question about prime

Any of you Prime drivers on here leasing? I haven't talked to a Prime driver for a while but the last 2-3 I spoke with who were leasing were having trouble with miles and making ANYTHING for a paycheck. Freight was so bad earlier this year, and I have been off the road a couple months. Starting to get that diesel withdrawal in my blood though... and not sure how long I can keep doing this low-paying office work! Yeah, me... the one who says a bad day in the cab beats a good day in a cubicle! It's true, but gotta try to keep momma happy!
So anyway, I got an email from one of the Prime recruiters last week saying miles are up, new lanes, etc. - the standard recruiter speak. So how is it, really?
U2 - thanks so much for the realistic numbers on the other thread! However, I know from my earlier experience with Prime that as a lease operator you can't really make a GOOD living without about 3,000 miles a week. So I don't know. Still thinking... may have to stay in the office a while and get a second job... although that is not as easy as I thought it would be!

 

I have been leasing for a little more than 2 years. I will say that it has been rather challenging since last December, but there never has been a month where I haven't turned a profit. I ran Team in Janurary, solo Feb thru April, I had a student (solo truck with extra pay) in May and have been running team since the beginning of June. The worst I had was February, where I profited less than $1000, I did take 10 days off at the beginning of the month though, and was planning on running team, but my co-driver left the company. March thru Mid-June were all about the same, about $1000 a week give or take, but the last few weeks from Mid-June to now have really taken off. I'm not making as much as I was last summer when I was training, but they have doubled from what I was getting. So I'm a rather happy driver right now.

 

Hey Kingsson, I'm not a lease driver, so I won't state too much on that. But remember that the lease drivers at Prime are not paid by the mile, they are paid percentage of the load. So it doesn't really matter how many miles they run. What matters more is how well the load is paying. And as I'm sure you're aware, freight rates are in the garbage right now. It's been pretty tough for solo lease ops lately. Glad to hear you're doing well though sazook!

I do know that miles are actually UP this year at Prime from last year. I wasn't at Prime last year, so I can't really give you personal experience on that. I know there has been a lot of complaining from solo company drivers that miles are way down this year. But I saw it on paper with my own two eyes, and very recently too. Miles are actually up. Of course, there are also more Prime trucks on the road right now too, and they aren't letting up. I'm at the terminal right now, and the new hire orientation is overflowing.

 

Mike, I do understand that. I have run the lease before. Nevertheless, what I found is that the more miles I ran with well-chosen/planned loads the more money I made. I found that generally, if I ran about 3,000 miles I would clear about $1,000 that week. Like Sazook, sometimes more, sometimes less, because it IS a percentage.
Sazook, is it still 72% of line haul? I heard they had decreased that. Do we still have to pay for reefer? Never understood that. I mean, the tractor was mine, sure... but it was THEIR trailer! Also, what about tolls? They only reimbursed 27% before, which sucked in the northeast - where in addition to not having anywhere to park, there are tolls everywhere. Since you are running a lease, what is your average cpm for the loads they are giving you now, and length of haul?

 

Line Haul is still at 72%.
We still have to pay for reefer fuel, which I can't blame them for, I can see drivers putting reefer fuel in their tractor tanks if Prime paid it.
Tolls are reimbursed at 28%
My avg per mile has been wildly fluctuating week to week so I don't want to put a number on here and have it be 20 to 30 cpm off next week, but I've been getting enough to keep myself happy, my last 2 checks have been over $2000.
As far as length of haul, I'm running team right now, and I've been bouncing coast to coast, getting about 5500 a week.

 

Thanks, Sazook. I may be out there within a month. I tried coming off the road again. Got a decent office job, as office jobs go, but not enough to pay the bills - which of course are set to a trucking income! I thought I would just get a second job... but that has proven elusive! Two months off the road and still no second job! I may have to go back on the road to keep the house, etc.! Besides, I am discovering that you can take a guy out of trucking, but you can't take trucking out of a guy! I have the diesel in my blood. I started with Prime, and that is where I made the most money I ever made in trucking... just was never home. I would have to fix that this time around. And the office job... well, as my signature line says, "A bad day in the truck is better than a good day in a cubicle." Had some family things to deal with when I came off the road, but those seem to have settled down. ANYWAY... I have about three companies on my short list, but Prime is at the top. Maybe see you out there!

 

Best of luck to ya Kingsson!

 

yes Prime does have Prepass and EZ pass.

 

DaC report on prime what a concept they put things on Dac that don't happen and when you call them on it they say sorry we will clear it up. then when you apply somewhere else something new will show up again they say sorry we will correct it. been going on for months. and what the hell does didn't follow company procedure mean anyway? so on a scale of 1-10 Lowe and company get a -5.