orientation pay at prime

Only yanked up companies don't pay you while you are in orientation.... You say they didn't pay him?

 

Signs of things to come

 

Im not sure about orientation pay. I was told $600 a week or .12c a mile, whichever is greater while out with a trainer. Curious to see how things go for him though, im supposed to call back to setup my orientation.

 

so, he went through orientation and they made him pay for the hotel for the whole stay or just the day waiting for the trainer?

 

Kind of sheds some light on what a company thinks about your time. Heck; maverick pays you 500 bucks, puts you up and feeds you.

 

When I went through orientation just over a year ago, they didn't pay anything for orientation. Motel paid for and meals paid for...that's it. I do admit it was a bit of a turn off for me when I first started. Somebody brought the issue up, and the response was "your compensation is a job once orientation is over." It was probably the only comment made during orientation that I actually took offense to.

That said, most people going through Prime orientation are brand new to the trucking industry. Compare what Prime pays to, say, Swift, Werner, or most of the other "starter" companies. I have one year experience and am making 35cpm plus an extra cent or two on fuel mileage bonus. I don't think I could say that about most of the other "starter" companies. Some of you seasoned folks tend to forget that everybody has to start out somewhere. And even so, I have no plans to leave Prime anytime soon.

Training pay is $500 minimum for the first 4 weeks and $600 minimum after that (at least when I was going through it)...and we actually have a training program. Not a 3 weeks and your on your own deal. I was with a trainer for 4 months and that's after I already obtained my CDL. I pulled in one paycheck over $900 and two or three paychecks over $700 while in training. That is unheard of. So take it for what it's worth.

Prime might not pay orientation pay, but if you look at their pay long term for new drivers, I think rookies end up winning in the end. Can't really speak for seasoned drivers coming over other than the fact that Prime will keep you moving all the time, which may be a nice change from the company they left.

 

I'm pretty sure nobody gets paid until they are actually hired. Not sure exactly when that is for drivers with experience, but best guess is it's at the end of orientation. For those of us that went through Prime's CDL program it was when we came back from the DMV after passing our skills and road test. My trainer was out and about when I got my CDL so my FM told me to go ahead and take my car back home to Chicago and he would have him pick me up there. Prime paid me the minimum ($600.00) for that week. Even though I was home for four days I was "available for dispatch." My experience while training was very similar to TruckerMike's and been running solo since Thanksgiving at .34/mile averaging 2300 miles per week even with 8 days at home. Fuel mileage bonus has been between $40 and $70 the last four weeks. Just wanted to shed some light on what Prime, in my experience, thinks about their drivers.

 

Well; there are co's that are start up co's and do think your time is of value. No carrot on a stick to keep you running. Maverick hires newbies with 500 bucks for orientation. 500 bucks sign on bonus and I believe 500 a week while in training. They did lower start up pay (cpm) tho after freight got iffy. The avg for a brand new driver first year was over 52.5. I am not sure what it is now.

There are co's that pay for orientation and have good packages. You just have to shop around and decide what is best for you.