Prime's lease deal. The math gets done.

Thank-you sir. I don't care to "post my numbers." Personally, I get tired of all the c.r.a.p. posted by people who have never worked or operated for Prime - and proceed to tar the company for no justifiable reason.

That wasn't me. Try DirtySideDown. All I've ever said is, "I'm doing fine," and, "...averaging around a grand a week." Actually more than that. If you want the "boat load of money" statement justified - you'll need to harass someone else. His "boat load" and mine are two different animals.

I've never bragged about my home time. In fact I have stated to many folks that this is an OTR company - that doesn't mean sitting at home. A fella I knew who ran for Prime bit on one of those deals a couple of years ago - home every weekend - and spent more time away from home there than he did at Prime. When I want to be home, they've always gotten me there (except 1 day late once) when I wanted to be there. That works for me.

That's fine notarps. I'm not trying to make a killing at Prime - just work at building up enough cash to take the next step. A lot of folks around here think that doing a lease deal is a bad idea - and I'd agree for many, and I'd also say that many of those folks if they choose to buy a truck will end up bankrupt as well. This is not an easy business. Remember "Coastie" who went "owner-op" - and lost his butt?

I'm more interested in learning the business before I take such a step - and this is one way to do it. Yup, I'm making more money than I did on the company side - Injun - I spent 3 years looking into this before I jumped - and made sure I hooked up with a good FM. There's quite a few good ones at Prime - and as U2 pointed out, the same names keep coming up as the poor ones.

The real problem is that ANYONE can say anything negative about any company out there on this forum. When someone comes back and says - no, that's not my experience - EVERYONE piles on with prove it, etc. And then it gets personal with folks piling on those who will stand up for where they work. Its not just on this thread - and it doesn't help when the moderators don't moderate - except when it gets really nasty.

Never said Prime was the best company out there - I have said in my experience many of the negative things posted about them just ain't so. Would I be doing better if I owned my equipment? Maybe - depends on how your luck holds with the drive train, tires, etc. Certainly would have a better cost to revenue ratio. So how many folks are acutally getting loans for trucking equipment these days? Not very #### many - especially on the small business side of things. So I'm quite happy where I'm at.

New equipment, good business partner (my FM,) freight broker who (for all appearances according to the paper trail) isn't totally gouging me (how many can say CH Robinson is only taking 28%? Landstar gets 35%, yes?) and I'm getting the experience and knowledge I need to go further. Someone with my level of experience doesn't go out and get truck/bobtail/cargo insurance with the best rates - it takes awhile to prove yourself. And I'm certainly not going to take the risk of owning used equipment with not enough reserve to make it through some serious mechanical issues, not knowing the freight lanes well, and not having established relationships with brokers.

So y'all (not implying notarps here) can say what you will about "fleece" deals - and there are a lot of them out there. IMO, Prime isn't one, and you won't get me to agree unless I find that to be true myself. So far, in my experience, all the name calling is just a bunch of smoke and bullsh**. You want proof? Rollover, kentucky24 - PROVE your c.r.a.p. isn't bullsh**. For three years I've posted here - and I'm still here. My numbers are positive, and the 50-to-1 you're talking about are the 50 LOOSERS who can't manage to get a truck down a highway to a destination. There's some proof for ya! Go believe those loosers if you want to.

 

You're.

You're on the wrong topic, genius. I will help little old you:

I'll take back the apology, though. Apparently, the Prime droids roaming the boards will malfunction if the negativity continues so here's hoping it does.

 

Wow. All of those text blocks and still no proof.

Losers.

 

It seems to me that this thread has turned into pissin' match instead of an informative thread for Prime wannabe's. I used to spend hours on this site researching companies to drive for. It all started when I came across an ad for CR England in the paper looking for drivers. I checked them out on here and decided against it. This forum has been very informative and at times amusing, but I think we have strayed away from the original intent of this thread. I was a L/O with prime for 2 years and I had my share of problems. (see page 35 of this thread, sorry for the lack of paragraphs) I believe in sharing experiences with other drivers so they can evaluate the circumstances and make an informed decision as to weather or not Prime is for them, or any company for that matter. I would be happy to share copies of my settlements on here, if any of you would be interested. I would need some help learning how to scan and attach to a post if anyone would be willing to help me out. Haven't tried yet either. We can all brag or b.i.t.c.h about how much money we are or are not making but without the numbers(proof) its nothing more than the BS you hear on the radio sittin' at the pilot, petro, or T/A. The company I am leased to now, when they brought me in for an interview and to sign the lease, showed me copies of other drivers settlements showing what they were making and what I could expect for miles and revenue. Honestly, that blew me away, I never would have expected that. For all of you thinking about going to prime, ask your recruiter to show you current examples of what other drivers are making at prime. Ask them to show you settlements of current lease drivers and see what they say. Obviously they would need the L/O permission first, but I know of plenty of L/O's who would be willing to do that. IF they do it, which I'm sure they won't, don't let them show you settlements that are 3 or 4 years old. I believe reality is like beauty. It's all in the eyes of the beholder. Everyones is different. If IP is happy in his reality then good for him, but for me my reality with prime was not all that pretty.

 

this thread is in the BAD posting section......want good news-looking in the good postings area !!!

 

The fact of the matter is, Prime blows smoke up their student's #####. They will make you feel important while they brag about themselves. They will hand you contact information and tell you its OK if you want to change instructors. Yeah, right. The business card given to me happened to be worthless, along with my concerns. Why did he tell me 90% of students fail their pre-trip in front of my instructor? Because chances are, your instructor won't do one. So anyone going into this should be smarter than I was and speak up. Too bad I didn't. Well, I did when I called that number but they don't want to hear about it. They claim they don't "cherry-pick" their trainers and instructors which is a total lie because they don't pick anyone. As long as you have a good driving record with them, all you have to do is attend a class for three days and you're an instructor. And if your instructor is a lease op, better get it down quick so they don't "lose money" even though leasing there is not only profitable but they're making $300/week with you in the seat. I find it odd that most leasers claim to be doing well but they're also constantly training and instructing. Why was my instructor irritated that he had to deadhead 45 miles after he dropped off a load six hours before his actual appointment time? Because I was hopping of his truck or because he's not raking in the cash he claims he was? Good thing that qualcom beeped on my way home. He was able to pick up a load 50 miles away from my house so he could drop me off where the load was instead of my town. I understand these guys need to make money but apparently, they're not making enough to pay for more than 3 days home every 4-5 weeks. My buddy leases, lives in MO, constantly trains and even he told me two days out of four weeks is all the time he can take. Gotta make that obscene truck payment, right?

The thing is, you don't have to drive trucks to see the transparency in all of the ########. Yeah, I'm green, I get that. But I still drove and was able to pick things up along the way. Yeah, leasing is great because you get to choose when you want to go home but how often? If the money is so good, why am I hearing about company guys being able to take more time off?

 

My thoughts to
I was pretty sure it said
Report a BAD COMPANY

I thought the CRIME Fleece was a bad deal which is why I posted here I have not posted anything neg on the good prime threads

 

Get a scanner for your truck. you really don't need a printer. Copies are for faxing and that dinosaur needs to be buried! E-Mail works better than a fax and is cheaper tham the complete cost of a fax! If BFI wants a fax then have them send you a PO# and a com check to cover all the costs! They'll hurt themselves to give you an email addy!
Here is a great scanner and it's tax deductible! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...GNEFL050509-_-ScannerFlatbed-_-L0C-_-38111023

How to post a scan here:
Scan the page, save it to a file or the desk top,(give it a name you'll remember) then come on line here and start your thread or post then scroll down a little below the window you're working in and you will see in "Additional Options" a button that says "Manage Attachments." Click it and another box pops up. Click the top "browse" button and another window comes up and you find the file you scanned and click it and ok and it'll show up on your post.

If you are scanning things to the computer for your records then it's best to have a file in your Documents for your trips. I called mine Trips. (simple name) Inside were more files each for each load. I named mine the P/U date and the trip number and scanned every single piece of paper that went through my fingers for that trip into the file! Especially if there was money attached to it! Also any pictures you took for an OS&D goes in here too! This way if for some reason BFI says that you either didn't send in a page or the trip pack never showed up you have a copy of everything! This is good advice to us lowly company drivers also! Yes they WILL try to screw you out of that $2.50 fax charge! At least if BFI refuses to pay for it then you have the receipt to file on your taxes! If you need to e-mail any thing or attach them to a link then you'll just look for Documents>name of the file> the subfile> and then the file and you're sending it on it's merry way!

Seems like what we're trying to get little pony to do but well ya know how it is when "Double Dog Dared" and you can't put up! You just get stuck to a pole alone.

Again what this thread was posted for! 1 out of 1000 is happy so we'll all run and lease a truck! ROFLMAO! Ya gotta love cheerleaders even if he doesn't have the legs or chest for the job!

 

My perception has not changed. Prime started out as a good experience for me...until I continually got stuck in the Northeast with all the tolls, high fuel costs, short runs and sorry scheduling with a truck that ran marginally at best. I had a poor excuse for a Fleet Manager who basically force-dispatched me on loads he knew would break a week that was shaping up to be decent. But I tried to make it work anyway. I was told I was running a business but was never treated as such. Prime (or, at least, my FM) refused to trust me to do my job. I got tired of the constant babysitting and condescending treatment. I asked for a different FM. It never happened until I was already out the door.

Just to show what kind of record I had with Prime, they called me three weeks after I started running for Swift begging me to come back and they would do this, that and the next thing to make it right. When all was said and done, I did not owe any money and, in fact, got a check back from them. We parted on good terms. Would I ever consider going back? Only if I can bring my own truck in, choose my FM and have more control over what loads I haul. Swift gave me that. I doubt Prime ever will.

 

WOW, I'm not the only one? Sounds like your experience was almost identical to mine. Just out of curiosity who was your FM. If you'd rather not drag names out here, PM me.