Prime Upgrade Freeze

Rainy and Spaceman

I allowed him to esacpe lol

Rainy, that is a great picture! Do you realize that you two look like brother and sister in that photo?

Hahah we both have nice smiles lol

thnx

That's what's up. I'd like to curb Old Schools guilt. I'm always happy to meet, don't need to eat necessarily, just not always gonna have that availability.

Thanks again Rainy!

That's awesome. It's great to see our TT fellowship in action. Feels like family.

Turtle I may be around Sunday actually now...

Turtle I may be around Sunday actually now...

My best guess at being there will be somewhere around 5pm.

Stellar, hope to see you then

Well friends, as I make my way through PSD training and learn my way around all the facilities, I am hearing more and more about the current Upgrade Freeze and the statement " for the first time there are too many drivers and not enough trucks".

I was hopeful this was not the case but seems to be one reason why the 50,000 mile rule for TNT was changed. Many drivers are stating ready for Upgrade to solo but are put on hold, and prolonging Team TNT.

Enduring or sticking with a company through tough times makes a dependable employee, but I wonder if it doesn't hurt Prime in the end vs slowing or freezing Recruiting.

Maybe you experienced truckers know more about it, but figured I would put a little confirmation to the rumor.

God bless.

Ok so after reading some of the replies I would like to shed some light on this through my own eyes. Not second hand. Not rumors.

I’m currently done with TNT. Just finished. My fleet manager told me that last week there were 60 on the list and 30 got a truck. Therefor I cannot go to Springfield to upgrade this week. I have zero traffic violations, zero excessive speed, no over idle, no critical events, never hit anything, no service failure and I did 95% of the backing during TNT.

My options are as follows:

1) go home for a week or two (or three?) and wait for a call

2) go back out on a team truck if I would prefer to make some money while I wait

This is very discouraging. I don’t mean to discourage anyone else here but an honest question deserves an honest answer from someone currently going through it.

Additionally, it’s not just me. I’ve kept in touch with my roommate from orientation and he too is being told the same thing. His trainer wants a couple weeks off so my roommate is going solo in his trainers truck for two weeks while he waits for the call.

My trainer is considering a week off too and is telling me I can take his truck for the week and run it if he decides to do so. I’m open to that option but I just cannot team again without a break. I haven’t been home for nearly three months. And for all but a week of that three months I’ve been in an 8x8 closet with another dude running the truck 24/7.

I’m not sure what to do. Very much feel like the goalposts were moved on me. If I knew this a couple of weeks ago I would have requested home time. My mission was to just bang it out so I could go home a couple days then go upgrade. That is not the case.

Some are saying there are plenty of trucks available. Maybe there are but somehow myself and others from my orientation class aren’t getting the option to get one. So I don’t know where all of these trucks are.

We’re both going lease by the way so maybe that’s the rub (reefer). I dunno. Maybe company drivers aren’t being delayed like us new lease drivers are. But my fleet manager and his fleet manager made it clear we should expect at least one to two full weeks before we can even go start the upgrade process. Even though we should both be ranked well based on our TNT records.

So yes, there is a “freeze” on upgrades if you want to call it that. Not a permanent one. But certainly for a time. At least for me and several others that I text with daily.

All of that said, I’m not a downer about this. It is what it is. I feel like I was well trained. I feel ready. I feel confident. And I’m grateful for the experience. I’m grateful for prime’s process and the opportunity that is ahead of me. Prime is a fantastic company and I’m proud to be a part of it.

I just wish I understood what was going to happen earlier so that I could have planned accordingly. Because what I was told was going to happen when I was done with TNT and what is actually happening are two very different things.

Now my choices are to sit at home for a couple of weeks (no pay), go back into what is essentially TNT for longer or drive my trainers truck while he sits at home. None of those options include me going to upgrade this week or next. Even though I’ve done everything I was supposed to do on my part to make that happen.

Just sayin...

Lease? BIG mistake. Worst thing you could possibly do. You don’t even know how to drive yet, and you’re starting a trucking business? That is never, ever something that we recommend. All the odds are stacked against you, and all the risk is on you. The company, any company, gets all the rewards.

Tell us all the perks and benefits of jumping into this lease.

Did you read the contract? All of it? Does it make perfect sense? If it does, you didn’t comprehend what you were reading.

You mentioned your time away from home up until this point. Get used to that being the norm every month if you want to make minimum wage. Meanwhile, successful company drivers are raking in the money.