New Prime, Inc. - Springfield, Mo.?

There is a link on prime's website about company drivers. Its at the top--if you dont really look for it you wont see it. Click on the top where it says drivers--there will be a list for students,experienced, etc. You will miss it if your not careful though but its there.

 

Chucky,
There are many folks who are company drivers with Prime doing very well and they have not been pressured into becoming lease operators. You are free to make that choice on your own after completing 60k miles with your trainer if coming in as a D seat driver needing instruction. Most folks just starting out will want to spend a year or more learning the business before taking the lease option route if that is for you. You do not have to sign on as a L/O if you go through Prime to get your CDL though you do have a 1 year with Prime commitment before your school obligation is fulfilled.

AL14,

 

thanks for the update and info. I've read too many horror stories about leases.

 

Does being a company driver as opposed to a L/O affect your miles?

 

Hey Semi/ Retired,
Just wanted to say hello I have read the first 7 pages and going to keep goin through here. Mean while, You sound like you have some knowledge over there. I am brand new to trucking and found Prime at a career fare here Denver, Colorado. Sounded like a cool place to work for. For me I am looking for a way out to see what all around the united states. Obviously from the high way but different sight's all the same. Just read above here you said that they make the Company Drivers do that. Do the company drivers make pretty good money as far as 40K a year or what?
New to this forum as well. Anyways probably be leaving here the first of april for Springfield, Mo. Any heads up you can pass will be appreciated mean while,
Take care.

 

I have been with Prime for almost a year now. i am not sure what all the ######## is about. I leased a truck in May 07 and my 1099 was for $167000 in revenue. I have owned business before and so I may have an advantage over those with no business experience but I can't see how a driver wouldn't make money with Prime. Proper log book management is required because they will run you out of hours if you aren't carefull. They are ok with logging the speed limit and (in the cases of IL and OH) even a little over. Communication with your fleet manager is a must but the most important thing by far is BE SAFE AND BE ON TIME!!! If you are the type that wants to hang out in the truck stop watching tv this is not the company for you. If however you want to WORK for a living then I have to tell you that in the summer and fall I averaged $1800/week in my pocket after all expenses. over the winter it was more in the $1200/week range. Work ethic...If you don't have one find another way to make a living. Remember that all those escrows that they take out earn interest and belong to you. You do get them back. It was very nice not to have to come out of pocket for the 2 new steer tires I just bought in the same week as my tax payment was due.

 

The only thing I know of Prime is through my step-son. He went through the school, and is with a trainer now. They have AWESOME facilities at their terminal. My step-son, however, is less-than-thrilled with his trainer....the trainer is only 23 yrs. old,makes my son drive on HIS (the trainers) hours, as well as his own,so that he can sleep off his hang-overs,won't drive enough hours to get my son anything more than his guaranteed in-training pay,drives like a maniac, tail-gating,and so forth, speeding, etc. Or so my son calls and tells us every other day. IF all this is true, I feel this guy is just one bad apple at Prime, and isn't destined to be there long, or at any other company. From everything we heard and saw when we went there, they seem to be a decent company to work for.

 

Well, those of you who have had bad luck, bad karma, or just a plain ole bad attitude are probably going to take me to task for this. Hopefully those of you who i've been following on these different threads relating to Prime will take some personal satisfaction from this. It's Prime Time for me. I have researched Prime (as well as other companies) backwards, forwards, sideways, and even inside out/ upside down. This process has been ongoing for a while then I discovered this forum. What a treasure trove of information I have gleaned here. Many thanks to all of you who take the time to post and moderate here. I have talked to Prime drivers both company and L/O's. I then went to the truck show and visited their booth. The recruiter I spoke with brought over Prime's contractor of the year,Victor Blackburn, to answer our (I brought the boss lady) questions. ALL of them. We then drove to the "palace" last friday for a last attempt at poking holes in this deal. We couldn't. We have both been in business before, together. We both have pretty good B.S. detectors, my wifes is much better than mine. Even she was impressed. Sure the lease is steep. Anybody ever opened a restaurant from scratch before? In comparison to most any other start up business this is cheap. No other business I have ever looked at provides anywhere close to the amount of tools that are available to Prime L/O's. Sure there are failure stories out there. People fail, for a variety of reasons. Some people should not be allowed to do certain things, but, this is a free country so they try to do things they are not capable of and fail. The Corp's taught me to be self sufficient and succesful. But, if I fail, the Corp's also taught me to take responsibility for it, learn from it, and overcome it. Not exactly rocket science. Any way, i've gotten off on a tangent here, back on topic. To all of you out there who have provided so openly of your experiences, Steve&Lo, Slick50,Semi-retired,Vulcan, and the others I can't bring to mind at this second, wish us (wife is quitting job and coming with me) luck as we will need all of it we can get. And once again-THANK YOU!

 

Maybe the reason that you have heard bad things at the truck stop is because those are the drivers hanging out in the truck stop instead of working... I make exceptional money at Prime and am quite happy there. I stay out for 6 weeks and go home for a week. My adjusted gross for 2007 was just over 70,000 and I do get medical taken out. Gotta have work ethic to make it with this company.

 

A couple of questions I have for you are:
1) Is this solo income you are talking about here, i.e. no team or trainer pay?
2) You mentioned logging, do you stay within the hours of service and make this money?

Just wanting more info aabout Prime. Thanks!