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

The cash will remain there until you get your license, Once you pass it dissappears, So if you want it, get it out before you test

 

Thanks Steamer. I just read where you advised either here in this thread or another where we need to have cash and this makes sense. I'll be sure to get it out if I need to use my draw prior to coming back to PRIME. If not a draw, I'll have it on me or available in my personal account.

 

No. Prime separated the lease and company sides onto different boards almost 5 years ago because of the differing needs of company and lease drivers. It's more productive for both sides that way.

It's mostly up to management for company drivers. Company guys are employees, and are treated like that. Lease ops have quite a bit more say in how things are done, simply because IRS rules require a difference in the way we conduct our work. That being said, just because you want to stay on a certain board is a very poor reason for becoming a lease operator. You are starting a business, and you have to be prepared for it in order to stack the odds of succeeding in your favor.

FMs at Prime work on a base salary with a commision that's based on the success of their entire board. There is also a system of fines/incentives that regulates their behavior toward their drivers. In practice they have to keep everyone running in order to maximize their earning potential. Too much favoritism towards a few drivers will actually cause them to earn less... they'll keep you running as best as they can based on available freight and your hours. Having a good relationship with your FM is something you want to work on. Establishing a combative relationship with them will not help you, and they do have a lot say in how you run - you don't want to go out of your way to piss off your FM. As they gain confidence in you (and your driver rating goes up) you'll get better (and more difficult) loads. They don't put the most challenging and service-sensitive loads on the new guys until you show that you can handle it. The other side of this is that the FMs want to be assigned GOOD drivers, not problems that are a major PIA to deal with.

We are on a system called elogs... electronic logging. Your hours on the drive line are automatically recorded, and cannot be changed by dispatch. You have to have management approval to change the database, and that's controlled by the logs department - not dispatch; you do have the control to edit your non-driving time. Your hours of service information is relayed to the load planners via the QualComm satellite system, so EVERYONE is aware of what you can do, and what you can't. The ideal standard is to dispatch you at 50mph, and they do that as often as they can. Since you can't drive over your 11/14/70-hour limits, your ability to run "illegally" without generating a violation is severely curtailed. You can do it, but you're going to hear about it. A lot. Repeated violations will get you a trip to talk to folks in Springfield, and those "chats" aren't pleasant from what I've been told. It's still up to you to determine whether you can make a trip legally and safely - and company drivers can still object if it doesn't work out. Sometimes things get overlooked, especially if a split break is involved. The elog system does not "tell" you when to drive/eat/sleep/pick your nose. That's up to you, and as long as you get to where you need to be ON TIME and SAFELY, most FMs have better things to do than to micromanage you. You still have to plan your trips, and with elogs you have to do a better job of that than when we were on paper logs.

Sometimes, but not necessarily.

 

Log and elogs are something a PSD worries about right away. One of the first things they do when they get assigned an instructor is they are taken to logs and get a paper logbook, QC ID, password, and "homework" assignment.

homework being the students logs their previous orientation days on paper logs and log themselves into the QC and update their logs.

more importantly elogs is a electronic legal document. The student is responsible. Students need to be changing and approving their own logs under the supervision of the instructor.

the student is ultimately responsible for his logs and Prime does not want the instructor to be making changes without the assistance and approval of the student.

 

I stand corrected.

 

That goes to show there is a whole lot more to trucking than just sitting behind the wheel and driving like a lot of people think. I for one didn't relize it was so involved.

 

Thanks SE that is good info. I am learning more and more from you guys posting on here and I think it will help when I get there, as well as all the other newbies.

 

Just report him. He didn't credit or link the source.

copy n paste makes this site liable for copyright infringement if they allow it.

then again I could be wrong.