truck driving for prime

That's nonsense. We all get dispatched out of the same pool of freight - company or lease. I drove company for three years, and didn't get preplanned more than anyone else. Moreover, I kept track of what the loads would have paid a lease operator; now that I'm leasing, the loads I get are paying a better rate on the average than what I saw as a company driver.

 

tina your other half is lease op? how does he like that 850.00week trk payment? i really sugest you talk to some co. drivers, you know prime is going to give the loads to co. drivers thats how they really make the money, heck prime even owns the lease co!!!!!!

 

iron pony have you ever refused a load? i have did not pay enough, then 10 minutes later get a much better load, where did that come from.

 

They still grow the good stuff in tulare ???

 

I was a solo company driver for well over 2 years before I went to the lease side... so you can take that advice and "talk" to me.

I tracked my loads and ran a "shadow company" based on what my company loads would have paid if I were a lease op. During that time the country went through a serious economic downturn - my figures showed it would have been difficult to make the lease payment, and still have had a paycheck running solo. My belief is it would have been a different story for a team driver. Also during that time, I made about the same money on the company side as before the downturn... which I believe is a credit to Prime.

Now... as to the charge that "the company drivers get all the good loads..."

My records show that I got my share of sub-dollar-per mile loads just like everyone else. In fact, the average rate during the period that I maintaned those records was low enough that I had doubts that it would have been wise to go lease at all. That being said, my friends on the lease side of the reefer division shared what they were getting with me, and the difference was great enough that when the spring jump in freight rolled around this year (coupled with the mandatory retirement of my last company tractor) convinced me that I was going over to the lease side.

Since that time, my average per-mile rate on the lease side has been 20% greater than on the company side. So do the "company drivers get all the good loads?" I wouldn't agree with that statement. Today, my load assignment will cover my entire weeks operating cost only three days into the settlement period, and I'm being dispatched into an area that had 20 available loads and 4 trucks currently showing in the area at the time I will be empty. So its looking to be a good week.

I will say that during that period as a company driver I was quietly observing who did well during the downturn, and which FMs they were working with. THAT informed my decision on who to request when I did go to the lease side. AND that may be part of "heyitsmllrtime's" complaint.

Our FMs are paid a not-so-good base salary and commission on what the drivers on his board generate in terms of gross revenue to the truck. In other words... they don't make the $$$ if we don't make the $$$. A mediocre FM is going to cause his drivers pain - and won't last - because that's how Prime Inc. makes their money as well - not off of the backs of the company drivers. Moving freight at the best rate they can find. That being said, I hate going empty over a weekend - because the third-string FMs won't go to bat for you - you're left at the mercy of the load planners. Not to mention that the third-string are bench-warmers who really don't know their jobs yet. So yeah, I've been offered much crummier loads when my guy isn't around. And yeah, I'm making a lot of money. At least twice what I was making on the company side so far - and I was grossing just below $50,000 per year on the company side.

BTW... the last time I heard this quoted, there were only 850-or-so company trucks out of well over 4000 trucks overall. So if Mr. Low is making his money off of the company guys... why bother keeping any of the other 3150 trucks operating? That's a really stupid idea that the company guys are floating the whole deal.

Now for anyone reading this who is just starting... I really suggest you learn how to drive the truck EFFICIENTLY on the company side while making a PAYCHECK before you jump onto a lease. Company drivers are paid by the mile, but lease operators are paid off of their bottom line - a settlement check for a lease-op is not a paycheck. Its cashflow into a business, and what you pay your driver (that's you) is a cost that has to be covered out of your cashflow (settlement) and operating reserve. In otherwords you have to run a business. Its a huge difference - and you can end up with seriously empty pockets if you cannot drive the truck EFFICIENTLY, and try to use that settlement check the way you would use a paycheck. Its not about the miles, its about YOUR expenses.

It came from the same pool of freight that the low-paying load came from. Gee... you can't figure how this works? The "hottest" load that needs to be moved NOW!!! is the one you're going to be offered first. Its a first-empty, first-reloaded system, so you get offered what floats to the top when you get to the front of the list. If it doesn't make business sense for you to take that load, then reject it. And part of that is knowing where you stand on the week, and how the freight is moving in your area. And it might have been that you were offered the better load right after it had been booked by sales too. Ever consider that just maybe you're being a little too paranoid for your own good? Just a thought!



And yeah, I have rejected a load - and got a better one in the next hour. But one thing you have to consider whether you are company or lease... if the wheels aren't turning you aren't earning.

 

Yes, he is.

He has no problem with the 850.00 a week truck payment.

Yes, we know that Prime owns the lease company. No big secret there.


If you believe that Prime will give the good loads to the company drivers first, I've got some ocean front property in Arizona I need to sell. You buying?


There are good paying loads and there are bad paying loads and as with anything in life, you have to take the good along with the bad. After all expenses, we're VERY happy with with his profit margin.

I took the total miles run last week and multiplied it out by what he would be making per mile as a company driver and it came out to 2 1\2 times LESS than the amount he made as a L/O.

 

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,
I will be retiring from a business career soon and entering the trucking profession as a second career. The RV scene is out and OTR trucking seems like a good way to see the country and get paid for doing it. Now, I see a lot of complaints about the major carriers. Mostly about Swift, Werner and Prime. These companies each run thousands of rigs. Training and turnover being major expenses to any business, how can these outfits make a profit if things are as bad for the drivers as this blog makes them out to be.
I would love to get some objective feedback from trainers, drivers, dispatchers and any owner operators (of which I will likely be one) who care to respond.

Thanks,
JP

 

IP, Can you explain to me why I have not gotten a full check yet out of this F'ed up company? I have the run numbers and all of the miles I ran and yet my total that I was paid is not my $500.00 a week or even the $600.00 that they boast about. TD.

 

1::Has the Prime Training Back log cleared for sure that you know of?

2::Lease versus Company: is Per Diem different for IRS. Also, Werner has for company drivers a per diem constraint which can be built in, does Prime do that.

Thank you for your time as always & Hope all is well.