questions fo rexp Prime Co. drovers

There are a lot of trainers at Prime that have never been company drivers and have never seen the company side of things. Not an excuse really, it would take about 20 minutes to find out about the fuel program and be able to tell the drivers when they do their MAC27 that if they go company that they have to follow those fuel stops and directions. I was a company driver for 5 months before I leased, and have had trainees go company with no problems that I know of. I also read these and other message boards and find out about new policies that have been put in place. I just found out about 2 mintues ago that company drivers can run MAC27's every 10 hours, it used to be, and i've been training 12 hours.

 

Nope, no PO is needed. Just hit "skip" at the pump when it asks for a PO#. Just make sure you only fill however many gallons the QC tells you to. Do not go over. So for example, my QC says:

Petro Fuel, North Little Ro, AR AR307
Exit 161 fill up

This means I get to put in however much fuel I want. The "AR307" is the code for that location in our fuel book. But usually, you'll have a limit like:

Petro Fuel North Little Ro, AR AR307
Exit 161 78gal

This means you are only authorized to put in 78 gallons at that fuel stop. So don't just fill er up. If you go over the limit, you'll hear about it. The only reason that bothers me is because I usually clean the windshield when I fuel. But if I'm only putting in 60gal or so, I need to watch that pump to make sure I don't go over. Not a big deal really, I just clean the windsheild when I'm done fueling. Just annoying I guess. No need to call or message your FM, as long as the "authorized fuel locaitons" tells you to fuel there.

Now, lets say you miss a fuel stop on accident or for whatever reason you need to fuel somewhere that is not on your authorized fuel location QC message. Just send your dispatcher a message and let him know where you want to fuel. So in this case, I'd send my FM the following:

"Good morning! Can I pls get 100gal at AR307? Thanks!"

Your FM will then open your card for that fuel location. Don't request it too early, as it only stays open for that location for a certain period of time...I think about 10 hours or so, but I'm not really sure. you'll get a message stating the location, how many gallons you are approved for, and how long the card will stay open for that location. Anytime I've requested to get fuel, I've never had a problem and get a response within minutes. And if I only need reefer fuel, I usually request 50gal just so I can get a free shower credit. Put some in the truck, then top off the reefer. My dispatcher has never had an issue with this. But again, all dispatchers are different. You'll learn your dispatcher over time, and it won't take you as long as you think.

 

As for scanning fuel receipts, I've been here 3 and a half years and have never scanned fuel receipts except if I needed reimbursement for reefer fuel, of if I paid cash and had to obtain a PO.

 

You may need to double check this... As far as I know you are not to be splitting reefer fuel into your tanks.

As I understand it, the fuel is taxed two different ways.... I could be wrong, but my trainer told me this was a no-no. Company and L/O

 

Reefer fuel can be subject to local sales taxes, tractor fuel is not by my understanding. I think I remember somewhere along the line being told it was ok to put a little fuel coded as tractor into your reefer, but never to put fuel coded as reefer into the tractor.

 

ALWAYS GET A RECIEPT FOR ANY OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES YOU EXPECT TO BE REIMBURSED!

Lesson learned: Overweight load on (tandems or drives, I cant remember) I was the last truck, it was the middle of the night at some Calif packing house.

Scale 10 miles down the road... overweight on axle

Return to packer, its shutdown for the night. Couple workers hanging in the parking lot. NIGHT DISPATCH suggests I give them a couple bucks to re-work the load... I swear he implied that I was going to be re-imbursed.

No proper reciept, no re-imbursement.

Your fuel gels, you need a jump start, you get stuck in mud or snow... you will be charged for the service call. No re-imbursement.

Prime pays for anti-gel when you purchase it as an "additional oil product" when you fuel. same way you get oil, washer fluid, anti-freeze, fifth wheel grease etc.

You are expected to have jumper cables... get a jump from another truck, or put your reefer on high air and charge for 30-45 minutes off the running reefer before starting the truck. (It really works, unless you have another issue)

I got charged for a pull start as a bobtail (no reefer to charge from and the service truck couldnt jump start it either), but got re-imbursed after the Prime Shop proved my suspicions correct that I had a couple bad batteries.

Mud and snow, you have chains.

 

If they fail to teach fueling procedures, what else do they fail to teach ????

 

Some trainers fail to teach a lot of what a driver needs to know. A friend of mine spent his training hours driving... cranking out miles at night while his trainer slept... and never learned to use the QC. Never learned how to register a comm check. Didn't know when to get a PO. Backed the rig MAYBE once a week? (The minute he had difficulty, the trainer would emerge from the bunk and take the wheel.) And add to the equation that he trained with a l/o and is a company driver.

It's a good thing he's not afraid to ask questions and is a quick study. It's been a long journey, to say the least.

While Prime's a decent company, I wish they were a bit more selective about who they allowed to train new drivers. I often sit here... read the boards... and wish he could have trained with U2 or IP -- someone who's willing to offer helpful information. Instead, he was paired with a driver counting the days 'til he could turn in his truck.