My experience in Prime's lease program so far.

It sounds like he made fair comment without attacking or insulting anyone to me your response on the other hand.......

 

You didnt read all his posts then.. I dont take kindly to being called a liar.

 

Figured Id update.. been back about a month and a half. Was a bit peeved at first because I had to go back through their short orientation but got it out of the way and been running very hard.

I took a used short lease truck this time around that I turn in the start of the year. My 1st 2 weeks were a bit rough money wise, spent a lot of time sitting. Since then Ive been running very hard and my income is way up compared to what I was making before I had to go home.

 

So what changes did you make to your business plan and to the management of your business, to postion yourself to handle any extended downtime, when it happens again?

 

Extend down time as in getting injured and being out of work or sitting too long on a reload?

It will be same as last time.. I have cash savings.. That's what got me through this time and if it happens again.. I also have zero debt and that helps..

To be honest the walk away lease was perfect for that situation because, if I had a loan on a truck as well as o.o insurance and so forth it would have cost me a hell of a lot more.

I ended up owing roughly $1,8k when it was all said and done. That was due to my last week running while I was in the hospital I had a truck payment with no income and of course they hit me with a few truck related charges for PM, cleaning and so on..

I also bought a van to get myself and my stuff home. Cost me about $3k for that, but they wanted $250/day for a car rental from Pittston to FL, and I would have needed it 3 days..

So now I have a extra van, but I also drove it back to Springfield and will of course drive it back home . Could have rented cars but once I'm back home in Jan, I can resell the van to get my $3k back.. so I will come out ahead buying the van vs paying for a rental.

Overall, I think I came out of the situation in pretty good shape considering. I dont think there is really much I could have or would do differently, other than not use arm rests while driving....

My only concern at this point is what I do next, because my arm still bothers me quite a bit. That's one of the reasons I took a short lease when I came back, so I could test the waters. That and I always planned to take this winter off.

 

Any luck on collecting from your Occupational Accident policy to help cover expenses during your down time?

Glad to see you're back up and running again as well!

 

Hey, it was pretty much like pulling teeth and me having to be a telemarketer debt collector but finally about 3 weeks ago they agreed to cover the medical bills.. They however are squirming away from paying anything for down time.

They wouldn't cover it as a "work accident" because I couldn't point to any specific thing like where I banged my elbow or anything.

Instead its coverage under "work related" sort of like repetitive motion injury like carpal tunnel. That took a lot longer to prove and the hospital in PA was ridiculous about sending my records.

Anyway after going through 2 or 3 different agents and a few months of me having to chase them down on phone, they agreed to pay the hospital bills at least.

Prime on the other hand has ticked me off, so I took a short lease truck and will move on once done with this run..

I'd still do training with them if I did it again, because they are probably the least scammy of all the training megas but I don't plan to stay long term anymore.


Btw I forgot who mentioned the insurance but I owe you a beer or something.

 

Check with the state (labor department) for workers comp. they might not get you lost wages, but issue checks for when you unable to work. Checks can be pretty good. And last I knew they were tax free. You might need a lawyer, you will know you have a case if the lawyer takes your case on a contingency basis.
When I got hurt, the medical payments were from a different department than the workers comp. Were you paying premiums for workers comp, or did Prime? If not might be impossible to collect for lost wages. Good Luck.

 

I'm lease not company so no workers comp, that's what the insurance was for. It takes the place of workers comp, but obviously not same protection as workers comp

 

Well you should lease one of their trucks and take it else where like I did I have had good luck with them letting lease ops bring their trucks over here to my company. Gives you the chance to run spot market freight, book your own loads, and have fun dealing with brokers. If you're interested, shoot me a message.

Otherwise, where you thinking of heading to next?