Wannabe trucker concerned about entering prime

Wow a top five list without CR England who should be number one on anybody's list. And it includes Schneider who probably wouldn't make my top ten list. Prime might not be on my five list either but would make the ten.

And the point is we all see things different and neither one of us has probably driven for any of the companies we see as so horrible.

 

Uh...No dude many will not agree. How can you put Prime on the top of a worst to work for list that doesn't include CR England?

I've spent a solid year just researching companys on this site and others as well. Some would say Celedon, Usxpress, or TMC should be on your list.

Go to the favorite company section. Make a mental note of the companys found therein.

Now go to the bad company section and cross reference the companys found there with the companys from the favorite section. See where I'm going with this.

 

So, I see you type faster than I do.

 

Yes I beat you this time but we were both thinking the same thing.

I'll tell you what else I'm thinking, the only way you make a top five worst companies list that does not include CRE, is if you work there.

 

Ain't that the truth!

 

OK BigJohn. Lets get into it. What's so bad about Prime? Do the list...

 

I have a driver working for me that was trained at PRIME and did a few years as a company driver.

He was WELL TRAINED , knows his stuff and does a great job.

 

You're an inside man IP, what's some of the things you would change about Prime if you were in charge?

 

Ironpony, why would you go after me when my post did nothing but raise Prime from the position that someone else put them in? In my post I pointed out that it was not the number one worst company. Longshot34 has probably never driven for Prime either. He said they were the worst and still you come after me. I'm guessing if I really knew all the bad companies, Prime wouldn't even make my ten worst list. Did you just completely ignore the last sentence of my post, "And the point is we all see things different and neither one of us has probably driven for any of the companies we see as so horrible."

Since we last clashed on this issue I have recommended Prime to at least two drivers. In addition, I have made at least one post speaking highly of their training. Please search my posts and verify this. I am even impressed with what you said you have averaged with them on a lease.

You could use your time so much more wisely to pursue Prime haters. I am not one of them. You are not in control of the Prime threads on TTR, if you don't understand that contact Admin (Sam) and I'm sure he will confirm this for you. Have you ever operated a business that prepared Tax Returns or did Employer's Quarterly Tax Payments for a profit? I have. Still you voice your opinion loudly on the subject of being paid for driving with a Form 1099. Do you see my point?

I don't wish to get in a measuring contest with you or anybody else. You have your opinions and I have mine. This is what makes this country great, and you and I individuals. I have a right to share my opinion and will continue to do so. My reasons for not highly rating Prime have not changed since we had our last debate on this.

In my world things are simple. You are either part of the solution or part of the problem. All the Mega-Companies are part of the problem. Don't forget, I grew up around here and know the history of Prime, which was founded in Urbana, MO in the early seventies. They later moved to Springfield. I have watched this company and many others grow here in the Springfield area. IMHO, most of these companies have grown from decent companies to hideous monsters. Even if I could, I would not run a company like these companies are run. It goes against my values, principals and morals.

I started driving my own truck in 1979 when you got as much as 90% of the gross revenue for a tractor and trailer leased to a company. A mileage lease would have been laughed out of existence. In those days, trucking companies were required to work as hard as drivers and owner/operators to remain profitable. They did not make millions on the back of those who earned it for them. I respectfully submit if you knew how things should be, you would not accept the way today's companies treat us as acceptable and sing their praise.

Sure this is the way it is now but that does not make it right. Sure we have to take it or leave it. I will leave it. While Prime may be one of the better, of a bad lot, that is not enough to make me praise them. Why is it right for companies like Prime to cut rates and take 25 - 30% of my money? I can do what they do for 10% and so could they if they weren't corporate raiders. Profitable companies did it this way for years. When they are done cutting rates and taking their unfair share, they leave us with an amount almost equal to what I would haul freight for in the late eighties. Sure the FSC adjusts for fuel cost. Can I purchase equipment for what I could in 1988?

And while I agree they are one of the few Mega-companies that actually train drivers well, at what cost? IMHO, unless they can make big bucks on training and tax credits they aren't interested. And this attitude creates a clear preference for less experienced drivers. Or maybe it is for drivers who don't know how bad they are being abused. Go figure!

As I told you before they won't take me because my experience is not recent and neither will the rest of the Mega-Companies. This before even seeing my MVR or Criminal background so that is not a factor. Unlike Schneider who will take me with a refresher, they won't. They won't train me because I have a CDL. Since I sent another driver to them who had just acquired his CDL on his own, I know it was not personal as they refused him too and he had no experience.

Now you probably think I have a personal axe to grind with them. I am not easily offended by one's personal treatment of me. Besides I was in the early stages of checking my options and have found several better options than Prime or Schneider. What I am offended by is policy that puts profit above safety or good common sense.

Sorry, but for me being treated well is not being treated better than the rest. It is being treated in an equitable manner. It requires the company, I would praise, to operate on principals and values. They would have to reward experience and not make their decisions based solely on profit. They would have to compete on quality not price alone. They would have to offer an equitable portion of the revenue to me, the one doing the work, before I would praise them. I want no more from them than I demand from myself.

Now I am done justifying and explaining my opinions to you. I really don't have any more use for your opinions than you do for mine but I have never attacked you or your opinions. In addition, I have never tried to pick an argument with you. Please brush the chip off your shoulder and move on.

 

Dam John. I'm glad that's not your standard cut and paste response. Lol.