Prime, never been insulted by employer before.

Lots of CANADIANS picking up loads and returning to CANADA , same as a lot of AMERICANS picking up loads in CANADA and returning to the USA.

If you know of a CANADIAN picking up in the USA and delivering the load in the USA then REPORT them.

 

I dunno, when I see canadian trucks clear down in Tennessee or even farther south, I gotta wonder.

 

I know a Canadian driver that runs a route from the Toronto are down to Ontario, CA and back. I've taken Canadian loads from Texas and Kentucky, either of which would have been legal for a Canadian truck to take, and one of the loads I took out of Canada had a final destination in New Mexico.

 

Would really freak you out to see CANADIAN trucks in the bottom end of Florida , or Laredo.

I haul lots of loads in / out of Canada , even bought a few trucks and lots of trailers NORTH of the border back when when US$ was worth big $ compared to CAN $

 

It doesn't really matter anyway. Canadians coming over don't cause problems for the most part. Their economy and regulations are on par with ours. Mexico is a totally different set of problems.

 

Why would you pay for reefer fuel? It's their trailer, their load and they agreed to keep it cold for X dollars. If the Thermo-king broke down....would you pay to fix it? Hope not!

I don't get this....... it's simple logic. Why would anyone agree to pay this?

Why would you take a load paying .060 a mile ? That's drivers wages at best. Your loosing your ### the minute you turn the key. So you took the load to get into position for a better one? Did the better one also offset the losses incurred getting into position ? I doubt it.

I don't get that....why would you do it? Why would you do any of this?

OP/ED: The only way to check the likes of Prime and their co-conspirators is to refuse to do it...or even better, never associate with them in the first place.

The fact is the ONLY reason a motor carrier gives you a truck ( under any terms ) is because he can't make money with it. His ONLY sales tool is price point and he can't negotiate with his fixed costs like capital notes. ( truck and land payments ) Therefor he must find his profits in the variables like driver wages, fuel, maint. etc. By leasing you the truck he automatically collects ( saves ) 12% of your wages ( matching tax payments to the fed ) plus the required workers comp. ins. premiums. Further savings come from the $6.00 week accounting charge and all the other charges back to your check. Your paying for those office girls and he gets to use them...what a deal! ( Once you're in the software it's just a couple of clicks to keep you updated and lots of data comes off the Q.C. to accounting )

Lets not forget the financial leverage ( interest on monies collected ) he gets from you..... the $1000 escrow ? The .08 maint. fund? Others? Might seem small to you ( and it is ) but think big ! How many trucks does he have? X $1000 for 3 years ? The maint. fund?

Under accounting rules, distribution costs ( trucking ) are a loss therefore must be tightly controlled. This category is where the salesmen put their baggage ( like free dinners for customers ) their travel and even their salary sometimes. ( depends on co. ) It's also where unprofitable freight and lanes go. EG: Lets say you want to haul for XYZ whse. and to get him you toss him a low ball rate that's loss to you but if you get his bus. you'll make it up later in FSC, HAZMAT chrgs. and other up charges. Well you put this loss in the distribution column. ( Good for taxes )

At $3.00/ gal fuel your hub cost to move that tractor ( not and trailer ) is OVER $1.50 a mile...... that's HUB COST ! Not post office to post office or practical or anything else. The truck only knows hub. Wear starts with hub, fuel is consumed with hub.

So how does J.B. YRC and others do it? How do they stay alive ? First is employee cost control, second is capacity filled trailers, no air space, high and tight or max payload, third is bulk buying of tires, fuels etc.
AND THEY DON'T RUN ANY LOSS LANES / LOADS. THEY HAVE THEIR COSTS CALCULATED TO THE HUB FRACTION. THEY DO NOT REPOSITION THEIR TRUCKS AT A LOSS TO GET A GOOD LOAD. IF THEY HAVE TO MOVE EMPTY THEN REVENUE WAS BUILT IN TO THE LOAD BEFORE HAND. IT'S ALL BASED ON R/T MILES.

What's in your wallet ??

 

I wouldn't. It's pretty simple... if you document your reefer fuel purchases properly, and make sure that you fill the tank ASAP after hooking, those purchase are reimbursed 100%. Prime has been pretty good about recovering reefer fuel surcharge payments from their customers and passing them along 100%. Plus the newer reefer units really don't burn much, so reefer fuel has pretty much broken even for me.

Well... again, I wouldn't. Below my bottom line to move the rig... and I pay attention more to revenue per day myself. That being said, the rate guarantee is 95 cpm plus fuel surcharge guarantee. BTW... if you spend all of your time waiting for the "primo paying load" you'll go broke.

Do you suppose it's any different if you employ a CPA?

Per federal law, interest is paid to the operator on escrow accounts.

Huh? With corporate discounts, my base price for fuel is quite a bit less than that. The last time I calculated it (beginning of the week) I was running about 14 cpm for fuel after fuel surcharge.

Actually, I had to quit stuffing the wallet, and start putting it in the bank. When my wallet gets that thick, its a pain to sit on it!



I'm doing pretty well. It's certainly living up to my expectations, and my FM doesn't get his mortgage paid if I'm not doing well. From where I sit, so far its been a good decision. Your mileage may vary, but as they say - opinions are like anal orifices - everyone has one.

 

Thanks for the comments...

What bothers me is when I see no "Seals" on trailers or better yet flatbeds hauling freight so far out of "Normal" shipping lanes I just assume they are up to something...

Stay north...that will make it easy!

 

as i noted in a different thread, Prime was the beneficiary of a mistake made by a canadian company. The CHD division out of salt lake was once owned by H&R transport out of Lethbridge. They got caught moving domestic US freight with canadian drivers/tractors, and because that's a NAFTA treaty violation, faced losing their import/export licence. They had to sell CHD to Prime or lose all their cross border business.

Note: They got CAUGHT... I know several o/o's back in Canada that routinely move freight within the US on the sneak by loading multiple stops along the route towards the border. The trick is they take payments in US dollars to a US bank account set up for them by their broker. They take the risks when they go to collect, but usually it's less than any amount they have to declare at customs. I'm not sure if this is common in flatbedding, but in dry box or reefer, it's more common than i first thought.

 

This almost sounds like you're saying that you don't have to pay for reefer fuel, and if that's the case, I want to change my lease contract to yours.

What he's trying to say (i think) is that if you pick up a trailer that is low on fuel, you have 2 hours to fuel it and then send in the receipt with your trip to get reimbursed for that first fill.

As far as the reason we pay for reefer fuel, easy, Prime used to pay for all the reefer fuel, and then when they switched it over to the operators paying for it, amazingly, the amount of fuel the reefers were burning dropped by a large percentage. In other words, when Prime paid for it, drivers were putting the reefer fuel Prime was paying for into their tractors.