Prime
Reviews and Complaints

On april 30th 2017 I was traveling on the i-39 i-90 headed towards wisconsin. One of your cdl holders was driving a tractor-trailer and almost clipped the front of my brothers black chevy impala. Not only was he driving recklessly but he was speeding! Well over the speed limit and following too close on the car in front of him. Then he went to switch lanes without a signal! I was scared for me and my familys life since it was raining very hard all weekend I was extra scared and the streets were still wet in some areas. He missed the car by a few inches because my brother had to pump the brakes or he would have took us out. It really scared the hell out of us all. He could have took out the front of my truck my brothers car and flipped the trailer... Posibbly jack knifed. I did not appreciate the danger he was putting all of us in with his speeding and no space cushion in front of him and lack of signal use. That sudden rushed lane change could have ended up really bad. I took pictures of his trailer and I want a complaint filed.

I was a lease operator for prime from 08/2014 to the end of 07/2015, I only left because my wife had cancer. I found prime to be a great company to be driving for. I was bringing in 1500.00 to 3500.00 a week every week, that being said I can't see how all these whining, crying, babies can't seem to make money. From 01/2015 till the end of 07/2015 my truck#650455 earned 126, 000.00 and it was very easy to do. All you have to do is drive, be on time and do your job. I am very happy to say that my wife is now cancer free and I will be returning to prime on 08/29/2016 and I can't wait to get back. I would not be very honest if I said that I liked everything about prime because there were a few things things I still have issues with. Every company has it's quirks and prime is no different. If you want to make money this is the place but you have to work no free rides, if you want to be home every week or two this is not for you because you will never make money like that. I typically stayed out six to ten weeks at a time, went home for a week to ten days. As for all this b.S. About repairs I never had an issue but I paid for all my repairs, and pm's cash only I kept prime deductions to a minimum. I had 200.00 a week put into my emergency I pay for repairs and such. After six months with them I carried a 5000.00 surplus on my com-data card at all times, that being said if you lease from prime and don't or can't make money you are either a slacker or your dead and should be driving for c.R. England or swift but please stop all the b.S. Because nothing I read on this site is even close to the truth you people must be liberal democraps and are unable to process rational thought.

I drove 50k miles and was just out of a trainers truck. I had gotten my cdl and gone through another school prior to this. I wound up with a walmart dedicated route. I caught pneumonia and wound up in the hospital. Due to the doctor not releasing me quick enough, as a company driver I had to turn my truck in and lost employment, then insurance and a lot of complications. No calls checking on me, didn't even apply my sick time though my manager/dispatcher promised he would. They put you with an owner operator who is wanting to make that 1500+ a week truck note. It is a rough place to work and you really have to know how to play hardball or you wont make money. If you can't really manipulate you will be manipulated. My driver kept me in the top bunk and you couldn't rest well so you lived on energy drinks being so tired and nobody really cared. My manager got commissions so I really was and felt like a commodity. The owner plays a mean game of basketball at the springfield terminal and he likes to act as though it is family oriented but it is a clique you have to be in and few know how to play the game. He also owns a casino and such...
It's about making money... For them. You can stay in the bunk rooms at the terminal for 24 hours and have to leave for 48. Some pluses, many minuses.

Any of these people whining about prime are the losers that failed themselves! Been lease operator with prime for almost 3 years. I make $1400 to $2200 a week takehome! Im just not a shmuck and I know how to drive and manage a business. All these negative posts are almost entirely lies and bs. Question: if it is sooo bad like they say why are there almost 8000 people driving for prime and why are we growing so fast? Because they spoil and take care of the good drivers and push out the wanna-bes and idiots! Thats why we are the best in the business because we weed out the weak and worthless! Btw all these people crying, lying, and whimpering on here are the weak and worthless that couldn't cut it... Amen

My friend went to springfield, mo for orientation as a lease/operator for prime, inc. He was told how he would make all kinds of money and be driving a truck that was almost new. When he got there, he was required to take a sleep apnea test, even though he did not have sleep apnea. They charged him $600. For the test. His cost for medical insurance was $183. Per week! He would be an independent contractor and pay all of his costs, so they sent him to a tax accountant for a fee. They told him that they had a doctor in the terminal 24/7, but when he got ill, they would not see him for 36 hours. After he passed all testing and was offered the job (he thought when he arrived that they had already approved him) they sent him to their lot to pick out his truck. Every truck offered to him was damaged and they did not want to repair the damage. The cost for the leases were more than he had been told. They told him that 95% of all lease/operators fail. There were 70 new drivers at orientation that week. A driver that had worked for them for only two weeks was back returning his truck because he had yet to earn a single dollar.in addition, my friend was told that driving a refrigerated trailer was not different than non-refrigerated. Not true. He would have to stand on the dock any time the truck was loaded or unloaded and count the items going in and out, as well as taking the temperatures in and out, and he was responsible for the loads. Thankfully, my friend was smart enough to walk away and not sign a contract with this shady company. Beware!

Hello all,

I started with prime inc.in november 2011. (I had driven for 10 years, but had taken time off). My psd training consisted of my psd instructor playing with his phone, while I was driving for three weeks. Passed all three tests, and was assigned a tnt instructor. My tnt instructor told me that you are here to make me money. There was no actual training, just allot of 10 plus hours a day driving, no sleep, as my tnt instructor would take turns fast, ran the worst part of the road and my average sleep was between 4-5 hours. After six weeks of this torture, I requested a new tnt instructor, as the conditions of the truck and of the instructor was less than acceptable. My second tnt instructor had been a truck driver for 8 months, and now training drivers with only a very limited time on the road. He did not know how to throw chains, or to drive in snow on the hills.

Once I started on the path of being a leaser, I received only one paycheck, on the first week. Then my truck had a power divider issue, and was in the hole for 694.00, and I went for 8 pay periods without pay, and in 4 checks, I was in the negative up to 1150.00. I asked for a fleet manager change, and only after threatening to leave, I was granted a fleet manager change. I also wanted my truck to be looked at detroit diesel, but was never given a chance or appointment. My new fleet manager, made a promise “I will guarantee you a pay check"during the last four weeks of my employment. My fleet manager, called me and accused me of"not having a clue"and"we cannot do business"and"don't ever apply here again to work here, I will say no". His promise he made, fell short, and as a result, I was not able to even pay my rent, and looking forward to being homeless after leaving this company.

I wanted to retire from new prime inc. Instead, new prime inc, not only retired me, but even from my home. I asked for consideration to have one of my trips could be estimated so I could save my apartment, as I sent a qualcomm for this, he said no. So I feel that prime and this fleet manager are only after one thing"money, the customer, and when it’s needed the drivers"I think that without drivers this company could not make money. As for me, I leave the company soon, and will have to face a loss of my apartment, and will even have to pay me way back home, with what little money I have.

If you are considering new prime inc, please read over all the reviews, ask questions. I will end up filing a bankruptcy because of a lack of pay and the uncaring attitude of prime. Remember if a manager says to you"keep trying, things will get better" don't believe it; get out before you end up like me. I would not wish this on anyone.

Dont ever lease a truck thru prime. You will have to inspect the truck without a mechanic being there but when you return the truck they will have their mechanic check it and whatever u didnt mention and they find, you will be charged for every single thing leaving you with no money at all. Dont dont dont dont trust the success leasing program because there is nothing successful about prime inc, my name is zay so if anybody want to discuss this then please email me at [protected]@aol.com.# fleet manager named bj too.

This is a statement directed to discourage you from leasing a truck from prime inc. I leased a truck from them from for 9 months. Once I figured out the way the company works I took their truck back and have been attempting to stop other people ever since.

The way it works: your driver manager can, at any given time, see what your truck is averaging per mile. They can see how many miles your truck is averaging per day, week, month and quarter. They are instructed to not allow your truck to average more then $0.89 per mile. If you do, that is when you will start receiving loads that will lower your average. If you refuse to take these loads, nothing else will be offered and you will sit. Keep in mind that while you are sitting, you are still paying for the lease. This is what will keep you 'paying' their game.

Your truck also may not run more then 3800 miles per week, even if you are running as a student-team. If that happens your driver manager will be fined $100.00 for each 'offense'. When 'doing the math' finally paid off I was making $0.21 per mile in a market that was paying $0.35 per mile for a company driver.

Prime inc will also push hard for you to take a student with you. Understand that while you are grooming this person to be another victim for prime inc, you are paying the cost. This cost is set and it is taken out of your settlement before you see it. There were a couple of weeks when I ended up owing the company but my student got her $600 per week.

Keep in mind that, to my understanding, rob lowe, the owner of prime inc also owns the sales company that sells the trucks to the leasing company. He owns the leasing company, he owns the shop that they 'make' you get your repairs done in if at all possible, he owns the tax service you are pushed into using, he owns the insurance company that you must use.

Riverford insurance company: in orientation you will be told that you do not have to use riverford insurance company. By law they can not make you use it, and that you can change if you wish. Notice they do not say that you do not have to sign up with them in the first place? That is because you do have to, no other option is offered. Once you are signed up, if you look around you will find that the same insurance can be obtained for less then half of their cost. But! Try to change! It is simply not going to happen. For you to change insurance companies prime inc has to provide certain documents to the new company. They will tell you they will do this, they will seem very helpful, they also would rather die! So while on the phone or even in person they will tell you 'yes! Oh yes! We will get right to that', they simply never will.

The tax service: you will be told in orientation that you do not have to use the tax service provided. If you choose to lease a truck from prime inc for goodness sake use the tax service! If you do not prime inc will lie about how much money you have made to the irs and believe me folks you don't want to go there! It took me 3 years to prove they lied and cost me waayy more then the tax service would have charged me. Notice:I had to prove they lied, the irs will not take your word, they will take primes word even though this has happened time and time again.

Violations: if you are already a professional driver you know that if you receive a traffic violation it is not lawful to withhold that information from your company or your state of residence. That said, not many drivers report violations to their company or state. They wait first to see if the state where the violation occurred is going to do it. If not it is generally accepted to keep your mouth shut to protect your driver record.

Prime inc encourages new drivers not to do this. This may seem like a good policy until you look at why. Prime inc will tell you that if you receive a violation not to worry. Send it to them and they will remit payment even if you don't have the cash coming and take it out of your settlement a little each week. Seems like an attractive alternative to worrying about money orders and stamps and did they get it... Is it clear?

Prime only does this so that they can report the violation to your home state. One ticket? Oops! Two tickets? Oh no! Three tickets and congratz! You are now primes slave for the next three years. You can't quit because you are no longer employable any place else. They don't even have to pay the premium for employing a driver with that many violations.

Please believe me when I say that this little piece of info that I believe to be true did not form out of some misguided conspiracy theory. While this did not happen to me, I met a lot of prime slaves.

Mechanical costs: you are required by the lease which you sign to pay for all mech. Work done on your truck. Notice I said pay for you will not be allowed to so much as change the oil. Why?!?! Because you are not a certified mechanic, and even if you are there is no formal record of your changing the oil, and its not like your not a liar from the gate. So you will pay to have a shop do it. Oh and after you pay $150.00 plus for this neat little trick, you will not even own the oil that you paid for, nor the tires you payed to have changed, nor the headlight you just bought nor any part or partial of the truck you are paying out the nose to operate. Rob lowe owns that truck and always will unless you choose to pay the outragious amount of money he wants for it after the termination of the lease.

So why does anyone lease?: they don't do all of this to everyone. If they did they would not have a company. As far as I can tell they only rip-off about 40% of the people who lease from them. Everybody else will get some or none of the rip going on. But you have to decide if playing russian ruellette is for you and your family. Rob lowe plays for keeps though, and he did not get to where he is by 'playing fair'.

Now eyes wide open... Go sign your lease!