Question:
iam new to the industry and giving consideration to starting out with prime as a companey driver not the lease deal . i explained this clearly to the recruiter on the phone last week when i was requesting info on the companey but she sent me a promo cd with an hours worth of info on the truck leasing deal and no info on the companey driver .the prime web site is the same way .can anyone tell me what i can expect starting out with prime as a rookie driver in the reefer division. the miles the pay the equipment the trainers ?

Answer:
Prime's web site shows 2 driver divisions CHD and RTC.
http://www.primeinc.com/drivers/divisions.html
http://www.primeinc.com/drivers/chd_division.html
http://www.primeinc.com/drivers/rtc_division.html
Looks like the just copied the information for both company divisions. It also looks like they prefere teams.
Personally, since Prime has ripped off so many Lease drivers i wouldn't work for them. By not caring about their lease drivers I am sure they won't care about you either. But that isn't much different than any OTR company. None of them care about you the driver. For them it's all a matter if finances.
I'm not sure why Prime is attractive to you? They run reefers and that means alot of waiting at grocery warehouses. I've done that and won't ever do it again. To much wasted time. I would go to Roehl as a first choice if I was new.
http://www.goroehl.com/RoehlNet/Roehl/Roehl.aspx?pid=1
Roehl truck school
They have a better reputation.
Also Millis or Crete who both have a better reputation.

Answer:
You might also want to go over to http://www.thetruckersreport.com and check out the comments made by drivers who have worked there. There are DAC like reports on the different companies there. {Thanks for the correction, Steve!}
Another good company to look at is CFI. http://www.cfi-us.comSo I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:
Hey http://www.truckersreport.com/ looks like a good place to check out insurance rates.
Might try Here instead. A word of warning. The site owner use to have hundreds of company reports but they all went away. Probably from a suite. now many companies have no info listed. Prime is one with nothing.
CFI is now hiring trainees. Didn't know that. I'll ad them to the bottom of the list.

Answer:

The information was provided by a "Driver" recruiter seeking a bonus
concerning refferals.
Answer:
thanks for the information. the web sight link was very helpfull.prime was my last choice. iam a little apprehensive to sign on with them. based on all the negative posts on truck net. but millis and schneider turned me down and ihave to start somewhere. from what i can tell the time spent with a trainer and teamate seems way to long (five weeks with trainer and twentyfive thousand miles team with another rookie) as far as waiting at cosignee to unload i would think prime would pay for the wait. if not i could utilize the time for a rest and reset the clock.

Answer:
[quote="satch"]as far as waiting at cosignee to unload i would think prime would pay for the wait. quote]
Now that's FUNNY...REALLY FARKIN' FUNNY

Answer:
Well I am not a recruiter, but this guy tries to recruit for TMC. take a look, not too bad I guess. www.flatbedfred.com He started with them and seems happy, and he said they get him home most all weekends. Good Luck.

Answer:

Thats your SECOND big error today Mikey. CFI does not offer a bonus to anyone when it comes to "student drivers" or "inexperienced drivers" that have to go through the training/finishing program. Once again, but then again, as ever..... Hey, have you heard the old adage "Its bad enough to be a fool, but its worse to open your yap and prove it"?? Care to just quit while you're ahead?
Come on now...try to get at least one thing right each day..... So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:

You're right...I wondered why all those pages "disappeared", probably was as the result of a lawsuit. Thanks again for the link fix.

Thanks, I would appreciate it if you would add them!! I just thought people would like to know that they have other options. The training program is limited to graduates from only certain schools. which do not include CDL Mills. So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:
i just got done reading an old post about a newbie starting out with prime(my time at prime) he claims during first day of orientation prime collects $1oo.oo the newbie is not clear on what its for or how the charge is justified. can anyone enlighten me on this . if i show up to orientation with my cdl already in hand would this charge still aply to me? i can live with giving up a hundred without starving . but the principle of showing up to work on day one and having a companey put their hand in your pocket is unconschnable

Answer:

Truthfully....I've never heard of it...even from others who have worked there. Seems alittle odd, even scary that the newbie handed over $100.00 without requiring justification and documentation for the money.

I've never heard of any company charging you money for anything to go to work for them or for any other reason.... Sounds almost as if they are trying to get you used to the possible hosing that will follow...
Historically PRIME was a lease operator company with some Owner Operators, but not too long ago they started a division called RTC which is their "company driver division". I guess they couldn't find enough people to lease, so they decided to hire drivers.... Makes me wonder what other expenses a company driver has to foot before he makes any money....
I've never driven for them, never will. There had been a few drivers from our company that went there.....and it didn't take long for them to return, and what they had to say was...well, lets just say it wasn't exactly in a positive vein.
Were I you....I would seek out other options.So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:
The total was 3500 and the fee was just a down payment or his cost for medical exam and/or other stuff etc..
With Prime it's probably gone up by now. I would take an extra $300. if I were you.
I liked that one. It's worse than the upfront fee. You get to work and be paid $140. a week but you have to pay it back.
They put you in debt to them from day one.

Answer:
prime is also on my list for perspective companies to drive for. i cant give you any advice. that would be like the blind leading the blind.but after talking to the ofice personel i found out you have to start out by driving team for 60000 miles at 400 a week for the first five weeks and 500 a week for the rest of training. then you drive solo at 30 cpm. for 20000 at witch time your bumped up to 34cpm .they drive freightliner centuary condos governed at 64mph. they have a nice web sight where you can listen in on the monthly safety meetings and the ceo is usualy present to field questions or concerns of the drivers. the people at the meeting seem content. i could not find anything on the site that spoke about this 100 doller orientation fee. thats not a good way to start a realationship. i think they might charge 80 cents a minute after two hours for detention how much the driver gets i cant say.

Answer:

Really? Escrow accounts are not uncommon in the "hosing"
arena.