Profile For Montana O.

Montana have you looked into LTL companies? You can be home daily and pull 100k+ if you do linehaul.

At least you kept that day cab Banks, them sleeper drivers ain't right in the head

I have looked at a few, I'm currently studying so I can get my hazmat and doubles/ triples endorsements on my next home time, I already have tanker. Do you recommend any additional endorsements other than those? That's the only ones i've seen that I really need. Do you recommend any LTL companies personally? Also do you know if they run automatic trucks? Done research but get all types of answers. As I have a auto restriction, but currently trying to find somewhere to train manual and get it removed. I'm from Houston and seen they have positions available to apply for LTL ( Estes and OD ) I just have to get the endorsements first to qualify. OD also has P&D available outta Houston also do you have any experience with that or reviews that you have from other drivers, I've researched and read quite of few reviews but like any company it just depends on the area and specific driver him/ herself. What's your work to off time like? Is it a pretty good balance or more of drive got to sleep back at the truck in the morning?

Anne, I’m currently still at Prime just weighing my options as I was looking for something to be home more frequently but hard to find the pay I want. I’m company so I only get 4 days out max. Unless appointments or something they’ll work with me. I was just looking for reviews as I don’t have a offer or anything

Primes a great company and my experience has been great from talking to the recruiter to being solo. Definitely would recommend anyone to Prime great company all around.

Also, thanks for the other threads I did read those was tryin to see if I can get some current reviews for AFW as the ones that I found were older.

No problem, Montana! I'm not sure if Paul (Pianoman) Wright is still with AFW or not; he's on FB and YT, which are also searchable . . . he's a great guy! He has Y/T videos of him on the piano, haha!

Have you looked into pulling tankers for Prime?!?!? Might be more 'regular' hometime . . . as I've heard their flatbed is, also. I understand, though. My other half put in his time OTR, for many years; and is quite happy with his intrastate/local job, as well.

Wish you the best!

~ Anne ~

Montana have you looked into LTL companies? You can be home daily and pull 100k+ if you do linehaul.

At least you kept that day cab Banks, them sleeper drivers ain't right in the head

^^^ This is a great idea, as well.

@Bobcat Bob . . . Estes by us is / was NEVER hiring, dangit. (Correct about the sleeper drivers, tho! LoL...)

~ A ~

I'm from Houston I have heard of the regional flatbed at Prime, but don't think that's something that I would want to do. Thought about it but couldn't accept doing more work for the same amount of pay or similar. As far as tanker haven't looked into it as I believe most of Prime's intermodal is up north/ midwest area, at least that is what I see advertised and talked about at the meetings.

But I'm currently just doing research and will see what comes up the LTL mentioned by Bobcat sounds good too, just a matter of me getting my foot in the door with those companies. So far I'm at Pepsi and AFW but once I get my Hazmat and Doubles &triples I'll be able to look more into other companies. If I happen to make a move I'll try to post a review on Prime and the new company that I swapped too.

Also forgot to mention on last reply, I stop in at least a couple times a week and read the forums so I can learn, I just don't reply as i'm a rookie still and leave the vets to give advice to the newer drivers.

But thanks again everyone for the advice and I'll try to update if I happen to make a change to another company

- Montana

Do you require being home weekly?

No, I don’t require it but it’s just something that I’m wanting. Really what I want is to be home daily but weekly would also work. Hard to find a daily job with the pay that I’m wanting but these two companies peaked my interest. Being out a month at a time you miss a lot of stuff and lose a lot of time that I can’t get back.

I've been at Pepsi for a few weeks now.

Overall, I think it's a great company. Start times are between 4 and 6, depending on the route. Your stops are loaded in order and each stop has their own pallet/s. They say you work 4 10 hour days, but it's really 4 10-14 hour days with the ability to work a fifth, if you want.

Benefits kick in on day 1. They're fairly priced and I'm getting the same insurance I got at FedEx for a lot less. There is a 401K, but no match because there is a pension. You're vested in the pension after 5 years of service and the pay out amount is the average of your 5 highest grossing years.

Pay, I'm at 23 an hour and it goes up to 26.xx after I'm done with training.

The work is physical. Some stops you pack out, others it's drop and go. The drop and go is still physical because you have to down stack the pallet to bring them back to the warehouse. The worst stops so far are CVS and Dollar General. CVS is constantly changing where they want their products and changing the process of receiving. At Dollar General, you pack out everything. You're running around the store loading shelves and refrigerators with soda, Gatorade, orange juice, pure leaf tea, lipton tea, water and Starbucks drinks. Walk around a dollar general. Everywhere you see pepsi products, it gets loaded by the driver.

What I don't like is the equipment. I got spoiled at FedEx. The equipment is ok, but not as good as it was at FedEx. Orientation was unorganized. It's like they were suprised to see us. That's always a red flag to me, but I'll chalk it up to the people in charge of that instead of the company.

You get a company phone. It's an iphone. That iphone is your log and what you use to invoice customers. It's fully functional, which means you can use it as your personal phone, but nobody does because pepsi has access to everything you do on that phone. I suggest using it for only company business.

Any other questions, I'll do my best to answer and if can't, I'll do my best to get you the answer.

Thanks for all the info Banks, If I think of any more questions I’ll be sure to ask you.

The region you work in for Pepsi is going to affect your experience. In Florida where I was working the warehouse. The drivers got a base pay amount for pulling out the gate and commission per case only. 5 days a week, sometimes weekends. The truck, pallet jack, and lay down will vary with how much the fleet tech(s) care. Personal experience and witnessed in action for that region, they do not fire anyone unless caught violating a no tolerance policy, they wait for you to quit. Petty much everything else stated above was the same. Best of luck finding somewhere that suits you.

Good to know thank you

Howdy, Montana!! And 'again,' welcome (back) to Trucking Truth~! Six months gone, LoL....

Are you just now leaving Prime ?!?!? Why ?!?!?!?!

Anyway; no info on Pepsi, at all. Tractor Man delivered 'something' similar (or in that field,) but not sure. I've got some info on AFW, however. Our longtime member (who's on hiatus, idky...) worked for Swift a good amount of time, before switching over to AFW. Here are his diaries, of such ... for your perusal:

Pianoman / AFW

Pianoman AFW part 2

Stop back, if & when you can... and let us know!

~ Anne ~

Anne, I’m currently still at Prime just weighing my options as I was looking for something to be home more frequently but hard to find the pay I want. I’m company so I only get 4 days out max. Unless appointments or something they’ll work with me. I was just looking for reviews as I don’t have a offer or anything

Primes a great company and my experience has been great from talking to the recruiter to being solo. Definitely would recommend anyone to Prime great company all around.

Also, thanks for the other threads I did read those was tryin to see if I can get some current reviews for AFW as the ones that I found were older.

So currently I’m looking for some information on two companies Pepsi and American Furniture Warehouse. If they’re are any current drivers that drive for them and can tell me they’re experience would be greatly appreciated also any pros and cons you think I should know.

Here’s the basic info of what I know so far:

Pepsi: Home Daily Start time around 5am depending on route Projected salary 68,000 Physical job unloading stocking etc Full benefits Vacation

American Furniture Warehouse: Pay starts at $0.47 cents per mile (CPM) and teams start at $0.28 (CPM) when on the road. $18.00 an hour for orientation and any hourly work that may occur (meetings, training, etc). Majority of the loads are drop and hook Home weekly 34 Hour restarts are done at home Paid every Friday Trucks run up to 75 MPH! Newer equipment Paid sick time Paid Vacation Rider policy (no charge) Pet policy (no charge) Blue Beacon Truck Wash Account to keep equipment looking good Department is managed by experienced ex-drivers who know the industry well Yearly safety bonus program Referral bonus program Layover Pay $18.00 per hour detention pay $100 per night breakdown pay Hotel reimbursement for breakdowns

Any additional information from others will be greatly appreciated I know it’s a long shot of finding someone that works for these companies here but though I’ll try TIA.

- Montana

Just to mention.... Montana just mentioned $1000-$1100 per week AFTER taxes and insurance....

Sorry just wanted to clarify as I forgot to mention it in my other post and don’t want to mislead you. My numbers might be higher than the average new driver because my only deductions are my 401k which fluctuates as its percentage of my check and about $13.00 for life insurance and disability. I do NOT have benefits through prime as far as health vision dental.

Does Company really offer anything? Got to go where they tell me have to take every load they give. What will sell me on comoany though is insurance and benefits.

KJ, I hardly ever post anything or respond I mainly ready others journeys and stay up to date with what everyone is talking about. At the end of this month will be my one year with Prime as a company driver, here’s a little info about my experience and can maybe help you out.

Equipment: You don’t get to pick your exact truck ( color, year, model, etc ) but they’ll assign you to whatever is available at that time. You have the choice to either go condo or lightweight ( No they don’t force you to LW, they simply ask which one you want ). No it’s not going to be a new 2021 but the truck will be in good condition and you can add tv, fridge, cb, etc to it and organize it to your liking. If any problems with the equipment at all tractor trailer or apu get with RA and let your FM know what’s going on and they try to get it fixed ASAP I’m in a 2018 I can’t complain and IT felt like new. Only complaint is the detail guys could’ve used a little less Armorall for the interior lol it was layed on pretty thick when I got the truck. I got my truck and it basically was clean and made it seem brand new. We’re basically driving the same trucks as the lease ops only difference is were not paying a weekly payment on it and they are. I literally spoke to a lease op driving the same truck as me only difference I was company he was lease he pays for everything and I don’t.

Home Time: I typically stay out 3-4 weeks sometimes more depending if I want to go home or not. Things happen at home and your FM will understand that, if you need to go home sooner just let them know and they will work with you. I’ve had to go home for doctors appointment and some other personal things that happened when I was only out a couple weeks I messaged my FM she said ok and routed me home immediately with no excuses, no further questions, she simply said get you home as soon as I can. If you need to take additional days off they might ask you to stack up some days or something similar but just depends on your FM. As far as force dispatch I’ve had times where I was going home and they wanted me to take a load in the opposite direction which I would’ve missed my home time I simply messaged/ called my FM and they got me another load to get me home on time. Sometimes you just have to remind them that your going home, as they are dealing with a lot more other trucks than just yours and your home counter might get overlooked. Maybe a week before just message them and ask if your still good for the home time, then a couple days before also I mean a reminder never hurts. Since the year I’ve gotten home late on home time once I requested a Thursday and got home Thursday in the afternoon so they really try to get you home when you want to be like a said just remind them and you should be good. They usually try to get you home the night before.

Pay: I wouldn’t say it’s incredible ( I mean come on who doesn’t want more money haha ) but wouldn’t say it’s horrible about on average I usually take home after taxes anywhere between $1,000 - 1,100, sometimes a little more if it was a really good week. If I go home for 4 days usually somewhere around $600 - $800 sometimes less depending on what days I go home and how the trips fall the previous weeks. No your not going to get rich but there’s also additional ways to make more money with your bonuses, you can start training after your experienced, you can go team I believe they just did a pay raise just depends on what you want to do.

Overall ( My opinion as a company driver) Prime is a good company, only complaints is more money ( but I’ll say that with every job ), sometimes messaging back and forth on the Qualcomm is annoying to me cause it takes forever sometimes when I would rather just call them and talk to them then and there then going back and forth. But it’s always good to have a record and no he said she said. They let you take a animal with you I have my dog so that’s a bonus and also you can take a passenger with you also certain age limit but I can’t remember at the moment.

If you want to know anything else just ask and I’ll try to answer with my experience but I would definitely get on YouTube and check out the channel TRUCKIN ALONG WITH KEARSEY she has a lot of info about prime lease and company if your still wanting to know stuff also I’m sure she’ll comment on here with more info too.

- Montana

KJ, I wouldn’t worry to much if your waiting on a empty sometimes it takes time or maybe their trying to get y’all a load straight out of the yard.

When I went though the psd phase if I remember correctly it was a week then they changed the length shortly after I left. I was supposed to arrive on a Monday to begin classes but that’s when they changed it where PSD students have to come in with their permit. Ended up flying in Tuesday night, started classes Wednesday morning left with a trainer by Friday. I was the last one from my class to arrive and the first one to leave with a trainer sometimes it’s just happens like that. Their were some people still waiting to be contacted by a trainer when I left Friday and still some people weren’t cleared to get their badge.

As far as the 14 days I’m pretty sure you have to be at least training PSD for 14 days before you can come back in to test out. PSD lasts on a average from 3 to 4 weeks in some cases I heard longer for those needing additional training. But some people can come back in two weeks if they feel like their ready to test out and it takes some a little longer I came back after a couple weeks and worked on the pad for a couple days then tested out. But that’s me everybody’s time frame and learning curve is different I’ve pulled different things since I was about 13 so I had the understanding of trailer movement and driving a longer vehicle.

I guess I got lucky with how quick my process was and who my trainer was. He lived a hour from me and I have family that lives 10 minutes from him. Just stay positive and it’ll all work out in the end.

Good luck to you, and look forward to reading about your journey. I’m sure other Prime drivers will respond also when they get the chance to confirm the 14 day policy.

So I’m currently at a customer and trying to figure out when my detention time starts. The appointment window is 01/21 14:00 to 01/21 23:59. I arrived at 16:00. And in my notes it states 2HR FREE LD$20 1/4HR MAX $560. So would it start @ 18:00. Or @ 02:00.

I asked my dispatch but he stated wasn’t positive but he thinks it starts 2 hours after the window but wasn’t completely sure and just keep track of my times arrive and departure.

So if someone can tell me when it starts it would be greatly appreciated thanks.

Prime TNT Upgrade Questions 2020

I have recently completed my 50,000 miles and scheduled to come into the terminal to begin the upgrade process next week. From my understanding of what I have read of other drivers experiences and videos that I watched I will be going into the terminal taking some more classes, computer classes, sim test/ training, then get on list for a truck to be assigned to me . I’m sure I’m missing a few more things but those were the most common that I remember. With that being said I have a few questions and wondering if someone can answer for me and TIA. ( Yes, I know I can always call my FM and ask but wanted to see if anybody can help me out on here as I’m going to ask and speak with him when I get to the terminal )

Also I am going to start out as company driver

- What are the upfront costs for a company driver once you upgrade from TNT ? ( Mandatory costs that I will have to pay to get my truck like chains, chalks, load locks, seals, anti gel, and similar items or does Prime cover items for company drivers )

- Will I have to pay for fluids, fuses, bulbs, wipers, and other similar items out of pocket while OTR or is that something that Prime covers for company drivers ?

- Do you know if we get paid while we are completing the upgrade process ? I’ve seen it could take a few days to around a week to complete everything and get a truck assigned.

- Is there a basic mechanic class offered or any additional classes you recommend me taking while at the terminal ?

Also any additional information that you think will help me prepare to upgrade, I should know about, or help me in this industry in the future will greatly be appreciated.