Nah, I don't think I HAVE to, and I was referring specifically to leasing from a company like Prime, or JB Hunt. I will be the first to say, right now my credit, or job history is not too peachy. I got a habbit of when being screwed, I tend to say something about it, and make the appropriate threats and phone calls to have things done. Usually ends with me getting what I was owed, or some of it at least, but then usually bezled out of the company. Not fired, never have been fired. But my job life was stressed to the point I would just say to hell with it. If you got the money to pay the down payment at a dealer, then by all means go ahead. I am sayin, if I am going to spend the money (either way leasing from a company or buying from the dealer) I am going to do it right. The way I WANT to. Or I wont do it at all.