joining prime from Maine concerns

Just came down with a load out of Easton ME. We're in and out of there with multiple loads almost every day. We have other shippers/receivers in the Augusta and Portland areas too.

 

Now that the OP has updated his location...

I've pulled paper out of Skowhegan. Schneider and Stevens had trailer pools there also. I see Western Express in Maine frequently as well. They pull a lot of loads out of Poland Springs. Road Scholar is another company I see often. Not sure if they hire rookies but it may be worth checking into if driving a 70mph KW gets you off.

OP, with you being 50ish miles from Lewsiton, you'd be a good candidate to pull Wally dedicated out of Lewiston. I hate doing it personally but it may work for you.

 

The Wal Mart DC in Lewiston, ME. I95 exit 80. You'll pull loads to WM stores throughout New England. 3-4 stops typically both refrigerated and dry loads.

I don't like it because you're burning time bumping docks. Not only that but you have to count the pallets off, making sure they take what's theirs and not something that belongs to a different store. WM workers are like drones in that they'll just keep pulling pallets off mindlessly. You pretty much have to tell them what's theirs and what's not. I've had problems getting them to even open the door to me (it's locked and only a manager can open it). One time after 45 minutes and being told to 'hang on' 3 times, I marched my happy ### to the front of the store and into the manager's office, to which he apologized profusely and promptly went to the back to open the door and make his lazy employees unload me. That's not the only time that's happened but honestly it's not a common occurence. It's just frustrating when you're already flirting with the 14 hour clock and need to hit your last stop with time to roll because they have an ordinance against big trucks and running out of time and having to park there means a big ticket.

The plus side is 1) The loads are always ready when WM says they'll be ready. Sometimes early. And 2) With your home 20, you'll sniff home probably weekly even if it's just for a few hours; possibly a 34 reset.

 

You'll be NE regional by default and you'll eventually be assigned one of those WM loads if you stay around long enough. Then you can decide if you want to switch later. Also worth noting that stop pay is $20 per, so you're not exactly losing out. It's just more hassle than it's worth imo.

 

Prime NE regional isn't too bad of a job. I ran for Prime end of 2012, by living in Washington County, I got NE Regional by default. It wasn't too bad, in the two months I was on NE regional before going lease, I only hauled 4 WM loads, I managed to escape new England, and ran east of the Mississippi 85% of the time. I never had a problem getting a load to get home. Dan ran the board, and him and I got along great. I would definitely recommend it if you want to stay in the north east/ nearer home. I currently don't work for Prime any more, but I am definitely looking to come back.