It tells me to not go into Primes Flatbed Division... which I wasn't going to do anyway. Thanks for the heads up though Notarps.
Your welcome. Now I can't speak from the reefer side, but if one side is questionable I would think long and hard about the company as a whole.
Thanks again Notarps. I appreciate the way you argue your point... intelligent, respectful, rational, and truthful. The same can't be said about everybody on these forums.
Do you guys think that prime is a good place for training at least. My plan was to train with them and move on
There is a lot of things to consider when looking at trucking. Now I have pulled flats, tankers and boxes. I have never pulled a reefer nor have I ever desired to. I am aware of lumpers, warehouses using you for a portable storage. Insane time frames etc. What I am well aware of is a lot of companies and how they do business. What problems they have had in the past. History often repeats itself. Look into the history of any co. True some may turn around, but why did the old prime have so many issues? Why did they start calling it the new prime? I am not saying that some do not do well at prime. What I am saying is that the only ones that I have talked to or read about that are talking them up are the ones that started there with no trucking exp and have nothing to compare it too. Where are all of these veteran drivers that are so happy with them? Others I have seen have been on this recruit drivers scheme to boost their pay checks. Even if you go into prime as a lease they are quick to try to get you to train. Prime is banking on new people. Go to their main building and look at all the things tied in together. Their tax guy that they try to get you to go with. You do have a choice on who you use, but they have figured out an angle on everything. It is a lot easier to go with what they have in play and by the way things are set up you need to roll out of there as soon as possible. They say prime does not lease trucks, but a separate co success leasing does. Now where do you thing S/L is? You got it right in primes bldg. There is so much kick back going on there that they have even got it down where they convince new drivers that YOU should pay for this stuff as a company driver. With all this being said I listen to new guys, but do not put much stock into what they are saying as they have nothing to compare with. They get the pep talks pumped up in the meetings where you eat a meal there at prime and listen to the videos and then a couple will speak on their great program they have there. Most of these are people who have been told to live in that truck for months at a time. I am not saying that all of primes posters are full of it. U2 is probably the most forth coming poster I have read on here. He is relatively new to trucking and prime was his first start in trucking. He has stated that being home is not an issue, nor does he have a lot of bills, but even he has said if he had a family to support it would be tough. Any co that gets you into to thinking that you need to stay out for months, pay for stuff that the co should provide and then talk up the co to new people that have no background in trucking this is where the old hands and new drivers will clash. The old hands know this is bunk and the newly trained drivers have this programmed into them that this is common in trucking.
I would say that their training would be OK. I had exp when I went there. I would not count on much home time if you need it. I myself would not want to do the reefer side, but would not go flat there. I don't know much about their tank div. If you are wanting reefer it might be a decent approach to getting started. I am just leery of them from what I exp there and from their past. I would say train, ride your time and look elsewhere, but stay away from the lease side.
Thanks for the insight! I'm on the fence about training with prime or going to school and working for crete to get started in the industry
