Day 1 at Prime

Go company at first, and get the deal figured out. Make sure you'll be able to make money - including finding a good lease board to work off of.

Its very easy to tell your company dispatcher, "I want to go lease." The next week you'll be back to SPRIMO or PRIPIT for lease orientation. The other way around, you'll hear a bunch of guys rolling on the floor, laughing their arse off!

 

good advice i guess then should go company for a year right then go lease probably then have a better chance of getting a good lease board but now i'm not sure if i can even go now i had my ticket all set and something came up so i couldnt make it and now my recruiter is telling me maybe some other time which really sucks i really want to go and do this should i just get another recruiter or re apply not sure what to do now any advice

 

well it looks like everything is all worked out just need to fax a few things on monday and hopefully will be leaving home to springmo on saturday man i hope so been waiting for this moment a long time quick ? would i get threw orientation faster if i had my permit before i come out

 

does anybody know if prime will take out child support payments or would they rather not get involved

 

I say this in regards to all Company Drivers, as I am only familiar in this area...

Prime is barely involved as it is. They've farmed out their payroll to Premium of North Carolina.

Before anyone says, "Oh but Prime is very involved"... Why was Travel Allowance (per diem) absent from box 14 on the W-2s this year? Prime's response "We asked them to do so, and they wouldnt."

Employer, as stated on W2 is "Premium of North Carolina, INC) unlike previous years "PRIME INC."

Ever hear those Prime radio commercials about Prime holding pay in tough econmic times... well yeah, my pay and raise progression chart is the same as when I started. Same for those people who started after Sept. 09, However their pay raise progression chart is a whole cent less than mine.

Im over 430,000 dispatched miles to get my last raise, those guys who started after 9/9 will be making .01 less when they get where I am noiw.

Now, under advisement from Premium... I was told that company wide, they lowered our milage pay .01 and increased per diem (travel allowance) .01 This is in response to the govt increasing the per diem rate.

so its a push, however both the driver and Prime are paying less in taxes... furthur results in lower driver benifits as Disability, Unemployment, SSI and Prime matching 401k funds are all tied to the employees taxable income, which is now .01 lower (the untaxable is now .01 higher) Also most banks and loan officers ignore untaxable income from a W2 when determing loans and credit... you cant even make an argument to consider the travel allownce now that its not even on the W2.

I dare bring this up as it might give Premium the idea... at least we are not charged for getting "the benifit" of per diem pay as some companies in the industry are doing.

Dont get me wrong, I still like working here... Ive got a great FM and I am getting great miles. All of this other stuff is something I can live with... by no means is it enough for me to want to quit. In the end, im still getting paid the rate they said I would. The pluses still outweigh the minuses.

 

Just sayin...

This nonsense is one of the things that weighed as a plus for moving to the lease side for me. U2... you guys are still getting fuel bonus, yes? If it were me, I'd raise the W2 issue with upper management.

I'd also ask recruiting on whether they'd pull child support out - my *guess* is that they will.

 

thanks for all the useful info guys i was asking because my child support is court ordered so my case worker would send them info for verification of employment ect for the wage assignment thats what held me up was some issues with child support i would be more descriptive of my situation but this is an open board dont need everyone seeing my personal business i'm just glad it's worked out so that i can still come out there and work Prime from what i've read looks like a real good company i've read the good and bad but i'm sure you will find that any where you guys that have responded with honesty of your own situations, experiences with prime and you guys seem very happy so with that being said thanks for the honesty i do appreciate it look forward to meeting you all some day

 

How much do the company drivers get starting out. Is it mileage or percentage. How long would it take to get into the tanker side of Prime. Thanks

 

i was wondering the same thing,i live in nh and pay support to mass and my employer in nh said they had to deduct the support so even if i wanted to send payment myself i couldnt,my employer has to.thats nn though not sure if it's the same in mo. i asked this question but didnt get an anwser,the only thing i can recomend is calling prime and asking?