Prime Inc.

So I have been researching a lot recently about trucking and getting started. A friend from high school works for Prime Inc and says he loves it, solo he makes over 1000 a week. I have read and heard great things about prime but would like to learn more from multiple viewpoints since a ton of the stuff I have read on prime is several years old. I'm 22, single, and am tired of 10$/hour job. Always been a loner and have zero attachments to home so I think this could be a great opportunity.

Is the pay truly as good as he says if you work hard?

Specifically I wonder how hard they run you? I hear a lot of talk about FMs running you illegal. How many hours/off time do prime drivers actually see during a typical week? I don't care about coming home a bit, but sleep does matter some to me haha.

Do new company drivers get new trucks?

And also, what do y'all do when not behind the wheel and sleeping while on the road?

Response would be very welcome, thanks!

Plenty of Prime drivers on here, that I'm sure will reply soon.

1 - You can do some reading here for examples of pay. It is as good as they say, if you are safe and conscientious.

2 - Prime and the companies that run E-Logs (which will be mandatory for all soon) DO NOT run you illegal. If you are getting steady freight, you will see at least the 10 hours a day the law requires you to be off. And if you run your 70 hour clock off, you will get the occasional 34 hour reset off.

3- You get what you get. Occasionally, a new driver will get a new truck. Usually not.

4 - Plenty of discussions on occupying "free time". But if you're running consistently, there isn't going to be a whole lot of it. Laundry, shopping, showers, sleeping, etc. - there isn't going to be a whole lot of "down time" to worry about.

Best of luck...

Rick

Thank you for the info. Trucking seems like a great way for people my age to make good money, work hard, and also establish stict time management. I'm definitely very interested in it.

Hey Lane,

Your buddy isn't lying. It's the slow season right now, and I'm still making about $1000 per week as a rookie solo company driver. And I mess around a lot. I work very hard but, I take every opportunity to have fun so I'll use hometime to take a 34 hour reset when I end up in a cool place I want to check out. Or schedule 4 days off at somewhere I want to go to in advance.

Prime Inc was recently voted as one of the best fleets to work for. There's good reason.

You may not enjoy the training phase very much but it pays off if you stick with it.

Dispatchers know better than to run you illegally. It all comes down to you anyway. I always run legal... on paper. If you're not working by the book, it's because you do it on your accord to run more efficiently. I'd rather not go into detail about that but you'll understand once you're trucking.

As a company driver they try to constantly keep you on dispatch. Which is a good thing. You could work 90 hours a week (on elogs it would be 70) but keep in mind most of that is driving. Where you could be listening to podcasts, music, and audiobooks the whole time.

at the end of every shift, you need to be off for 10 hours to get your drive hours back. I typically use those hours to sleep. So yes, you can get plenty of sleep. A lot of the time it could be very erratic though. I personally switch back and forth with day driving and night driving depending on what would be most convenient (I'm very good about sleep, I can do it anytime and almost anywhere).

New company drivers typically have a choice of trucks to pick from. I picked one that had 210,000 miles on it instead of a brand new Cascadia. (So yes, you could get a new truck but I'm also happy with mine)

what you do when you're out of your truck is up to you. I'm not your typical trucker and do all kinds of things. It's a matter of discipline, time management, engenuity, and planning ahead or taking advantage of opportunities. Recognizing the opportunity doesn't come to everybody though. I see most truckers would rather stay in their cab watching movies and playing video games. It's their choice or their excuses.

I keep a skateboard, a fold up mountain bike, rock climbing gear, and debated about taking my snowboard in my truck. The bike comes in handy for the many side trails and middle of nowhere places you'll constantly up around. The skateboard is great for when I grab a taxi into a city, spend a couple nights at a hostel, and explore downtown. The other stuff are just for hobby.

Can't tell you how happy I am to have the time/ability to get back into reading books because of trucking. If I wasn't driving all the time like this, it would take me a decade to go through the books I've listened to on audiobook in the past 8 months.

Feel free to contact me in the future about travel tips (like how to do it). I started trucking just so I can travel. Next month I'm flying to Thailand. And when I come back, I'm hiking from San Diego to Canada. It's a great life.

Hey Craig. You are living the life. Good on you.

I'd love to hear your travel tips. Are you at Prime?

I would love to hear the travel tips too! That's the number one reason my husband and I decided to get into trucking, to see new places. Start a new thread with some of the tips for us newbies

Thank you Craig for the in depth on those things. The feedback is great!