Complaint Review: Prime Inc - Springfield Missouri

Hi Steve. While I can sympathize with your hardships, I will say this. Indeed sir I have to agree with the driver above me in saying it seems you are a difficult one to get along with. It is not PRIME's responsibility to care for that truck the minute you sign that lease and BELIEVE me, as a former driver I can write a book on Mr. Fred Ege much less on the story of Success Leasing.

When I signed a lease with PRIME, it was for a 2010 Cascadia. The lease agreement at first site looks like 920 bucks a week. Considering the quality of equipment and the amount I'd seen most trainers make I figured there's good with bad and you have to take both.  But in the fine print and things they WON'T show you, I ended up paying 1264 dollars a week. Roughly 3 truck payments a month.  The first month isn't bad because of the 1 week grace period that is payment free that most people who complain about PRIME so often seem to forget about. BUT..that's when the nightmare of being a lease/owner op begins. FIRST and foremost, you CANNOT run that truck as fast as it will go. For one when that governor engages, it eats fuel as well as the fact that the gear ratios on both the rear end and the transmission are WAAAAAAAAY below the factory speculated power band.  SPEED DOESN'T PAY!  Secondly, I see a LOT of "experienced" drivers over-revving even factory spec'd rigs, letting the truck FLY down hills at 90+ mph so as to give the illusion of a super trucker....that's no illusion and being a "super trucker" isn't a good thing. The last REAL super trucker retired decades ago. Also you must remember that those trucks are equipped with smart cruise systems such as Vorad and Onguard which apply braking resistance even when you don't feel it sometimes. Those trucks are beasts of a totally different and new nature and running one the way they are not meant to be ran will eat your profit by itself....WITHOUT the help of Success Leasing. HERE is what I know from 1st hand experience.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, you are either cut out for this industry or you're not. There is no in between and there is no growing into it. I don't mean to sound like a hard nose but that's just the fact of the business.  The carriers know this, but they also know that a driver like myself and many others of a dying breed aren't about to carry a load for what they want to pay. Therefore what you can't change is not in your control, BUT these yahoos have the understanding that they may not be able to change the traditional trucker, but they CAN change everything around us and force us to adapt to a new environment and gradually tighten the noose until we either A. see things their way or B. Leave our beloved industry. 

SECONDLY. Robert Lowe....you WILL not...no matter to what distance you might go find a better person..NOR company owner. That man DOES care for the drivers....just walk the halls of PRIME Inc's 12,000,000 dollar state of the art terminal, complete with full indoor basketball gym, 200,000 dollar weightroom, touch screen, driver controlled movie theatre, indoor smoker's and non-smoker's lounge, Howard Johnson-esque bunk rooms, TOP of the line restaurant...yes...I said restaurant...look on the walls at all the 1 million, 2 million, even 4 million milers who HAVE made a home at PRIME and are proud of it. 

BUT...when you sign that lease you sign your life away to Success Leasing.  And once you DO....you probably aren't going to get back to the company side if you ever were to start with. And if you DO, you are most likely going to be driving a "coffin" sleeper. Being 6'4", with an almost 4' shoulder span, that isn't made for me.

I left PRIME due to a professional conflict with Reefer Manager, Stanley Allman as much as a lack of profits that I could live with. 

In this new age of trucking, there is a new age of....I won't call them truckers, but drivers and even worse...the ever dreaded steering wheel holder, whom the larger carriers will hire WAAAAY ahead of you or me. Is it because they are better drivers?? No.  Are they safer?  in some ways...YES but mostly, NO.  Are they more demanding?  NO...they don't know what to demand!!!! ARE...they more profitable for the company?  YES...ABSOLUTELY!  Are they easier to change than an experienced driver and mold them into what suits that carrier?  The last person who tried to change me only changed my disposition toward them....and  the curvature of their nose.  The bottom line is MONEY....If it's profitable....why not?  THIS is the attitude of corporate America.  Hence the monster we all know as CSA 2010. Who do you think started this monstrosity to the owner op and small company owner???  Why do you think Steve Smith, JB Hunt, Greg Werner, and Robert Lowe might have their own lobbyists??  THIS bill has more than just safety in mind.  Let's take a look at it for a moment.

Qualcomm systems and account subscription costs....anybody?  Let's try 2300 dollars for EACH system, of course you get a small discount when you are buying for a few trucks and a HUGE one if you are buying for 4200+ power units (PRIME). 

Paperless Logging Software. ROUGHLY 23,000 dollars per 375 licenses.  about 1100 apiece for each license if a mini fleet owner purchases. 

New idlesmart and idlesafe technologies or an APU unit. I don't know the numbers on IS technology but an APU is roughly 3,000 (Carrier or Thermo King) up to around 10,000 (Idle Solutions w/ generator).

Newer truck will run you around 120,000 dollars NOT including financing, DOT athority license, FMCSA company registration fees and such.

Now here's where I'm going with this.  That  younger, less experienced  person I spoke of earlier?  PRIME Inc. as well as SWIFT, KLLM, Covenant and Werner have 2 things in common. They all hire mostly from trucking schools or have their OWN trucking school or BOTH....and they are ALL...SELF...INSURED.  so that 128,000 dollar Cascadia your radio rambo student driver just rolled turns an insurance claim profit of around 155,000 NOT to mention the claim that gets filed for cargo, + the claim that gets filed SEPERATELY for the trailer (roughly 62,000 dollars for one of Prime's Wabash models).

ALSO...that  younger driver is ambitious, he is hungry, and Success Leasing has something shiny to show him....BE YOUR OWN BOSS!  LEASE OUR TRUCK AND START YOUR FLEET TODAY!  BE A SUCCESS WITH SUCCESS LEASING!!!!!....just sign right here on this collateral line, hand Fred here your soul and we'll get started!

Sorry to hear of your hardships but people need to get their heads out of The Trucking Bozo's hind end and look around....this industry is now, and forever changing to meet the goals of the companies rather than to be beneficial to the drivers....so WE have to adapt as drivers, on a whole, to either evolve with the industry, take a firm stand against the companies doing this to our industry, or hand our keys over and I'm not ready to quit just yet. 

drive on trucker.

steve, i have been with prime for 3 yrs now i live in the upper peninsula of michigan when i go home i have to dh 250 miles or better and im still here i hate to tell u this but it sounds to me like ur a hard guy to get along with and because u didnt keep up on your truck maintance like u r supposed 2 if u read ur contract it would tell u that u r responsible for all repairs to said truck. and since u didnt fix it b4 u turned it in i would have sent u the bill as well because of ur neglagence and poor maintance of ur equipment. furthermore prime pays better then what ur saying and it sounds like u refused only to haul only the best freight. bud ive been in the game for 8yrs now the trucking industry is not a lazy mans industry it is now a thinking man game and it sounds to me like u forgot to use ur head and lost ur assests in the process so in closeing sorry u didnt make it here at prime but hey look on the bright side burger king is always lookin for a good burger flipper

Everybody keeps talking about how prime pays 85 and less cents per mile? Where are you getting those numbers? The guaranteed minimum is 85c, yes. But it doesnt end there. You also have to add on 20 -55 cents per mile for fuel. Stopp off pay, pick up pay, unloading, detention, congestion surcharge (New York City), plus many of our customers pay to deadhead the truck to them or back out of a bad area. I.E. Florida. But thats only the minimum. For the last 100,000 miles (actually only 83,764) when i finished my 4th lease here I average $1.27 per mile plus all the accessorial charges. When you figure i averaged 7.22 mpg over those miles (yes it was coast to coast) I made a LOT of money. on a bad week I clear 2g and on a good week its over 3g. I just get sick and tired of these dumbass drivers who dont know how to draw a line in a logbook or run a load ontime legally. After they spend their meager pittance in the casinos or on lot lizards, they turn to the easiest scapegoat out there. Its a leasing company. Its their fault. Their out to get me. Wah wah boo h*o! Learn your numbers. Listen to the professionals. Not just the ones who have been out here for 20 years, but the ones who have been PROFITABLE for those years. Before you ship the blame for your own shortcomings look at yourself. If you take an honest good look you might be surprised. If that doesnt work, well I here McDonalds is hiring.

Pa2008 how do you go about getting your own authority and brokering your own loads? I"m getting ready to buy another truck and lease to the company I'm currently working for. I would love to buy a trailer and really be my own boss making some real money, but I have no idea how to go about it. Thanks Joe

Some drivers out there do enter into leasing programs and are extremely profitable with it. While it is true that for the most part the leased truck with a company does not give you true "INDEPENDENCE" it does give you a little bit more leverage but not much. While doing this lease it is still their truck and they still can dictate what you are going to do and how they will pay you. Most seasoned O/O and thats true O/O's not a L/O who thinks they are O/O will tell you its not worth even touching freight thats less then 1.50-2.00 a mile. Prime guarantees you a minimum of .85-.89 cpm thats mexican wages right there when you have a truck payment, insurance, and other fees. Anyone wishing to be an O/O should avoid leasing like the plague, become a company driver with a company for awhile and save your dollars and pennies then buy your own truck and trailer, acquire your own authority and then broker and dispatch yourself that way you have no DAC/USIS to deal with, no dispatchers hassling you when your out of time, no one throwing you out of your own truck on the side of the road, no one deciding to end the lease cause your not making enough money or you upset then for one reason or another or frankly any 1 of the hundred reasons listed throughout this site in regards to leasing as well as people who read these post with their own experiences and or horror stories about leasing in this industry. The Owner Operator is not dead as everyone thinks he/she is but the O/O's of the old days who run balls to the wall, peddle to the meddle are the dying breed cause they cant pay for the fuel to stay running. The ones who slow down and do what they gotta do are still making a living

Prime doesn't generate the complaints that they once did, but there is a lesson or two in this complaint that cannot be overlooked. When you lease a truck through Prime or any other motor carrier for that matter, it is still their truck. They can do as they please. When you lease a truck from them, you are placing all your trust, all your future, and all of your eggs in their basket. They call the shots. If you draw a good manager, you might do okay. If you draw a horse's a*s, you're gonna go broke. Who in their right mind would allow themselves to be roped into something that is that tightly controlled or manipulated? I've reviewed many contracts issued by motor carriers who lease trucks to drivers, and to date I have yet to see one that truly allowed the driver to benefit from the arrangement, or that offered a true independent environment. The sole purpose of these kind of arrangements is to transfer the fixed and variable costs of operating a truck to the driver. They additionally benefit by assuring a fixed amount of profit for every mile that the truck turns. If and when a company does offer any benefits to their contractors, the costs for those benefits are taken completely out of the driver's pockets. So it's a win/win situation for the carrier, and at best, a mediocre living for the driver. Most drivers wind up in debt to the IRS, never complete any program offered, and less than 5% of all drivers that enter into such arrangements are satisfied with the situation. When you drive for a company, and work for them as an employee, the burden is upon them to profit from your work. When you agree to take on the costs and expenses of hauling their loads, then they have no such burden. It rests completely upon your shoulders to make a profit. Unfortunately, the deck is stacked against you, when they still retain all right to dictate what you haul, and at what price they deem worthy to haul it for. And let's face it. With fuel running $4.50 a gallon, and a fuel mileage rate of 5-7 mpg, rates paid to the truck of less than a buck a mile aren't even going to come close to allowing anyone to profit a thing. It's more imperative than ever to avoid leasing or purchasing a truck through a motor carrier. They will eat you alive, and profit something, while leaving you twisting in the wind...penniless, desperate, and hungry. Just say "NO".