You had it comin' Prime. An 8' x 10' space is too ...

You had it comin' Prime. An 8' x 10' space is too small for 2 people, and we both know you just want teams and trainers.

Never gonna put up with 6 weeks without pay from a company again. Ever. Especially if they follow it up with some "Terms and Conditions" course (Ace2) back at the terminal.

Took 1 and a half weeks off, no e-fund, stuck in Pennsylvania for 2 weeks, running 62 to 65? That all added up to 6 weeks of no pay for me early into driving.

Tl;dr:
They run you like their equipment. New trucks, new drivers, used up, and out of there in 1 to 3 years. It's a revolving door of fresh blood for this vampire. They bleed you, push for more, or toss you out. Use them
by running 58 mph or lower for fuel, run long hours, get an emergency fund, get out of big cities/consumer markets, and TAKE TIME OFF!!!

The long version:
Again, I used Prime as much as they used me. That's how you make it work. I got my CDL with them BUT I started with 2 CDL classes at a community college back home. I got a Greyhound to SLC, orientation, simulator time, PSD, trifecta on the test, TNT, and then I was aiming for company.

I am 100% sure I would have failed the CDL test if I JUST learned through Prime. I know that because I saw 3 other students fail at least 1 time. My PSD trainer was a nutjob going through a divorce. My TNT trainer was a Prime repeat offender. Guy came and went at least 3x before. Generally left me alone, but I think he wanted to be a team driver. I needed training on trip planning.

When I'm ready to go solo they show me The Leasemaker. The Leasemaker is a 2015 International Lightweight they keep behind the detail shop collecting dust. It's batteries were dead, so I had it jumped. Twice. Tires weren't too good, and the mileage was suspicious for how old it was. I heard about how my PSD trainer slept on an exit ramp to push-start the truck because Prime was dragging their feet on repairs. One time I jokingly said, "Man, I can't wait to get me a brand new 2019 Cascadia!" he said, "You'll take whatever they give you!"

So I asked my TNT trainer about it and he said that truck was garbage and a bad brand. So I took the papers back to Leasing. They gave them back. They said, "I don't have any more trucks for you. Take those papers to bay 47." So I had it jumped. Took the papers to bay 47 and they said, "You have to do the inspection." So I said, "Oh... I see. So I'm supposed to inspect the truck." Nobody told me that. So I mention everything and how I don't want it. Then she says to take the papers back to Leasing, and Leasing says to take them back to Bay 47.

The next day I decided to go Lease.

1 week later I have a business bank account, an LLC, a 2019 Freightliner Cascadia Evolution, and a dispatcher for some loads.

11 months after that I have so many service failure records that my contract was cut. I'm not gonna miss my dispatcher. Prime says, "You can shut that truck off whenever you want" DISPATCHER says, "Yeeeeaaah, but I'mma need 2 weeks in advance." The guy SUDDENLY stopped yelling at me for mistakes at the 7 month mark about (probably reported by his coworkers), but I had some hiccups here and there. It was a vicious cycle of:
- Make a mistake.
- Get cussed out by dispatcher.
- Say I'll to do better.
- Take a load that's high mileage.
- Try to run at 58.
- Sleep poorly.
- Don't eat well and get nasty because I'm running so much.
- Get depressed.
- Oversleep and run 65.
- Make another mistake.

I had 1 joke of an accident at fault that charged me $500, and 1 not at fault. Truck was kept pristine, and Prime knows a bit of damage was caused by a CRST hit-and-run in Baltimore.

Truck's finished with its inspection. I hope I'm not charged too much for these minor issues.

Edit:
Thought I'd add some things. My emergency fund was up to $3900. So the reason why I did the stupid newbie thing and got a brand new truck when leasing is because I wouldn't want something unexpected with a secondhand truck. You can and absolutely will miss or not look at something during an inspection. Then you're in the hole early on.