I need some advice about Prime school

Use the search option on here, you will find enough to read about Prime.

 

Prime's "school" consists of a bunch of classroom stuff, your physical and wizz quiz, lots of paperwork and then you go out with a trainer.

Nothing really to be nervous about.

For details, contact Ironpony or Sazook. I believe Sazook is a trainer and Ironpony went through the program. I could be mistaken about either ....or both. But, it's worth a shot. I haven't been with Prime for almost a year. My information would be a little dated...and I didn't train with them.

 

Advice:
How much do you know about trucking other than when a flatbed is loaded?
Question:
Do you think that after school and a few months with a trainer you will know enough to become a lease purchase driver?

An L/P driver is one who signs a stupid lease for a piece of equipment you now know enough to turn the key in but you will now be paying them to drive their truck under the idea that you are now an owner operator or the owner of a business. Yes YOU will be footing all the costs of driving that truck IF you sign the fleece oh excuse me lease but have NO say as to where you haul freight out of, where to fuel or the route you go or can you take that truck somewhere else to pull other freight that might pay more than some piddling $.98 and a FSC!

If you are going to lease a truck then go to Ryder or Penskie and do it right! At least they will not be telling you what freight to haul! OR haul it at their rates!

In other words if you can NOT afford to make a down payment on a truck with what in business is called an OPERATING CAPITAL why do you think you can lease a truck and live on a paycheck to paycheck basics when you have no idea what trucking consists of or how to survive in this cesspool called trucking AND you #### sure will NOT learn it with a trainer in a short 6 months to a year as a team driver! There are some cheerleaders who will sing the praises of leasing but there are very few out of the thousands of trucks in these companies that live off of you the lessee that lose everything they own to these sharks!

In other words Prime has a company driver section and when you are going through the orientation do NOT fall for the high pressure push to lease! Tell them you would rather be a company driver until you have enough experience to know what you are doing! Do NOT fall for what is called high pressure sales!

Now just so you understand who actually makes the money at Prime, when the bus gets off of I44 at exit 82A and onto the ramp on Hwy 65 look to the right and as you pass that monument to the Lowes, you should have your answer and then when you get to the "motel" add that to the amount then decide if you are getting a fair shake in the rates! Trust me you aren't! But to verify this look above this post. Do you see that menu bar that starts with the word User CP? OK look to the right and see the word Search? click it and type Prime or lease purchase or CR England or Knight and read through the answers! The search is a good way to find this information fast!
I would also recommend you go to 3w's.ripoffreport.com and type Prime in their search engine for even more answers!

If ANYONE told you that $50,000+ a year will be your average you were lied to! Ain't happening! Even for drivers making $.40 CPM and those are experienced drivers at the top of the scale!

Do your own math real quick!
Fuel is about on average $3.58 a gallon x if lucky 6 miles per gallon x 3000 a week IF LUCKY.
then figure your weekly truck payment
your insurance costs
your own health insurance (workers comp isn't real insurance! it's run by the gooberment and that should tell you a lot!
Your food a week
your house payment
your car payment and those 2 insurance payments
children
wife
and figure it at whatever Prime OR anyone is promising you minus all the above and I didn't but scratch your total. IF you were not scammed into going Team OR trainer 3000 is about what you can do if nothing happens such as breakdowns which YOU pay for and MOST repair bills are about $500 a whack just on the low side! Shop rates are now at or above $100 an hour! Call a truck shop and ask their hourly rate and just for a kick ask the price for a tire or a battery!

Yes most of these moron companies think that after you have finished your training you are magically such a good professional driver you are now good enough to be a trainer! Your trainer just might be one!

Anyway at whats left out of that "BIG" money they are "paying" you there will not be much left for the rest of your bills! And just for funnies this website of the USDA that tracks rates on produce which Prime does haul with their reefers should give you a hint on who keeps most of the rates paid to haul freight! But remember, as you pass that monument to trucking called the yard you'll understand WHY you will not make crapola! And to dazzle you a bit more I have never seen the SLC terminal or the Pittstown, Pa one so those you'll have to look at and wonder who is paying for them! One of these days I'm going to drive by Lowes home and get a picture so post and some of his toys!

Think before you sign on any dotted lines that has a truck payment attached to it!

Wonder why a large percentage of experienced drivers do not do a Lease? Most of us know whats involved and were not silly enough to do it! The company I drove for across the interstate from Prime went to all lease and when the cut off date rolled around for the company drivers to either lease or quit if not fired before hand 38 drove down to the last minute hoping that the owner wasn't actually stupid enough to go through with it but did and those last 38 walked away! Not a problem as they were looking for a job when they took that one so they went and found another one with no problem!

And the marquee out front with all those big bonuses, Yeah, right, that's just for you to go," WOW! where do I sign!"

And just to qualify myself, I live in Springfield and have driven out of here since 1992 and have lost 1 neighbor that had a bit of experience who thought he could do the lease and make it work. Nice house, 2 daughters and the wife. Lost his P/U but destroyed his credit and life falling for that BS called the L/P program! And he's not the only person from Springfield to lose everything!"

Now it's not only Prime but any of those what are called "Megas" in the L/P cesspool!

You asked about Prime, so having watched Prime and all the others for many years and listening to the drivers on side channels on the CB crying, or around the dinner counters at truck stops, it's hard to hide the fact that until you manage to pay off a POS Freightliner, a truck that has NO resale value after 3 years and 500,000 miles + on the odometer and over paid for the thing to begin with you'll understand that leasing through the company that gets your freight is not a good or proven busness practice!

Ask yourself how much BEFORE any of the costs to do business how much money you need to live on then add all those costs of the business to it and decide if you want to become an Owner Operator!

And a little hint, it's NOT your truck until you have paid for it and hold the title in your hands!

Before you get on that bus call or go to a Freightliner Truck Center and ask the cost of a new L/P or O/O setup truck. Really ask them what the full cost is and explain to the sales guy that you are about to go do the L/P plan with Prime or CRE or someone and with this price in your hand and while you're there ask the cost for a used one with say 100,000 miles on it as they WILL try to get you into one of those and be VERY surprised as to the cost of that to what some company will tell you their POS is worth! Talk about a price gouge or seeing a sucker coming there it is! Heck pick up a Truck Paper. One of those big truck sales papers and look at those prices , the mileages on them and the setups and have those prices in mind when they try to lease you a used truck! Just don't laugh at them to hard!

It's way easier to get your CDL and then get your own truck and trailer and yes your authority instead of doing a fleece! Call your court house and ask the cost of tags, then go to the gooberment and ask the cost of getting your own authority and freak out at how little it actually costs compared to what a company wants you to believe it is and how hard it isn't to get! And then add the added costs that YOU will have to pay anyway! Yeah getting your own accountant is way easier than going through those glass doors at Prime!

NOTE: The tax laws about contractors are changing! They are going up for the contractor which you will be so be prepared for what the news media is claiming to be an 18% cost to the contractor for taxes! They have to pay off the debt somehow so guess who is getting slammed? Yep and for those of you driving for other companies as a "contractor" you are going to get bent!

 

You jump `in BEFORE asking what your getting into..?I think `maybe your doing this a little reckless;but good luck to you..Look before you leap,especially in this game called trucking..

 

Rollover, I'm so thankful that people like you exist on this board! I hope this guy reads what you said and is smart enough to reconsider what he is doing. (doubtful, but one can always hope). Likely he'll wind up another hapless victim, I just hope he doesn't have a family to drag down with him. I really wish I could better understand how these companies are allowed to do this to people, and why something can't be done. At any rate Rollover, thank you for your informed and frank observations.

 

You'll do fine, and no one will pressure you to lease a truck. I ran on the company side for 3 years, and never heard a word about it.

Lots more information here...

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/prime/