Prime, Inc. - Springfield, Mo.?

See post's like the above are why i'm still thinking about central, england and prime. I have heard all the bad about both companies and it seems to come down to the point slick50 made and that is the mind set to run it like a business. If prime ran the northwest more then they would be my first pick for sure.

 

Prime would be the best out of that 3. Central is real iffy and if your still thinking about CRE then I sense bad things in the future....

 

Please
Remember
I
Mortgaged
Everything

I leased with Prime for a year. Lost my #####. Just finished my 2008 taxes and can tell you this. I ended my lease on 2/15/08 and was in debt to the company to the tune of $7000 or so. Not even counting that, my net income for 1/1/08 to 2/15/08 was -$585. From September 2007 to the end of my lease on 2/15/08, I had to stay out for two weeks at a time, just to get that extra weekend load in. The week after going home, I'd have a negative settlement and the week after staying out, I'd have about an $800 settlement. So, for two weeks of busting tail, I earned about $400 a week. Oh, and there aren't any taxes taken out of that, so call it about $350/week.

Don't do it, if you have a mortgage, rent, wife or kids.

 

Way to dig up a 7 month old thread....

Sorry for your troubles, but maybe you hometime expectations were a little off.... Every 2 weeks?

 

And maybe Prime is just another fleece program. Wrapped up in nicer paper, but still just another way to get suckers to pay for the companies equipment and kill themselves trying to make it work. Lot more failure stories than successful ones.

 

i am trying to get answers to a couple of questions
where can you reside? does it have to be within a range of a terminal or somewhere approved? restrictions if you bobtail home on where to park?
and as far as time off, do you get one day for every 7 worked? how many days off earned can you take at once?

 

anywhere in the lower 48,chicago is a good freight area,plan on spending 6 weeks out and 2 or 3 hometime,any more and youll be in the hole.i dont know about company drivers,but still plan on 6 weeks out.

 

would be a company driver, 6 weeks out is normal, and 2 or 3 home days?? don't you earn one for each week out, what is the limit of days earned you can use at once?

 

you may check with iron pony or u2exit,i believe that 4 is the max days they want a company truck not rolling.

 

You get 1 day off for every 7 out. You can take up to 4 days off before you have to be back out. With the economy and the freight the way it is, plan on being gone 6 to 8 weeks. Im going to work with my Fleet Manager on getting home, rather than make demands...

I am a COMPANY driver:

Im really not recomending the trucker route right now to any individual who has a family to support and/or maintain a home. Im not doing half bad, but I have very little in the way of bills and I have no one to support but myself and I although I have a place to go home to, I dont pay for the upkeep etc.

Im going to breakdown your training pay as I earned it... things were a bit better last Spring when I started, so I got through a little quicker. I did not go home AT ALL to alow me to move through my training more quickly.

First 3-5 weeks $240 LOAN/week payed back at $25/week after you get your CDL. (3-5 depends on getting a instructor, getting your required hours, and getting back to take the test) This money is intended for you to live on the road. 10k training mile credit for this time

After you get your CDL then you are with a Trainer for 50k-70k DISPATCHED miles. A minnimum of $600/week or .12 per mile whichever is greater, running team. So if the trainer truck doesnt make 5k miles per week you still get $600 minus taxes and your $25 loan.

It took 11 weeks for me to get 50k with my trainer, only 4 of those weeks were over 5k. The total average was 4868 miles/week in a not half bad economy of last early summer. I then went home for a break.

At this point you can go company at .30/mile or you can stay with your trainer another 20k and then you can lease or go company at .34/mile.

For me to reach that 60k mark (10k student+50k trainer) and get going solo in my own truck at .30/ mile it was 17 weeks. REMEMBER, I chose not to go home at all. You can chop maybe, 2 weeks off of that because it took a longer to get an instructor, and my instructor kept me out a little longer before taking the CDL test.

Going home while with a trainer require the Fleet Manager to find you a load going by the house, and then finding one to come back and pick you up. I had a friend who sat at home for 2 weeks waiting for his trainer to come back thru because it was a struggle to put that load puzzle together. Thats not the norm.

I have since made my 20k and currently getting .34/mile + fuel bonus.

For the first 8 weeks of the year 2009, with 4 days at home, I have averaged 2020 miles per week. Add in fuel bonus, subtract taxes and benifits, Im averaging about 570/week take home.

Also its a good idea to keep a 100 dollars around for a truck fund...from this money you will have to use for the truck in which you get re-imbursed. Cash Tolls, Weigh Tickets, Out of network trailer washes etc. Submit the reciepts and its re-imbursed. But if you arent smart an live week to week on your paycheck this will cut the money you have for that week. Some weeks it 20-30 dollars for weigh tickets, others its more.

Think long and hard. This isnt for everyone, and there is no glamour out here. Company drivers cant customize their trucks, or have pets for all you BJ and the Bear fans.