Complaint Review: Prime Inc - Springfield Missouri

If you decided to pull a load what it is "hot load" then do not cry. You got greedy.

I was never forced to pull illegal load. Plan you trip and make shure that you have enough hours to deliver before you accept the load. You can allways say NO.

I did few times as company driver and was not penalize for. I was in apst for few other companies and did pull a "hot load", but that was my choice.

In your case-the trainer was "greedy" and forced you to do what you not supposed to do. It was not the company. You should report that trainer, but I do understand your fear of being "kick out of truck". You have to put safety above everything. What is the money good for you when you are dead or in jail.

Ok, I have 19 months experience since 2006. I have not driven for Prime Inc, but I have driven for Werner Enterprises. I have driven for Covenant Transport. I have done bed bugging, skate boards, and mom and pop deals. I'll say this, it is the same everywhere you go with HOS deals. They always put outrageous deals on your loads, but if you're not up for the task at hand then don't do it. I always put NO for on time delivery so that way I wouldn't get in trouble if it was late (meaning if I didn't feel like running balls to the wall and putting in a 17-20 hour day). I would always call my dispatcher (hence I always made good money with my companies) because I would always tell them look, thats not a reasonable time table but I'll do my best to make it there on time. It is the same everywhere you go, if you scratch their back, they will usually scratch yours. I have never had an issue getting home and I live in one of the worst areas for any company to get to...I live in the northwest panhandle of Florida. I would routinely run my load and drop it off and turn around and get asked to run to a truck stop where some whiner driver whose solar powered truck couldn't move anymore, couldn't make his delivery and I'd take his load and miles and finish his load before shutting down. See, the deal is in this business if your wheels aren't moving, you're not making any money. I am sorry everyone has a bad outlook on big companies, but it is mostly because they are super truckers who have been out there 20-30 years and feel like rookies coming out don't deserve to be trucking. Everyone has to start somewhere, it's just too bad it is the big companies that are actually willing to train those new drivers. I have never heard anybody with 15+ years ever have anything constructive to say to me or any other driver with a big company. It's always derogatory comments and negative things about the company. Sad thing is, I look young even though I am to be 25 in less than a month, I look like I am maybe 21 at best, so I always get the crappy comments regardless. So in that turn, I do run hard, to outdo the nay sayers, and I have worked on my backing skills to shut the mouths of the old timers. I put in spots sight side or blind side that a lot of drivers won't even attempt. I know because there was a place I used to go to in Charlotte when I was driving for a mom and pop company that even the other drivers in my company with 10 or more years wouldn't even attempt, and I'd put it in the dock. They would always either have the yard dog move the trailers out of the way or have the yard dog put it in the hole for them. It is mostly about having confidence in yourself and your own abilities and who trained you. I trained with Werner and feel my first trainer, was the best trainer on earth. He was an owner operator so I had to pay very close attention to deal so I would not mess up HIS truck. Anyways, I doubt Prime has the highest turnover rate of all the companies. You have to consider Werner, Swift, Schneider, and even Covenant into that ratio first, all of which I believe are bigger than Prime.

Prime, Inc. AKA New Prime, Inc. is still the same company that it always has been, and is well known to be a user and abuser of drivers. They have attained a reputation of being a company that has one of the highest turnover rates in the nation. This company has changed many of it's practices to head off lawsuits, much like someone with a sour stomach will take an antacid to lower the level of bile, but their reputation is still what it was. It sucks. They push their leasing program onto drivers as a means to meet the goal of maximizing their profits, by transferring the costs of operating their trucks onto the drivers that fall for the rouse. It is also a program to avoid paying benefits and taxes that they would otherwise pay to and on behalf of employees. The only difference now is that they are REQUIRED to do it up-front and honestly. And they sell it well. Their program is structured to insure that a a driver is "motivated" to run as many miles as they are capable of, legalities be damned, to put the most money in Prime's pockets, and not the driver's. The lease plan is filled with fees and charges that further erode earning potential. The rates they pay are antiquated and well below market rates being paid to true owner/operators elsewhere. They dazzle those multi-colored trucks in front of eager drivers, who otherwise could only dream of owning a truck. They are cordial, supportive, and they conduct seminars to keep drivers further dazzled, but it's all a ploy to boost New Prime's profits. I'd be nice too, if I knew I were keeping people strapped in those seats and behind the wheels of my trucks and away from home all the time. And make no mistake...if you have a family that you like to see, don't expect that you will see them very much, that is if you want to have a paycheck each and every week. Take a few days off, and those payments and fees keep on accruing. You're going to have to double-time it to attempt to make up for any time lost, kissing the kids and the wife. And how do drivers do it? By skirting the rules. Don't take my word for it. Look up their safety statistics. They don't paint a very nice picture for the company either. Their ISS-D stands today at 99. The problem? Driver violations. They speed. 47% of their total driving staff have received moving violations in the past 30 months. They are shut down at very high rates for their log books. The company is running a full percentage point above the national average for being shut down for log violations. One out of seven and a half of their trucks have been involved in DOT reportable accidents in the past two years. That is a very high average, I assure you. So the bottom line is that if you like working away from home for weeks at a time, like to be hassled by law enforcement at the scales all the time because the chances that you too are likely to be in violation of the rules by default, and if like to work for half to at best two thirds of what you can make as a company driver for a decent company, New Prime, Inc. is your kind of place. Don't be led like a fly into their spider web. Pass them up and look down the road for a better offer.

OK, I know there are times when truckers get tired, I'm tired every day, but HOS are no joke, if your time is up it is YOUR (the drivers) responsibility to shut down until you are legal, and NO trucking comapnay can make you do otherwise. If you have a dispatcher who tells you to keep going, you need to get intouch with his/her manager to fix the problem. Prime does not in any way want to mess with it's safety record and company reputation but having drivers violate HOS rules. Also, every morning you get a message on the qualcomm asking for yours and your co-drivers HOS for the previous day, Were you submitting false information to the company? If you were driving when you were logging (sleeper time) your fleet manager would assume that you had plenty of hours to drive. Bottom line is your the driver, your in control of your HOS. If it's time to stop STOP. Prime is not going to fire you for running out of hours..