Tiny Tractors

When your in the NE fleet getting that extra .05/mile, where do you think you will run? Duh, the NE.

You didnt do much research. Or you didn't ask the recruiter the right questions. Good luck finding anyone around here to back you up that you always trust a recruiter.

a couple of hours or days here in the Prime forums and you'd find mist of those things your complaining about.

The easy one to find: it's almost garaunteed that a new company driver at Prime will be put in a LW truck with an extra .05/mile.

if you'd dug a little deeper there are a few guys who posted here that they got hired and because they went reefer, they had no choice but to be in the NE fleet because they live in the NE.

dig around and find that the NE fleet mileage average is lower than a 48 OTR fleet or western Regional. Thus an extra .05 per mile. It's not meant to be better pay than the rest of the fleet, but to bring NE regional more on par with there being shorter runs.

Hometime.... That's an easy one around here on the Prime forums. No one ever said ANY fleet was an exception to the three week out rule. One day for each 7 days out. 4 days max. However, there have been NE guys who got home more often while UNDER LOAD... And that's not hometime. Either grabbing an 10 break at home, an hour or two, or maybe a day with a appointment schedule. These guys usually live on or near a major route in our shipping lanes. Others here stated they were on dedicated accounts near their homes where they usually get a 10 break or longer on their turnaround schedule. Sometime not. Meanwhile, still only getting their hometime like everyone else. 3 weeks out, 7 days for 1 etc.

 

Could you request a LW truck if its on the lot that day? I told the recruiter that I wanted to take a LW truck and wanna run OTR. Not crazy on being stuck in 1 region all the time amd would get really bored. I wanna travel the country and see what it has to offer.

 

If you are a company driver then you are in a LW truck on the Reefer side of things, with the exceptions of instructors and trainers. Yes there are a few that are not in LW's because they had/have extenuating circumstances. I will say this, my FM had all his solo drivers in LW's, he would flat out tell you, if you don't like it then go elsewhere, because you knew what you were getting into.

 

Thanks Highway101. I still dont get why ppl complain. Its extra money for doing the same job with a lil smaller living space. I guess some ppl afraid to make a lil extra money?

 

Some folks have seen too many re-runs of "Smokey and the Bandit," and have the illusion that OTR trucking is something akin to a pleasure cruise.

 

I love them movies. But their has to be a common sense line. You are out there to do a job. Not saying you can't make mini vacations outta your 3-4 days off some where in the USA. Instead of being home. I just see a lack of work ethic in the younger generation. Im 28, been working since I was 14.

 

I love money. So extrs .05 cpm, bring it on.

 

I'd say maybe if you like the shorter runs and just running only in the north east, maybe the ne regional could work. For me, the best company I was with(before it was handed off to newer people and the recession hit), I was running regularly between Missouri/Nebraska/ Kansas and Iowa to the north east and back, hauling dry food-grade , metals, and packaging east, (which meant no hazmat, they didn't allow it on their trailers), mostly to food manufacturers, and hauling paper, bricks, and what ever back west. Mostly that was for about hmmmm, .38 a mile, and in the best months another .035 tacked on for the mileage bonus, running an easy 10000 miles a month. Definitely not smoky and the bandit stuff, since they were very strict on logs and legal scheduling, but my best earnings were on that kind of running. I did a good 500 miles or so a day average, I got my rest, and got to run a wide open part of the country.

And yes, I will admit I could have done more research on here, but sometimes there is a big difference between what I read on here and what I'm seeing and hearing once I step out of the orientation room and get rolling with whatever company it is. Maybe I expected something that I thought I was going to be doing, but the reality what's different? Maybe. For me, if I'm out 2-3 weeks, I like to have the miles, and not be stuck solely in a very small part of the country all the time, but that's just my preference. Basically like I said, I'm happiest running Midwest to east and back, and maybe some down south thrown in now and then. I just don't buy that "the northeast is were the freight is" line because from all the years I've been driving, it just ain't true, because quite a bit goes in & out of Chicago. And yes I have been angry and some things that I have learned about operations out of Pittston, because the orientation and the materials presented seems more geared towards lease operators and trainees. I came is as experienced a- seat, and it seemed at times (and still does) I was kept in the dark. Yeah I know there is some info on this board, but for me I still need to hear it directly from the horse's mouth. Or at least put in official writing from the company.

I'm still researching my options, there's a couple of small Midwestern reefers outfits I could get into hauling meat loads out of there, and the dry van company out of there that has been asking me if I'm interested in coming back, since they have new accounts that seem promising as well as they pick up and deliver near where I currently live. Plus I'm considering maybe moving to the Cedar Rapids area or Ithaca NY vicinity(I have my own reasons and I'm keeping that to my self thank you very much), which these 3 carriers would allow me to do.

Would I recommend prime? Well, maybe for trainees, owner/lease operators and those looking for regional I could say yes. For long-haul company positions, maybe best to look at smaller companies. JMHO.

Hopefully this will explain where I'm coming from.

 

What happened to or at "the best company I was with" that resulted with you joining PRIME ?

 

It was the best until the " best company" was handed off to new people, and they made decisions that were... Questionable, like jettisoning the good people in the office, and replacing them with incompetent, cheaper paid employees who either didn't know what they were doing or didn't care, and equipment that was getting old and poorly maintained. That might change since I've heard through a couple of friends that the original owner has taken the company back and started cleaning house, and have added a couple of big long- haul accounts. They have no lease or owner ops, or trainers to compete with for freight, and only take experienced drivers. At the time Left was when the negative changes were taking place. I then went to an out fit of the same size that paid percentage. It worked good, up until the head office purged the good dispatchers that were left, and the rates had become cheaper and cheaper. I came to prime when I saw the pay rate was up to a reasonable . 38 cents plus the additional for able truck, thinking i would be running the same Midwest to east coast meat runs, so I assumed that Pittston would be the same as the rest of the company and I'd be raking in the cash from still doing long runs, I guess I was wrong. That basically it. I'll know in about a week what my decision will be.