Do you have to lease a truck at prime?

No you dont have to lease. We are all struggling for more miles. I think we may have a hold on tanker hires.

 

My step-son went through Prime school...he "leased" a truck with them after his own training and trial period. He is now ready to leave, as his "trainees" are less than desirable, and they just informed him the other day, that even THOUGH he is a L/P, he is now going to HAVE to drive as if he were a company driver. MEANING, forced dispatch.
As an L/P, you should NOT have "forced" dispatch.

Drivers at Prime, DO...whether company, or L/P driver.
Just thought I'd let ya know. BTW, this just came into affect at Prime this month.

 

Hmmmm, logging on q-com's, forced dispatch for l/p, not what i would consider a eviroment for a business person wanting some semblance of independence. IMO.

 

To be legally considered a contractor as per the IRS, you cant be under forced dispatch

 

I will ask some other drivers.... I havent heard that from anyone yet, and believe me, some of my buddies would be howling if it were true.

Could be one of a couple things... A- Its true...or B- His FM is lying to him to get him moving because he turns down loads all the time... or C- He's making his excuses for leaving look better.

 

My questions is how the hell r we supposed to make money at prime if they are going to electronic logging. Especially for l/p

 

^^^ I dont know. I personally think that electronic logging will not be as good as the so called experts predict it to be.

 

Right now Prime is experimenting with paperless logs - it's restricted to a few of the company drivers on my FMs board. It looks to me like it's mostly going to put some restrictions on availability, and your freedom to deal with certain shippers/receivers who do not allow you to park on their premisis and have no available parking within 6/10 of a mile. I don't see it being a problem for teams, but I do see it as a problem for solo drivers.

The deal is this... eventually EOBRs will be mandated by the US DOT. It's going to happen, not that I will be a fan of it. Personally, I believe a paper logbook is your best friend. Management is experimenting with electronic logging so that they know how to deal with it when the time comes - to know it's strengths/weaknesses and tune its usage to our operation. I don't believe that it will go fleet-wide until it is mandated, and in any case, you need one of the newer QualComm units to use it. I have an old one, and they have no plans to replace the equipment, except as older trucks are retired - they do that at the 3-year point with most Prime power units. Our management has stated that they don't want to start using it until everyone does - to put everyone on an even playing field.