Thanks for the ride Prime, but I'm done!

Well, after nearly 3 years with Prime, I'm hangin' it up. What a ride it's been! I just want to share my story and my "review" of sorts. I hope it helps some of you who may be considering Prime. I believe this can be a great company, but it certainly is not for everyone.

I started with Prime after I was laid off from my office job (don't worry, I hated that job anyway). Trucking was always something I've wanted to experience, ever since I was a little kid. So I enrolled in a private truck driving school at my local community college, got that shiny new CDL, and off to Prime I went.

This review is from the perspective of a company driver. I never leased a truck at Prime nor was I ever interested in doing so. I was never pressured to lease. In fact, I was never even asked. They simply went over the option during orientation and that was about it.

Training:

I believe Prime is an excellent training company. I most recently became a CDL instructor and can say with 100% certainty that the CDL training at Prime will prepare you much better than any private CDL school. Of course, not all of the instructors at Prime are good. It's possible you'll get placed with a bad apple. But the bad ones generally get weeded out fairly quickly.

As a student, you'll be driving in the real world, making pickups / deliveries, learning how to back up in truck stops or customer locations, learning how to navigate major cities, expressways, country roads, mountians.... you name it. Hands down, this is the best way to learn. Real world stuff. To top it all off, you get one free week. Just to make sure this is the lifestyle you want to live. If you find it's not for you, Prime will buy you a bus ticket home and you owe nothing. No questions asked. Who else does that!?

Company training, even though the duration has been reduced recently, is also hit or miss depending on your specific trainer. But I personally had a fantastic trainer and we still talk several times per week to this day. The pay during this training period is much higher than the average company.

Equipment

I have driven two trucks during my time at Prime. My first truck was a piece of garbage Century. I was in the shop almost weekly. Finally, I spoke up to my fleet manager and voiced my concerns about being down so often. Even though I was always paid break down pay and had a free motel room while my truck was being repaired, I wasn't making the amount I could have if I were driving. And quite frankly, I didn't want to sit around in a motel room. I wanted to drive. The day after I voiced my concerns, they had another truck available for me. It was another used Century, but I drove that truck until I quit recently... 510,000 miles and very, very few problems. Ran great. Anytime I had to get minor work done, I got approved without any problems.

Keep in mind, if you enter into the CDL training program at Prime, you'll probably be issued a "lightweight" truck once your training is complete. These trucks have sleepers that are about 1/2 the size. Honestly, it would be enough to deter me from joining up with Prime. I just can't see living in a truck that small. But I've also spoken to many other drivers who don't mind them and a few who actually prefer them. It's all personal preference. I personally think the lightweight fleet is a bunch of bull crap. Coming out of CDL training though, you don't really have a choice. Either you take the lightweight truck, or you quit and owe Prime the full CDL training cost.

The trailers are mostly in great shape. There are a few bad ones around, but overall they are in excellent condition. In 3 years, I had 2 reefers cause me some problems. One required a trip to a specialized repair shop while the second time it was repaired at a truck stop. Had to replace a mudflap once and had a few other very minor issues here and there (flat tire, bad air chute in the trailer, etc.) but overall, I can't complain about the equipment.

Miles and Paychecks:

My miles were pretty good. I pretty much ran all I could legally handle on our e-logs. I haven't actually calculated an average, but I'd estimate somewhere around 2,700 per week as an average. Some weeks I had over 3,200 and others under 2,400. But on slow weeks, I almost always got paid a little extra to compensate. Last year I didn't train at all and made slightly over $42,000. I'm not saying whether that's good or bad. Just telling you what I made.

I got into trucking to see this country, and that I did. I saw every continental state at least twice in 3 years. Yes, Prime runs the northeast. And I saw a bit more of the northeast than I would have liked. But I also saw literally every other part of this beautiful country of ours. I loved how Prime moved me around constantly. I was normally never in the same part of the country more than a couple days. And if I was in the northeast for 4 days or so, I'd kindly let my fleet manager know and magically my next load would take me somewhere else.

Benefits:

In one word: Crap. Health insurance is expensive and sucks, dental insurance sucks... all options for insurance pretty much sucks. Vacation pay was less than mediocre. For every 120,000 miles, you get one week of vacation paid out at a whopping $500. And no, you can't combine your vacation time with your home time. So 7 days is 7 days. Also, you have to take it all at once. So in other words, you can't take 3 days here then 4 days there. You can't tack vacation days onto your scheduled home time either. 401k is available and isn't horrible. If I remember right, they match 60 cents on the dollar and you're vested after I believe 5 years, but I'm not 100% sure on that. I put 8% of every paycheck in and didn't really think about it much.

Hometime:

Here's where many of you have to seriously consider whether Prime is for you or not. This is an OTR carrier. They have very little in the way of dedicated / regional / local jobs. While all of those things exist at Prime, the chances of you getting one of those gigs is very small. Plan to be OTR. That means, like most other OTR jobs, you'll be gone a minimum of 3 to 4 weeks. You will earn 1 day home for every week you're out, with a MAXIMUM of 4 days off at a time. If you lease a truck, you have more leeway on this (as long as you are able to make your truck payments). But for company drivers, it's pretty much set in stone.

However, I literally never had one single problem getting home on time when I requested. My fleet manager scared me a couple times, but he always got me there. I was never called at home to come back out early or anything like that. When I was at home, I was never bothered. Not even once. I was always able to get home for 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I never requested any other holidays off, so I worked them.

Bottom line, this is an OTR carrier. So be prepared for an OTR schedule and OTR style home time.

Management:

I actually thought management did a pretty good job at Prime. They communicate well through monthly CD's, Podcasts, and weekly recorded phone messages. They also had safety meetings every Friday at the main terminal, free breakfast included. I got the impression that management appreciated the drivers and does care about the driver and driver safety. I never, ever felt pressured to drive illegally. I also felt that the decisions the company made on some issues were good decisions. Even with the lightweight trucks, I understand their reasoning behind them and I do think it helped score us some very big accounts with a huge customer that rhymes with Walmart.

And even though the trucks are pretty darn slow, I understand the reasoning behind it. I felt the decisions management made were good decisions and I think Prime is a very healthy company that will be around for a very long time due to the decisions they have made.

Fleet Manager:

I personally had a fantastic fleet manager. Although, other people on the same board as me hated him. I did my job, was never late (literally), and he never had any problems with me. In return, I was treated very well. We had a great relationship. Calling him to tell him I was quitting was a hard phone call to make. I wouldn't say we were "friends" or anything like that, but we had mutual respect and trust in each other. I didn't question his decisions, and he didn't question mine. Because in the end, we both came through for each other.

Night / Weekend dispatch was hit or miss. They mostly did a good job. But I had a few issues on weekends that upset me, simply because they either didn't know what they were doing or didn't have the power to make any changes. But for the most part, I have few complaints.

Overall Experience:

I would absolutely drive for Prime again. But that's only because I thrive on the OTR lifestyle. I'm part of a very small group of people that simply loves the lifestyle.

I think most people who are dissatisfied with Prime simply aren't a good fit for the lifestyle OTR trucking brings with it. In general, most company drivers I spoke to were very happy with Prime. It was the lease drivers who seemed to have problems. Maybe Prime was screwing them over, or maybe those drivers just didn't know how to effectively run a business. I don't know. I never saw any real advantage to being a lease operator so I never made the switch. But the vast majority of complaints was on the lease side.

Why I Quit:

So, you're probably wondering why I quit if I think Prime is a good company. Well, I'm actually leaving trucking entirely. From the truck, I started my own online business. I began building websites while waiting to be loaded / unloaded, during 34hr restarts, during slow periods, etc. Wouldn't you know it, my little web business really started taking off! I'm now quitting to focus full time on my websites and also landed a deal to work on another site that somebody else owns.

I had a decision to make. Keep trucking and continue working on my websites part-time to bring in supplemental income, or quit trucking to focus on my business full time and potentially become financially independent. I chose to take a risk and focus on my own business. If my business doesn't pan out, I'll be headed right back to Prime. And in a way, I'm actually really going to miss driving for a living. Some parts I'm glad to leave behind. But I will truly miss many aspects of the job.

By the way, I started building my websites with absolutely zero knowledge of HTML, CSS, programming, or any other skills above an average internet user. PM me if you're interested in doing this yourself. This isn't some sort of MLM crap or anything like that. You'd actually be developing your own websites and making money from advertising, affiliate programs... stuff like that. But it's something any truck driver can start doing while sitting around waiting to be loaded / unloaded or waiting for that next dispatch as long as you have an internet connection. It does take a lot of work and yes, I do know HTML now, but I didn't when I started. There's no reason other truckers can't do the same thing I did. I saw some early success. It took me less than 1 year to go from being a truck driver to being self employed. Most people don't see success that early and this is certainly not a get rich quick thing. But I'm happy to share with my fellow truckers how I did it. Just PM me as a public forum isn't really the place to discuss it, unless the mods give the green light on it.

Questions about Prime?

Anyway, back on topic. Ask any questions about Prime that you want. I'm no longer associated with the company so I have nothing to fear. All questions are fair game and I'll give you my honest answer.

Hope this helps some of you in the research phase, and good luck to all of you just getting started! OTR trucking can be the best career in the world, or it can tear you and your family apart. So please, continue researching and be 100% certain this is the lifestyle for you. It is NOT NOT NOT a job. It's a lifestyle that you must live and if you have a family, they must live it too.

 

Thanks da1!

Average take home pay will really fluctuate depending on the individual. When you're new, you don't know all the little "tricks" to managing your time. It's not something that can really be explained. But over time, you will learn when and how to drive to maximize your hours and get the most out of each and every minute available to you.

But after I went solo, I started off at 34 cents per mile. That may have changed by now.. I think they may have dropped it a couple cents per mile but you'll have to check with a recruiter or the website to be sure. But let's say you make 32 cents per mile... you could still easily run 2,400 miles in a week on average. So before taxes, insurance, and all other expenses, that's roughly $768 / week. Remember, that's gross income, not net income. What goes into your bank account will depend on what kind of insurance you get, loan repayment from CDL school (they give you an interest free loan of $250 / week - if you want it - then payroll deduct once you're officially hired), etc.

The first year will without a doubt be your lowest year salary wise. Not so much because of your mileage pay, rather your lack of experience. I believe I made about $34,000 my first year.

I always received my checks on time an my direct deposit was never late, except during holiday weekends it would be delayed for a day or weekend. That's my bank though... not Prime. I had one mistake on my paycheck and it was corrected immediately. Turned out the mistake was on my end anyway. I have heard about many people at other companies constantly having trouble with their payroll department. I thought our payroll department was excellent. Never had any problems to speak of.

As for your child support, I unfortunately can't answer that one. You'd have to speak with HR about it once you're hired on. I personally have my paychecks direct deposited to my bank account and my bank then does some automatic shuffling of funds for me.

Just continue doing what you're doing right now... Research. If you don't make it at Prime, it'll be because of the lifestyle. Prime is a solid company. You might get a smaller truck, you'll absolutely get a slow truck, and you'll have to deal with the kinds of shippers / receivers that refrigerated companies have to deal with (slow loading and unloading times, sometimes forcing you to drive when you don't want to). Other than that, I think Prime is like any other trucking company and is a very solid and healthy company. Just research the heck out of the OTR lifestyle. The lifestyle is great for some, but terrible for most. It's lonely, it's dirty, it's cramped, it smells, you hardly ever go home, and it can quickly ruin families and friendships. But if you enjoy it, like I did, OTR trucking becomes an addiction. I wouldn't trade the last 3 years for anything and it's an experience I'll always remember. Part of me is really sad to give it up.

Thanks a lot Gears!