Prime Inc. Orientation Oct, 2010

I'm starting in Feb in PA.

 

Received my orientation paperwork yesterday, 8 February is my report date. Have to plan ahead to get my boat out to Kimberling Marina (MO), and switch my license over to MO. I already have land out there that I plan to build on, might as well get switched over now (Marina said I could use their physical address). Looking forward to getting started with Prime, not planning on much home time, but if it comes around, will be spending it at the Marina about an hour away from the MO terminal...

 

I'm thinking about call them monday

 

i currently work for prime as a company driver, all I know is i keep rolling while others sit in the truck stops complaining.this week i will have 2892 miles.

 

I went through orientation with the original poster. I finally completed my 60k miles this week, and so far I do enjoy prime. I was one of three guys from our class that went flatbed, and the only one left. I had a horrible experience with my instructor, he was a real ####### and told me from day one that he only trained for the money. He yelled a lot, and never got off the phone with his girlfriend. I taught myself to drive while he slept at night, which worked out good. I know it's against prime's policy but it seemed like the best way for me to learn. After I passed my CDL test I met a guy on the pad and he told me that he would be my trainer. We left the same day, and from the first time that I got into the truck he tried to make me feel relaxed and comfortable. He taught me more in one day than my instructor taught me in a month. We ran about 5k miles a week, and never went home. Last week he bought me a new cell phone, a cb raido, and a tv/dvd combo for my truck. All in all I have had a great experience at prime, the only complaint I have is that I don't think the instructors deserve the pay package they get for training the students. I agree with the $300 a week, but the bonus when the trainee gets his truck and the bonus at a year should be split or given to the tnt trainer. It all just comes down to you never know what kind of instructor you're going to get, some are good some are not so good.

 

One phone call to dispatch would have fixed this. As it is, if Prime finds out that you did this, they will terminate you. I know you're past that phase now, but anyone else, if this happens to you DO NOT DRIVE THE TRUCK, pull it off in a safe place and call dispatch. There is no sense in risking your career because your instructor is a moron. Also, if dispatch isn't informed, there is absolutely nothing they can do about the instructor. I'm an instructor with a 100% pass rate and when I read that we have instructors doing this it pisses me off to no end.

As far as the instructor pay, if anything it needs to go up. Once you figure out the extra fuel a student uses, extra wear and tear on the truck, and time spent at the yard not rolling while doing pad instructing or testing, you really need the student to stay the entire year to make more than $2-300 on them.

 

I have to agree with Sazook. Your bad experience with the instructor has probably influenced your perspective on instructor pay.

The bad ones need to be reported and the good ones probably deserve a raise.

 

I'm gonna give you the low down on prime. Pain and simple they are only out for them. told me that i would make about 1,000 a week, with a $869 Week truck payment and that included everything (Qualcomm, Fuel Card Use, Fuel Taxes, Ect. This was all a lie. I had to pay about $1,110 a week when it was all said and done. I didn't get good loads or miles, probably because I wasn't a brown noser. I tried everything there from their great saying, "just take the bad with the good". This was comming from a dispatcher that had no business experience, never was an owner operator and came from Fed Ex LTL in Springfeild as a company driver. Prime Felt that he knew what he was talking about because he was there for 6 years, but yet had 75% of his drivers fail, he only focused on teams. This joker actually told my wife on the phone that he couldn't believe he was working with a truck that wasn't making him any money. I'd did everything above and beyond 7.39 MPG average with a 2009 Pete 387 with emmissions and 4.72 Out of route and still failed. Also another joke to them is once you get done paying total over 3 years $125,000 they take the truck lease you a new one then sell it via wholesale truck source in OK or their pedigree truck sales for $40,000. Thats screwwed up. Good Luck if you go there if you get a good disptacher that will give you $1.00 mile + FSC and 3400 miles you'll make like a grand week but thats only $0.34 a mile, I guess thats good if you live in mexico LOL

 

By the way just to prove i was there..... <Please don't post a users real name>

 

Huh??? You let this yukk feed you a diet of $1-per-mile (or less) freight, and expected to make even as much as a company driver???