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Prime Inc CDL training

SkidMark

Member
hello,
I'm considering the Springfield Missouri prime CDL program. Can anyone tell me if its a good program and also if the pay is decent once you get on the road with the trainer?
I'm considering flatbed or tanker.
 
:couch:

I've been with Prime for ten years, company, lease, and I have owned my truck for a number of years now. Always been solo, never trained. I do just fine with them. I've always run my truck as a business, and have the numbers to judge a good load from a bad.

No one tried to "starve me out," and I've never had a problem rejecting a load.

Its not what you gross, its about what you sneak under the bottom line. That's what's important.

Wiltrans, O&S and Henderson all operate on the logistics side. While they maintain their own authority, they operate fully integrated with Prime's lease and company drivers - and are run and dispatched under the same rules as you and I. Those loads aren't being "brokered out."

Fleet managers can make or break you under Prime's system. Sorry to hear of your troubles. You might want to look into Mercer's van side if you want to move on.
 
@Bsmoove4u

IronP is also with prime.

@Injun used to be with prime.


It's painful watching where this is going.:popcorn:
lol, We'll so far some popular Flatbed Youtubers at Prime Inc have left due to what they have been fed low rates on the flatbed side.... Loshawn of Onpoint Trucking Concepts, Woody, Trucker Rob,Trucker James and Jay the flatbedder.... 4 popular flatbed YouTubers have made videos and explaining their reasons why they left over the last 2 months. Just search "Why I left Prime" Woody, or Onpoint Trucking Concepts, Trucker James, or Trucker Rob. All have given similar reasons. Of course if one is doing well, naturally they will come out swinging with a Louisville Slugger.
 
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ughh, gross and your rate per mile along with your fuel expenses all matter to determine your net.... Sorry but Dispatchers haven't affected me when clearly messages from sales claim they are frustrated with me declining freight they send me which I deem as cheap....Again, the dispatcher is a middle man and doesn't even send you your load.
Mercer can't even hold on to the drivers they have...I've spoken to many of them and they state Mercer is about pulling brokered JB cheap loads.... Regardless if on logistic side or not, that's freight that could be under Primes authority and not brokered to keep their drivers moving first....
 
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Sorry but Dispatchers haven't affected me when clearly messages from sales claim they are frustrated with me declining freight they send me which I deem as cheap....Again, the dispatcher is a middle man and doesn't even send you your load
I have my own set of metrics to determine what is "cheap." I also talk to friends at other carriers, so not all of what's happened this year is completely Prime's fault. While sales has a good say in what you get, not all of it is up to them. Have you ever considered that your "dispatcher" uses that line "its all sales' fault" as a foil to deflect your criticism away from himself?
 
@Bsmoove4u

IronP is also with prime.

@Injun used to be with prime.


It's painful watching where this is going.:popcorn:
I ain't gettin' involved with that discussion.

Wiltrans, O&S and Henderson all operate on the logistics side. While they maintain their own authority, they operate fully integrated with Prime's lease and company
I remember when O&S was adversarial to Prime. I was at a shipper at the same time as one of their team trucks and the drivers treated me like I was a walking herpe. It cracks me up that they're running under Prime's umbrella now. I'm curious how much crow they had to eat.
 
I have my own set of metrics to determine what is "cheap." I also talk to friends at other carriers, so not all of what's happened this year is completely Prime's fault. While sales has a good say in what you get, not all of it is up to them. Have you ever considered that your "dispatcher" uses that line "its all sales' fault" as a foil to deflect your criticism away from himself?
Well I never claimed everything that's happened this year is Prime's fault... Its a starter company. It brings in about 100 Drivers weekly to orientation so of course many that make the cut wont be around more than 3 years...Nope, my dispatchers I've had have never blamed Prime.. They basically state that's all they have yet it isn't... Like I said I've done well but the process of having to reject freight to get what I want is tiredsoome..... I'm happy now I own my truck and can try something different as others have done... It just doesn't meet my needs anymore. I prefer to have more control over choosing the loads I want instead of waiting to hear from someone and wait hours .... No grude against them... I even refer people who want to enter the trucking industry to go to Prime for the training and its pay during training.
 
I ain't gettin' involved with that discussion.


I remember when O&S was adversarial to Prime. I was at a shipper at the same time as one of their team trucks and the drivers treated me like I was a walking herpe. It cracks me up that they're running under Prime's umbrella now. I'm curious how much crow they had to eat.
lol. Funny, they tend to come over and initiate conversation and the ones who probably despised Prime, left O&S when it was announced they would haul for Prime.
 
The O&S owner was busy playing local political bigwig, and didn't pay attention to business. Until the checks started bouncing. He and Rob Low went back years, so when he came to Prime for help, he got it... for a price.

Prime got all of the O&S sales accounts, except the local Springfield stuff.

$$$

O&S is still afloat.
 
Well I never claimed everything that's happened this year is Prime's fault... Its a starter company. It brings in about 100 Drivers weekly to orientation so of course many that make the cut wont be around more than 3 years...Nope, my dispatchers I've had have never blamed Prime.. They basically state that's all they have yet it isn't... Like I said I've done well but the process of having to reject freight to get what I want is tiredsoome..... I'm happy now I own my truck and can try something different as others have done... It just doesn't meet my needs anymore. I prefer to have more control over choosing the loads I want instead of waiting to hear from someone and wait hours .... No grude against them... I even refer people who want to enter the trucking industry to go to Prime for the training and its pay during training.
LOL!

A few months back, I was up in Lewiston ME (a place I usually don't go to) and had some newb weekend, third string backup guy try to talk me into taking a buck-a-mile load outta there.

"Its all we have!"

I can afford to wait.

"It will get you to a better area to load out of!"

Please! Don't **** down my neck and call it rain.

This moron used all of the canned lines they teach them at dispatch guy class to sell me on this dog.

I finally told him to not bother calling me until he had a real load, not a company guy load they couldn't find a company guy for.

I never get any grief from my fleet manager over this - mostly because I invest the time to have a good business relationship with him. I also don't argue with him when he needs something done - its part of the quid pro quo. Yes, Prime trains. Unlike some starter carriers, they do have a real freight business. So I do get some BS stuff, but he also makes sure I get taken care of.

Sales does not control everything.

He knows I keep a very close eye on my numbers, so there isn't any doubt that he understands that I do know the score.
 
LOL!

A few months back, I was up in Lewiston ME (a place I usually don't go to) and had some newb weekend, third string backup guy try to talk me into taking a buck-a-mile load outta there.

"Its all we have!"

I can afford to wait.

"It will get you to a better area to load out of!"

Please! Don't **** down my neck and call it rain.

This moron used all of the canned lines they teach them at dispatch guy class to sell me on this dog.

I finally told him to not bother calling me until he had a real load, not a company guy load they couldn't find a company guy for.

I never get any grief from my fleet manager over this - mostly because I invest the time to have a good business relationship with him. I also don't argue with him when he needs something done - its part of the quid pro quo. Yes, Prime trains. Unlike some starter carriers, they do have a real freight business. So I do get some BS stuff, but he also makes sure I get taken care of.

Sales does not control everything.

He knows I keep a very close eye on my numbers, so there isn't any doubt that he understands that I do know the score.

I'm the say way. Dispatcher that have covered for my dispatcher on weekends will try to feed me lines that were taught to them and I'm the same way. No I don't blame sales for everything nor feel they control it all but when they send me messages about "No we will not reload you out of Mi if you dh there b/c we have offered freight to you from Ohio to Buffalo and you refused it". Yet they fail to remember I had delivered a load just a few miles east of Buffalo and had to sit a day for a reload that I delivered near Lodi... Not going for that again. I was at the T/A near Lodi, Oh just below Cleveland. I've always dh to Livonia for a Mastranomi produce load back east which paid well. So when they want to send me places that I know lack decent paying freight or are behind of producing freight, I'm avoiding the area.
Majority of drivers who purchase their truck end up leaving and many do better. I'm just ready to get out of reefer and try a van carrier out or even converting over to Flatbed/Stepdeck. I just want to work a load board and eliminate the middleman(dispatcher).
 
The O&S owner was busy playing local political bigwig, and didn't pay attention to business. Until the checks started bouncing. He and Rob Low went back years, so when he came to Prime for help, he got it... for a price.

Prime got all of the O&S sales accounts, except the local Springfield stuff.

$$$

O&S is still afloat.
As nasty as they were to Prime and its drivers back in the day, it had to hurt to go to Rob with his hat in his hand. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall.
 
As nasty as they were to Prime and its drivers back in the day, it had to hurt to go to Rob with his hat in his hand. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall.
LOL!

Yep! Used to be if you got teed off at Prime you didn't have far to go to flip 'em off and get paid for it.
 

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