leaving Prime :-(

Prime has regional runs... I havent felt mislead one time... My FM gets me home around the time he says he will, so far. Prime's website says theyre an otr company...

 

Again, I think Prime is a good company but I certainly can sympathize with you. They do NOT give you all the costs associated up front. PRIME drivers here..that's my experience. I went through orientation and I pay attention. Later on I found out about chains etc. Other costs..here is one.

When I switched to tanker, I carefully weighed being able to make it through the 3-4 weeks training pay to get into a truck.(as you have read).. I give credit to my trainer who started telling me things right away..like the $700 for Stainless fittings that you have to have..but don't worry, they will take it out $100 at a time for 7 weeks..my jaw dropped...chains...this, that.

Then when I mentioned that one of the reasons I decided to go tanker was that they told me it was Northeast regional and "a lot of guys don't stay out 3-4 weeks because they run past the house and get to be there during the week"..my trainer is the one who told me that was BS..the head of the division is the one who told me this, he KNEW where I lived..my trainer said there is NO WAY you will ever see home during the week...I believe some guys do..but he sure misled me..

Stuff like that means a lot to me. I am not here to trash this company, I had such high hopes but eventually the roller coaster of hopes and emotion needed to end..if I was a single guy and didn't have financial obligations , I would have rode it out..but this wiped me out

They really dont tell you all the costs associated, you find out eventually, but I defy anyone to find out the $700 dollar Fittings fee, chains this and that...try and find the 25k mile training time (for tanker), which is actually only 3 weeks, which..no, is really 25K but is then subject to change, which no it isnt, the tanker training school which is only in case you NEED it, which is now mandatory..the inconsistencies made my head spin, new costs..once you are invested you are stuck..so at some point you may have to leave with a financial obligation over your head, that one I knew about

 

I am not trying to argue or deny anything you were told but I just finished orientation yesterday and it was made pretty clear that tankers are NOT measured in miles but time.

 

So they told you that tanker training time is measured in time? THAT is hysterical, and Iron Pony told me the exact opposite a few days ago*..

If I understand you correctly, that would be initially what they told me.(3 weeks) And I could get off earlier and in my own truck sooner. They told me that they wanted to do at least 5 or 6 pump offs so I could understand the pumps..After we pumped off 1 time, my trainer had me do the entire procedure the next time, he was very surprised and started telling me he was going to bump me up earlier. Keep in mind I have worked on pumps, printing presses, cars, machinery for 31 years..I am very mechanically inclined..I was ready..My driving, good and ready for my own truck the trainer said..

So heres how it rolled..

1) there was REALLY a 25k mile requirement at least training reefer 1st for someone who was a PSD wanting tanker coming in and then another 25k on tanker..but the head of the tanker division was going to see about getting it changed, (i had approx 65k already run reefer) so they were gonna change the rules, be flexible

2) tanker school was for those who needed more actual pump experience and didnt get it fully, my trainer said I did but may have to go anyway as a precaution..

3) still working on changing those mileage requirements, but they didnt know if they could, probably would still need pump school as a precaution

4) the last straw..the 25k was mandatory, the pump school was now mandatory, (they had a new guy teaching and he would cover rebuilding as well)..this added easily a month, probably 6 weeks including pump school and re-orientation to drive company..we only ran 12k in a month, thats how slow it was

see, tell me up front..I was now going to start defaulting on my mortgage, we were outta cash

BTW I can break down and rebuild one of their pumps before I was even shown, show me the basic process and I will get it after a few times, I can take anything apart and reassemble it, it is a matter of replacing o-rings, anything mechanical beyond o-rings and seals needed to be done in a shop anyway, we dont carry machinery to re-manufacture stainless impellers or stock to make another scored faceplate for a pump..lol

this is my aggravation, there are things there that the left and right hands are truly strangers..when I emailed upper management and talked on the phone, I suggested that they have a some type of manual that outlines company procedures and requirements so that everyone is on the same page, I also suggested that for trainers and instructors, everyone trains or instructs differently but some actually break accepted driving techniques that would be deemed as unsafe, that run contrary what we were taught getting a license and I dont mean relaxing on some points, I mean changing those points, like controlled braking and coasting long distances..its confusing to a student..

I talked to the head of Tankers Boss, he said "Why would he tell you weeks, its miles"..

*Iron Pony told me on Facebook it is miles and I saw a post where he said a few years ago, its time, I chalked that up to him being newer in 2009..but again, who knows ?

THAT is tough when you are struggling, young dude, no family or bills, no biggie, to me..please, tell me whats true, the first time

 

IP was right. It WAS time. 90 days to be exact for BOTH flatbed and tanker.

I could post a pic of the TNT trainer manual bu that would just confuse everyone with a nearly 3 year old document and has since had plenty of changes that most of us know are fact today.

 

IP/2009: "Tanker yankers and flatheads will wait longer, but that's because there are less of them at Prime. What we usually do is send you out on the reefer side, because 95% of what a trainer is going to teach you can be learned pulling one of them. Then they assign you to a tanker or a flatbed for about 30 days to learn the peculiarities of those peculiar trades."

see, I can understand that IP maybe had 30 days and 90 days mixed up, whatever. He told me last week everything was based on miles on facebook, he "thought I knew that"

so again, I am not trying to beat a dead horse, you all can come and defend them..I understand and that not a bad thing but you can say all you want that you know the policy, thats good because THEY dont

1) they told me 3 weeks, tanker school if necessary
then..
2) they told me no, its actually 25K, tanker school maybe as a precaution
then..
3)they told me they were going up the chain to change 25k because I was ready, maybe skip tanker school
then...
4)25k mandatory,tanker school mandatory...thats when I bailed..

I played basketball with an older gentleman and the boss and a bunch of management types quite a few times, I saw that guy my last day and called him over, he was said to see me go, he said "why would ***** tell you 3 weeks"..more than once..I asked him a minute later..are you a dispatcher..he said, "no..I am *****'s boss"..

So THEN the day I am waiting to leave my trainer comes back and says to me that ***** told this new guy...guess what...3 WEEKS!! but my trainer in attempt like what is going on here says, I think it is because he already sat through the company orientation after upgrading and was ready to drive reefer...now that would be total BS or another total contradiction..the 25K was for safety reasons, so sitting in a class orientation again would make the difference

just call me a liar and get it over with, what they did was WRONG..say one thing and do another..cause anything anyone has told me as an explanation hasn't made any sense

 

wow. ya'll have to buy the chains, loadlocks for the truck?

 

You switched instructors, switched trainers, and switched divisions.

Hard to wrap my head around what you said about the guy with trucks, but it sounded like you were trying to switch employment status by working for a guy who was leased to Prime.

How much of this switching was in the original plan you and your wife decided on before you left for Prime?

Plenty of info around here about paying for certain items and equipment.

 

They have two for Reefer... Western Regional and North East. You live in Texas and do not fall into either one. They do have dedicated in Texas but as a rookie I would imagine it would be a few years before you got offered anything down there.

Not new info. Plenty about this posted around here. I see you have over 62 posts here at TTR so you must know your way around.

Chains is a fairly new requirement. Remember it was the morons before you that screwed it all up for the guys like you that followed them.

Prime is an OTR company. We are not known for much else.

Well, who's fault is that? Preventable. This has been policy for a long time. Why didnt your throw on some of those chains you paid for. Ive done it. Ive even just layed them down in front of the drives for traction.

Guess what, forget to anti-gel in winter? thats a tow. Let the battery run down on your truck? thats a tow.

BS, Ive had every single hometime honored. on time, every time.

The lightweight policy has been around for a good while now. You were not forced to work at Prime and therefore not forced into a lightweight. Again, another policy that has been discussed around here ad nauseum.