New to Prime INC - What to expect (Springfield edition)

Must be awesome to know everything.

 

I've run more than a few, and honestly, the pay is not at all worth the hassle of doing them.

As far as IP's comment, there are solo flower runs, mainly off the west coast, and yeah, not so good either.

 

I agree totally. They mostly dump some more money into those loads just to offset the necessity of doing your own lumping on floor-loaded freight. BTW, I've done two team floral loads while I've been with Prime, but certainly not while I've leased. From my perspective, the multiple drops (while they are compensated) are not worth the trouble. That cuts into your available drive time, and the delay inherent in that increases the amount of fixed costs that must be absorbed by the revenue generated from the load. A good long one... basically eats your week, and you have one load that might not even pay during the current week. That'll kill your revenue generation real good. IMO, it's better just to bite the bullet on a Tropicana load, but on short miles... just get back into the better paying freight lanes.

 

Going to Prime on June 4th. Plan to get my CDL permit here in Georgia before I leave and possibly try to get my long form/medical card before I head up. My first question is, once we finish the initial four weeks and get the CDL, is it possible to get with a trainer that doesn't exactly take home time, so we won't end up stuck with a trainer who goes home every other week and it ends up taking us 6 months to get our mileage? Second question is, once you become a upgraded company driver, is it possible to think you'll be able to get 2500-2800 miles a week? I'm really excited, but I don't want to end up running low mileage and not making any money. Thanks for these really informative posts guys.

 

We're an OTR carrier, so no one (outside of the drivers based at DCs who don't train) goes home every week. Just explain your preference when you're assigned your instructor. 2400 to 2800 miles per week is a reasonable weekly average. It does depend on your FM to an extent, and they will ease you into that so that you're not in over your head at first.

 

Thanks. I'll be coming out of Georgia which is where I'm living. Do you guys know anybody down this way, and when we do decide to take home time how hard it is to get over this way?

 

We deliver in the Atlanta area regularly. Bottom line is they'll find a load delivering near your home when the time comes.

 

Thanks for all the information folks. I'll be in town for Orientation starting the 30th of April. Again, thank you for all the information provided here.

 

Thanks for the quick replies Iron. After doing all of my research it seems Prime is the top choice for somebody starting out. I've been around the industry for 20 years, and I know it's not always peachy. Don't understand how it's going to be some ####### amazing slice of pie right from the bat. You can definitely tell your people that are military vets because they know how it is in these posts!

 

Unless Georgia requires the medical card to get the permit, don't waste your money. Prime won't accept the card anyway, as everyone takes a physical at orientation and a new card is issued.

Think about your request, a trainer who doesn't take hometime? A little selfish don't you think.

Lets get you that trainer who won't take hometime just for you, and then when you go solo, your fleet manager can leave you out on the road for the same interval everytime you want hometime.... See if you like being out a couple months without seeing your home, family, or simply to get away from a trainee that maybe getting on the last nerve.