A PSA For Those Considering Prime Inc.

Hey Bulwinkle, the "fly on the wall" comment was not meant as an insult. Merely it is to help you realize your remarks are so misguided that they mean nothing to whatever "moles" you imagine are listening to them. Prime has an excellent record of treating their drivers in a most exemplary way. I don't have the time to look it up this morning, but we have a thread where one fella that got sent home perhaps mistakenly and the owner himself contacted him, paid for his expenses, and got him back to Springfield.

You can't base your opinions on such a small amount of information as you found in this thread.

How many people does your meat plant interview and not hire?

That I can't honestly say.

The name of the company is Birchwood Transport a division of Kenohsa Beef International for those who are Interested.

And thank you for sharing the contractual information concerning orientation and virtues of working for your company.

At the end of the day it is nice to be able to sit at the TT round table and have a civil discussion about the concerns of the trucking industry without being insulted.

Sorry you felt "slighted" - but what happens is - you come in with zero experience as a driver, or with the company policy in question, and give the perception of "pontification". You just have been coming on REAL STRONG here on this thread.

I've read your posts, and you seem to have a combination of decent life experience, and strong google-fu. You write well, decent grammar and punctuation - so one can surmise that you are of decent intelligence.

But you came roaring into this particular discussion - judging prime as perhaps "a company not worth working for because of how they treat people". Which is probably better than the other poster last week - that advised (suggested) coming off prescribed psych meds, lying about them on their DOT Med form, and trying to pass the drug screen anyways.

So folks that have been on this forum, and in the industry for awhile - are going to (rightly or not) respond to an aggressive post, with like aggressiveness. As well as you do write - it's sometimes difficult to discern TONE OR INTENT. But I can tell you that old-timers on the board and OTR don't like to be "preached to" - by newbies both on the board and to the road as a driver.

And like it or not - despite "driver shortages" and high turnover (over 80% at most companies) - the number of applicants that are brought into orientation, versus the number that are sent home without even touching a steering wheel (even though the company pays to get them out there, feeds & houses them before they DQ) is enormous.

So yes - the driver-applicant is the low man on the totem pole. And the company needs to look out for the COMPANIES BEST INTERESTS when it comes to screening APPLICANTS.

There's little chance we're going to change Prime Company Policy on them DISCLOSING which legal and well tolerated meds you will be sent home to get off of - prior to coming into orientation. There's a legal reason they claim, as to why they do this (fearful of ADA lawsuits from what we've gathered here).

It TOTALLY SUCKS that Roger and others have been sent home - but this is not a reflection on them or Prime - it just IS WHAT IT IS.

The best thing WE CAN DO as a community HERE, is to try and compile a list of proscribed meds, based on what our REPORTED EXPERIENCES have been here - so that we can advise other members contemplating going to an orientation - of meds they might need to get off or change.

Also keep in mind, when it comes to psych meds - that most GOOD PRESCRIBING PHYSICIANS (psychiatrists) are going to want you on a new med for a period of time, before they will write you a letter stating that you are tolerating the medication well with no negative side effects and are safe to operate a CMV. The DOCTOR shares some liability, if you have a negative event behind the wheel, that can even be remotely attributed to meds.

Rick

Oh BTW... Our owner plays basketball EVERYDAY for two hours with employees at our indoor basketball courts. We all know he has an open door policy and many of us have his cell number... Me included.

And this guy owns construction companies hotels a.casino and a few other companies. I know I posted on a thread here that we have a movie theater, a day spa, bunk rooms, gyms, 24/hr cafes with great food.. A health program where a nutritionist and a fitness trainer give you a specialized program, and much much more.we even have memory foam mattresses cause rob low wants us comfortable. We can get cash advances, have our pets on the trucks, and I get messages from my FM all the time about doing a great job.

We are told from the beginning that it's our ship and to park if weather or circumstances are too dangerous. If a dispatcher tries to "force" you to do something dangerous or illegal... Our safety deot WILL fire them. I have never ever been treated as well.

I intended to get my year in and leave. By my first month I decided there is no point in leaving. I just got messaged today that my first annual review is coming up. And I'm not going anywhere...

Did I mention my CPM is .41? Its one of the highest in the industry for rookies. I get fuel bonuses, safety bonuses, and so much more.

Sorry if sounded defensive. But I love prime hahahha

I get the feeling it doesn't matter how many people try to explain it or give personal testimony, if someone has an opinion they aren't going to change it no matter what they are told.

I was sent home for being on a restricted med. Inconvenient? Certainly. Life-ending? No. Changed my mind about Prime as a company? No. Maybe I understand the delicate liability dance they have because of my years as a litigation paralegal in the Healthcare side of things. But let me assure you there is no underhandedness in any of their dealings and they're not being sketchy in any way. If you're going to just assume everyone owes you something you're going to be disappointed in life. Prime is an excellent company to work for. This has been the best career I've had in a long time. I thought they would be a great stepping stone company, somewhere to start and get ahead and move on. Like Rainy, I don't see myself switching companies at all anymore.

Bottom line is it's your decision who to go with. Either go with Prime or don't. But don't go around making grandiose proclamations about something you know nothing about.

I get the feeling it doesn't matter how many people try to explain it or give personal testimony, if someone has an opinion they aren't going to change it no matter what they are told.

I was sent home for being on a restricted med. Inconvenient? Certainly. Life-ending? No. Changed my mind about Prime as a company? No. Maybe I understand the delicate liability dance they have because of my years as a litigation paralegal in the Healthcare side of things. But let me assure you there is no underhandedness in any of their dealings and they're not being sketchy in any way. If you're going to just assume everyone owes you something you're going to be disappointed in life. Prime is an excellent company to work for. This has been the best career I've had in a long time. I thought they would be a great stepping stone company, somewhere to start and get ahead and move on. Like Rainy, I don't see myself switching companies at all anymore.

Bottom line is it's your decision who to go with. Either go with Prime or don't. But don't go around making grandiose proclamations about something you know nothing about.

👍 100% correct, most negatives seem to more stem from failing to do their due diligence, those that go in with their eyes AND mind wide open,tend to keep their mouths shut, and do well or simply move on.

Cant speak for prime YET, but at least I know what I am about to walk into.

Know what to prepare for.

One of the great things about all of these companies is that there are enough of us here to let you know who to talk to if you hit road blocks.

Prime is actually a problem solving type of company. Bring issues to their attention and things get fixed.

Prime drivers in the cafe will give you their phone numbers and offer advice. Its great.

Bulwinkle wrote:

Where does this mind set of success at all costs for the company the heck with the guy on the bottom rung of the ladder ( the driver ) come from anyway?

It came from you BWJM. I do not believe that to be the case, and I am quite certain most of us on this forum would take exception to that comment as hogwash.

Bulwinkle also wrote this:

I'm a speck on the wall to be sure. I'm not afraid to speak up for the working man though and I myself personally prefer to work for a company that has some respect for me as a person. A company where I'm not just a "Human Resource" like a piece of steel or other raw material. A place were I can stick around for awhile

Indeed a speck,...at least right now. You represent a greater than 80% failure rate. It's okay to speak up, but your point of reference is very, very limited right now. I worked on the "inside" of this industry for decades, actually contracted to Qualcomm on two different occasions. Trust me when I say this "it's very different looking from the "inside, out" in this business". You think you know it, but in reality, you really don't.

Once you are out "here", you will begin to see things differently and understand why things are done the way they are. No sense in arguing the points,...but I flat-out do not agree with you. And as far as your final sentence; I am a case study in finding trucker happiness and "sticking around" with the most maligned and despised TL carrier of them all. You are concerning yourself with all the wrong stuff. Get your CDL and hire-on with one of the major carriers that will road-train a Newbie; work your a** off, learn from your mistakes, be safe in everything you do, be humble, maintain composure at all times, build solid professional relationships with your DM or Dispatcher and you will have all the respect you'll ever need. You success with any of the major's has everything to do with you, and very little to do with them. They will all enable your success,...all of them!

We can debate the ethics of hiring practices in America and company policy all night long and get nowhere. The simple fact is that if you want to get hired by a company you have to jump thru the hoops they put before you or go somewhere else.

Once hired you need to prove yourself as a valued employee. if you don't like working there for what ever reason you need to move on or live with it. More importantly a check up from the neck up may be required to determine if your attitude is in the right place or not for the job you are doing.

No company you ever work for is going to be perfect in every way. Since I don't work for Prime I'm not in a good position to tell you thumbs up or not. I've based my opinions on face to face conversations I've had with people who have been sent home on the bus after being washed out of orientation and a limited amount of threads written on this web site.

My opinion of prime as a whole is misguided and not based on an entire set of factual accounts. I stand corrected on the issue. The people that actually work there have stated its a good place to work and have defended them. This is a good sign and I give you folks a lot of credit for speaking up and defending your company. I'm sorry for what I've said.

I have also disrespected the more experienced drivers of Trucking Truth by getting up on a soap box and shooting my mouth off. I hope you'll all accept my apologies. If you want to nickname me the Sermonizer as old school has bluntly pointed out I'm OK with that I should have been a preacher :-)

As I've stated before we do all sit at the Trucking Truth Round Table to discuss issues concerning the trucking industry as well as life's struggles that are affecting all of us. At the end of the day to be able to reflect on whats been said regardless of if we all agree or not to put our differences behind us and to be able to return in the morning for a fresh round of discussion is very important to keep this site as a community moving forward.

I hope you're all OK with me sticking around

BJ the Sermonizer Moose

:-)

Can't speak for my fellow TT'rs, but I am okay with you sticking around. Your reply made sense...so yeah, stick around.

However if we think you are full of sh** we're gonna tell you that. Hopefully you'll learn something from your interaction here, and have some fun in the process. Get your CDL so you can begin to tell your story...

Good luck.

You mentioned you based your opinion on people who were sent home. Here's something I found out really quickly in trucking... People lie about everything.

One guy got sent home saying he was too good and the trainer didn't like him... No, he got sent home cause he had a DUI on his record....one so recent it didn't show up on the initial check. Apparently they run a couple in case our home states don't update the computers quickly enough.

Another guy lied about a DUI he had expunged.... They asked him ....he lied .they found it and proved he lied... But they were the bad guys cause it was expunged and they shouldn't have cared. He missed the point... He lied and they cared about that.

There was an ex army, ex cdl holder who preached to us in orientation about going into the logistics side... Being an owner cause he was an owner years ago... Turned out that his CDL was revoked 10/years ago and he lied about that. He was still lecturing us as He got on the bus.

Drivers who complain about companies are usually at fault. No company is perfect and there is good and bad about each. I know a former trainer who hit a fuel pump then Tried to blame it on his student....who was not even in the truck. She was at the register buying something and has not only a time stamped receipt, but the cashier AND the video proof she was in the store.

People suck and sour grapes causes them to blame everyone but themselves.I can't blame a company who sets rules then gives you a chance to abide by them. There are some things that can be corrected and there are intolerable things such as I had mentioned.

They let me stick around here and I'm a former postal worker from NJ .... Aka crazy... So why would u go? Hahah