Prime Refrigerated - Springfield, Missouri - Spring 2020

Hopefully i get a call today cuz i want to start making some money lol

Don't sweat it too much. You're making money right now to the tune of $700 a week while sitting in your hotel room.

No, it isn't what you'd be making solo, and you need to get through TNT to reach that solo money. But it'll come.

Hopefully i get a call today cuz i want to start making some money lol

Don't sweat it too much. You're making money right now to the tune of $700 a week while sitting in your hotel room.

No, it isn't what you'd be making solo, and you need to get through TNT to reach that solo money. But it'll come.

Oh i know it isn't solo money, i just thought i had to be on the road to get the $700 a week that's why i said that.

Small update, both the fleet manager and trainer called today. Trainer will be here later this evening, he's about 300 miles away in Arkansas dropping off a load before heading here to get his APU fixed (uh-oh). Talked to him for a few minuets, he asked if i dipped because his last trainee made a mess with his spit being everywhere and that i'm required 8 hours sleeper berth. His last trainee only took breaks and didn't really sleep. So he doesn't want to be put in a dangerous position and nor do i. I'll either meet him later today or tomorrow, apparently he's a lease op and i'm company. I thought you could only be trained by company if you go company? Regardless, i got my parking permit for my car so i'm getting my groceries out right now before i drive it to the prime parking lot.

Rob D is finally heading back this way today so i'll catch up with him later as well.

Sleeper Berth:

The portion of the tractor behind the seats which acts as the "living space" for the driver. It generally contains a bed (or bunk beds), cabinets, lights, temperature control knobs, and 12 volt plugs for power.

Fleet Manager:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

TNT:

Trainer-N-Trainee

Prime Inc has their own CDL training program and it's divided into two phases - PSD and TNT.

The PSD (Prime Student Driver) phase is where you'll get your permit and then go on the road for 10,000 miles with a trainer. When you come back you'll get your CDL license and enter the TNT phase.

The TNT phase is the second phase of training where you'll go on the road with an experienced driver for 30,000 miles of team driving. You'll receive 14¢ per mile ($700 per week guaranteed) during this phase. Once you're finished with TNT training you will be assigned a truck to run solo.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I thought you could only be trained by company if you go company?

No, I'm not sure how you got that impression, but a trainer is a trainer, be they company or not.

No, I'm not sure how you got that impression, but a trainer is a trainer, be they company or not.

Ditto. The vast majority of TNT trainers are lease ops.

Also, you begin making your guaranteed $700 the moment you pass your CDL test, and are available for dispatch. You don't need to be on the road to start earning money. You're making it right now.

Small update, i got a pretty good tnt trainer, his condo is pretty decked out and has wifi.

Load 1: Our first load was from Springfield, MO to Reno, NV. It was a Walmart DC load, 1716 miles. I enjoyed the drive but hated Wyoming, i got hit by light/hard rain and light/hard hail, and strong winds, i literally couldn’t see anything for a good 10 mins, was driving around 15 mph. Rest of the drive was smooth. Enjoyed my time through Nebraska and Utah.

Load 2: Dreyers Grand Ice Cream load from Manteca, CA to Tualatin, OR. Empty 195 miles and loaded for 626 miles. God climbing mountains loaded has to be the most boring thing ever, i was actually nervous going downhill with a loaded trailer but got over it about 2 hours later. The scenery was pretty amazing. We had to pay a lumper fee of $691 (prime pays back) for them to unload their products which makes no sense to me but ok.

Load 3: This is a high paying load for trainer and our current load. We’re going from Castroville, CA to Salinas, CA then finally Springfield, MA. It’s a produce load. Empty 707 miles and loaded 3119 miles. At the rate we’re going i should be done with tnt by the end of July. We’re teaming now so i’ll be driving from 6 am to 6 pm and he vice versa.

$691 for a lumper for one trailer?!?!?

OMG, that's the highest I've ever heard of.

Great posts! Keep 'em coming!

Could someone explain why a lumper fee exists? Why would they have to pay the company that needs the delivered product?

Could someone explain why a lumper fee exists? Why would they have to pay the company that needs the delivered product?

others can explain it much better than I can but most of it has to do with shifting liability. For instance If I take a load to Sysco when I show up to check in Capstone Logistics is at the window. They'll ask me if I'm unloading myself or hiring a lumper. Most times they will not give you the amount until AFTER its unloaded. They will charge you by how many pallets they pull off with a pallet jack, how many need to be restacked and probably what time the sun rises in the morning (sarcasm) with all the small fees they tack on. If the pallet comes in with 10 layers but the pick slot it'll eventually go in can only accommodate 3 layers they down stack it to fit what Sysco wants. I only deliver a couple pallets to those companies so depending on how long of a wait it would be I will go throw the cases myself. I call someone at my company that gives me an "Express Code" that I write on a commcheck so I'm not out any money. My company isnt out any money either because the lumper fee is factored in to the freight rate that Sysco or the shipper pays us. Due to all the lifting and bending injuries can happen quickly and it's just a way for Sysco to help avoid expensive work comp claims. I'd prefer not dealing with them but it usually only takes no longer than 5 or 10 minutes to handle it.

The idea of lumpers is a way for receivers to not have to pay for their own dock workers. I have always been against this practice and have voiced my opposition to it for over 40 years. If a company ordered, bought and paid for a product then he needs to unload it, it's his.

Man load 3 has been a huge pain in the doo-doo. The 01 kept rescheduling us because they were missing a pallet, after waiting a full 24 hours in their lot, dispatch said to go and pick up 02, had no problems, just took them forever to load us, around 6 hours for 12 pallets. Then we headed back to the 01 at around 3 am. Back in the 01 we got rescheduled again until 10 am, ok fine, waited until then and finally got a door. Took them 5 hours to load 13 pallets, one of which was a partial. Called live load and they asked why we had a partial and then they had to figure out if we’ll be fine for the 03. An hour later they called back and said go ahead to the 03, we got there at 5 pm, then had to wait for a door. They called at 8 pm and gave us a door and took them 3 hours to load 3 or 4 pallets. These shippers don’t pay detention so we missed out on a lot of driving time and just general time wasted. If i could blacklist a company it would definitely be these 2. Ocean mist an taylor farms. We’re finally on the road and i’m currently on my 30 at a loves in arizona, lots of road construction on i-15.