My Story

KJ I don’t think you are looking at company vs lease in the correct perspective.

What you mentioned above is known as forced dispatch. True lease operaters are not force dispatched. You can say no to a load. Do you understand what happens then? You go to the bottom of the list of trucks in that area. You may very well be sitting for several more hours and or days making nothing.

You mentioned hometime. You better check around every lease driver I have spoke with makes comments they can’t afford to go home. They also tell me they have to team or train to make any money.

Those comments are consistent no matter the company. You want to go home and make some money. Go company. Kearsey has all the numbers to show you what you need to know.

thats why alot of leases are trainers here. Makes since. But if you go company do they give you a ****ty truck to drive?

Why would a company trying to make money, turning a profit, knowingly give some driver a crappy truck to accomplish that? It serves no purpose at all. The very best companies are only turning between 4% and 7% profit margin.

Are some trucks prone to needing more maintenance? Yes, just the same as anything that has ever been manufactured.

KJ if you consider trucks no more than 3 years old ****ty then yes. We've had many members here with a variety of companies get brand new trucks. As in less than a couple hundred miles. I hope Kearsey chimes in to address some of these concerns you have that are Prime specific. In numerous posts that she's addressed it she's broken down what lease operators claim vs reality. Many lease operators and O/O claim to be making a ton of money because they're trying to convince themselves it's better than being company. As PJ pointed out you technically have a choice when it comes to loads. Either take every load assigned, or pick and choose and go broke doing so.

Topics about leasing typically go south in a hurry due to many emotions. PJ is an O/O and after all his expenses he said this year he expects to make about what he did his rookie year despite having several years experience. Yes, there are lease operators and O/O that make money but they're very rarely taking time off. I beg you not only for your sake to take a bare minimum of 6 months to a year before considering leasing but your families as well. The odds of making it through your first year are extremely against you. The long hours, stress, and being away from home are just a couple of the many reasons many new drivers don't last more than a couple months. Far less make it a full year. As a rookie you're bound to make mistakes. What happens if you back into another truck (common)? As a lease operator you're paying the deductible. Rollover or strike an overhead object (like the awning at hotel) before you even take your first load out (its happened) insurance will not pay a dime due to negligence.

You make alot of sense Rob. Why would they give me a crappy truck, plus anything goes wrong(not my fault)its company dime got to keep the tools you use to working order.

To the stress away from home the solitude, I can handle, unfortunately due to my younger years, I did four years incarceration. Besides waking up and not being a idiot I did learn alot of life skills that have helped me when I got out.

I can make alot of money company just buy getting the bonus prime offers and doing my work to the best of my ability. I'm not going lease. I will get good loads from getting experience, and a good relationship with my fm.

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

Qualcomm:

Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.

SAP:

Substance Abuse Professional

The Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) is a person who evaluates employees who have violated a DOT drug and alcohol program regulation and makes recommendations concerning education, treatment, follow-up testing, and aftercare.

Fm:

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.

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.

Well thanks guys.

No you will not go home every weekend as lease. Many lease ops make less than I do and they stay out 3 months at a time or train constantly. If you have a family situation or medical issue where you need time off then you turn in your truck as a company driver and get another when you come back. You need to be back at 29 days or you are terminated unless you have FMLA to cover it.

Just to mention.... Montana just mentioned $1000-$1100 per week AFTER taxes and insurance.... As a brand new driver that is actually impressive. That means they are about $60k+ or so the first year. (The average experienced lease Op only does $75k after expenses. When you add our 401k and benefits we are pretty even) That is way about average in this industry as a first year. The reason is you are still learning to manage your clock. As you gain experience you gain money by time management and wasting less time due to experience.

Prime only keeps trucks 3 years period. They get turned in usually at 400k miles or so and then are sold. My friends are already turning in their 2018s. And newsflash... Even the lease ops upgrading only get to choose from what is on the lot so many of them are not in brand new trucks. My first two trucks had 250k miles on them when I got them. I had each 1.5 years. I turned in the 2016 in 2018 with 420k miles on it. That truck was so awesome i considered buying it. After running the numbers that was a stupid idea. When I came back from surgery I did get a lemon. After a few months of getting paid to sit in hotel rooms off and on.. They gave me a brand new 2020 international...and 18 lease ops got theirs at the same time. All the same truck.

You dont know anything about the industry or the company yet. Not to mention the freight lanes. So WHY would you risk a lease where you are responsible? Did you know if you screw up the load you pay the ENTIRE cost of load if rejected? FACT: a lease Op didnt wash out a trailer and the shipper loaded it. Walmart receiver rejected the entire $56,000 load. Lease Op fault... Lease Op gets the bill. FACT: if you do something stupid like hit a bridge or jack knife that they say is negligent... The lease Op pays $10,000 negligence fee.

I have lease settlements over 3 years the life of the lease. The pay is usually less than mine when I add 401k and benefits.

FACT: Most lease ops never went company or did so their first few months. Therefore they believe company drivers make $600 per week. The truth is that many lease ops make about that. Without workers comp health insurance and a lot more. So many lease ops get hurt or sick and then get in the hole for months trying to catch up.

And dont think you can go lease then get a codriver and make money. You will both be hitting stuff as rookies so why would you want to pay the bills for that???

Right now prime is offering at 30k miles of TNT to upgrade to a company team truck. You would get full team pay.... $1500 -$2000 per week possibility or more... I have my company team pay stubs in videos too. If you agree to do 120 days of teaming on a company team truck at 30k TNT miles. After the 120 days you then can upgrade to solo, stay team or go lease.

Leasing also requires knowing the freight lanes. So you would be needing to know things like... "Freight into FL or AL might pay well but getting out sucks so you need to have a load paying.double to triple the norm to deliver there". You need to know which loads are heavy or light and go over what terrain to know how yo calculate fuel costs to decide if the load is worth it. People become lease to reject loads but as a company driver there is no reason to reject loads. They all pay the same cpm.

Once you establish yourself with a FM even as a company driver you can dictate what loads to be sent. I have never and will never go to NYC or do floral loads. There is a note in the system saying so.... So I dont need to reject the load cause I dont get those loads.

As far as home time.. In 5 years I missed home time twice on the day I wanted. Both were my decision due to weather or truck repairs. I could have made it on time but chose safety first.

Learn to drive now while in training and figure out the other stuff later. You have a long long way to go.

But yeah check out my YT channel. I have pay stubs from me an lease and discuss lease vs company quite a bit.

Btw... Here is a FB post where 2 lease ops are complaining about making the same as TNT trainees. In the later arguement company drivers told them to turn in the truck and go company lol

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.

Had last day of backing practice going to be ok in that section. Pretrip good, need to learn the verbage fir the incab better i kniw the steps,just git to word them better. Im going to go over that tonight at hotel,trainer before test going to let me practice a couple times before test. I believe I'm ok on driving portion also. So hopefully by this time tomorrow I will post that I pass.

With a sad heart I have to say

I

T R I F E C T A D

I passed