What's the current status on Prime?

Mass exodus, or mass failures? And, no.....I have not heard this. Lots of leessors, lots of failures. Nothing new or unusual.

The vast majority of leassors fail. Whether here, or anyplace else. Always has been, always will be..... the reality.

The market has been bad. If you've been watching, rates have been in the dumps for last year or two. Will make it that more challenging to make it work. But, have to be able to weather the bad with the good. Trucking business always has been cyclical, always having it's ups & downs. This is when experience & business knowledge is most important. Anybody can make $ when the getting is good. When things take a downturn, the shake out occurs. The smartest & best prepared will survive, the weak are overwhelmed & bail.

Can't speak personally for lease side, as I run for a true O/O, but am considered company & paid through company. Getting ready to put a truck on w/them myself, here shortly. Sure some of the lease guys will chime in. Lease guys that I know whom properly manage their business seem to be doing fine.

Made $75,000 last year, myself. One of my original trainers, over $84,000. Of course, that is with training part of the year & taking very little time off. Both of us, company side.

EVERYONE thinks they have the best work ethics & business accumen, but reality often proves differently. Everybody THINKS they work hard. Lot of greenhorn leassees here have just jumped right in with no true experience of mention, that have no business being in a lease to begin with.

Not sure if this helps you at all, but it is what it is.

 

I see now from your other posts you are just starting.

My advice, start somewhere company until you know what you are doing & learn the ins & outs of the business. There is much, much more to it than driving.

Starting green is good bet for failure, & the larger majority DO fail. Starting green in a down market to boot.....? Just asking to be run over.

Run a company truck somewhere for a year or so on paper, just as if it was your own. This will show you in black & white whether you can make any money BEFORE you risk sinking yourself. Why take such a risk when you can prove it without the gamble?

Or, the even crazier & novel idea of saving money while company until financially prepared & responsible for a business, then BUYING a truck? I know, just crazy huh.....? LOL

So much better sense to learn the ropes, make your mistakes & pay your dues on someone else's dime rather then your own! All the while bringing home a regular STABLE check, benefits, less stress.....etc.

To me, it only makes sense. But, I'm realistic & practical like that. LOL

Do yourself a favor, think hard & look before you leap. I just hate seeing all these folks that think they are "special" somehow, always wind up a statistic.

This business is much different than any other & very unforgiving. It does not suffer fools lightly.

I wish you luck in your endeavors, wherever you go.

PS...
The above mention earnings are not going to be typical at all of company drivers & should not be expected. That's several years of experience & a lot of humping loads as efficiently as possible. But, it shows what can be possible.....even company.

First year driver will be doing good to make $40-50,000, if worth his salt. Have seen guys do bit better first year, but definitely worked hard to get it. There's a heck of a lot of a learning curve that first year.

 

Well said and good advice FMJ.

I have seen the same thing with restaurant owners. Little knowledge or experience AND not enough working capital. Failure is usually imminent.

 

I am a lawyer who represents truck drivers. I receive an average of 5 calls per week from drivers stuck in a lease purchase wanting to sue, or to find a way out. As a general rule I tell them that a Court will not save them from their own bad business deal. I happen to believe that almost every lease purchase is a bad business deal.

Consider this:

1. If you sit for a week in Fresno because rain is heavy so produce can't be loaded, you still owe the truck payment.

2. If mama is sick and you need to take time off, you still owe the truck payment.

3. If the truck breaks down, you owe the truck payment nonetheless, and may even have to pay for the repair and parts (or it may come out of a maintenance escrow.

4. If you leave early you usually lose your escrow, and may even owe money for the balance of the truck payment.

5. If the trucking company has the truck pledged as security for a loan, and it cannot pay off the truck, you lose your equity if the company cannot afford to pay off its loan (As former Arrow drivers).

6. If you get hurt at work, you have no workers compensation coverage.

7. If you overpay the truck (after being sweet talked by the carrier about its value) you will probably build no equity.

8. If there is a balloon payment and you cannot come up with the payment due to lack of equity, you have nothing.

9. The carrier will ding you for many costs of operations (depending upon the lease terms which few drivers read).

10. If you get fired for either a valid or bogus reason, the lease probably requires you to come up with a large buyout amount if you want to keep the truck.

11. The lease is likely to provide that you cannot take the truck elsewhere, such as to a trucking company where you can make more money.

12. Very few drivers end up with titles to the trucks they are buying because they are not profitable.

Recommendation: Don't enter into a lease purchase. If you want to buy a truck, build up a good credit rating and borrow the money to pay for a reasonably priced truck.

 

Like they said in Goodfellas "business slow? F### you, pay me, Place hit by lightning, f### you pay me. Had a fire? F### you, pay me.

 

I couldn't have put it much better, or more succinctly. Thank you for listing out all the caveats in one shot.

(I never did finish law school....LOL!)

Read it, learn it, live it.......you ARE on your own out here. If'n you don't read the contract line by line, & understand fully what you are entering into....you have no one to blame whatsoever for what may go wrong. A lawyer will not save you! It IS a legal contract that you WILL be held to. Ignorance is not an excuse. Read & fully understand the contract!

That said, I do know some folks that have done well leasing. Definately a small minority out here. But, they knew every exact detail of what they were getting into, according to how they had their business plan set up. I believe most of them could have done better in long term by planning, saving & buying. (I am certain they would agree, after the fact). It IS definitely a situational position. You HAVE to know exactly what you are getting into.

Personally, never was a consideration for me. Ruled it out early in in the game.

It's what's dangled out front of 'em all. No credit, no capital? No problem....... (Good Lord!)

If you don't have the credit, or more importantly....the capital to survive, your in trouble right from the very beginning.

Thanks for putting it out there from a lawyers perspective. Many would do well to read & heed before they have to resort to contacting you & finding no recourse.

 

I'm a lease op with Prime and here's my take on things through my experience working with them. First and foremost you need to have business mindset. You have to be willing to stay out for long periods of time for two reasons, one being to stay in the profitable freight lanes, and two to build up a decent size emergency fund. The more you go home the the less your in the good freight "Loop" sort if speak. Another big factor is you need to find out who the good Fleet Managers are. A poor Fleet Manager in this program is a sure highway to failure. You need to show sales that you run smart and efficient and your never late for pick-ups and deliveries. Thats another sure way to failure. Now here's another good tip and it really depends on your Fleet Manager and the trust you have with your Fleet Manager. Never turn down a load. Now some of you will say are you nuts??? If its right at or below my cpm I refuse to take it. I agree. But remember when I said it depends on your FM and the trust and relationship you have with your FM? Well my Fleet Manager when he sends me a "Cheap" load I know it's because I have a monster load on the other end. He does everything for a reason. This is trucking man sometimes we have to take a hit to get to that big paying freight. Another thing is and its not for everyone is become a trainer. Good money to be made in that business model. Bottom line Rob Lowe developed a business model for his guys to make money if you follow it you'll get the most out of your experience at Prime. Even not following it you'll do well. But it all depends on what your looking for and what you and your family needs. Prime isn't for everybody. I hear and see all these guys talking bad about Prime and generally those guys are were the product of their own failure and the victim of their own consequences. Saving money, watching your overhead and running hard is the name of the game. You don't do those 3 things your gonna fail miserably. If you need anything or have questions feel free to inbox me.

 

Well said. Thanks!