Dennis Davis & Steve Field – Safety

• This week: 102 total inspections – 73 clean (72% clean rate)
  • Industry average is a 35% clean rate
  • Always remember to wear your seatbelts correctly
    • Pads are available in the Prime store
  • Follow speed limits closely and correctly
• CVSA Road Checks run May 16 through May 19
  • Make sure to keep up with your logs
    • Certify them
    • Put your load and trailer number in
    • Keep up with your paper logs
    • Log inspections as on-duty time
    • Personal conveyance

Jared Hall – Road Assist

• Pictures of the issue are key for us to better assist you
• If you’re in an accident and law enforcement shows up, make sure to let them know you want to use your own towing company and call road assist or safety to set you up

Audra Hill – Payroll

• How payroll works:
  • Wednesday to Wednesday trip processing
  • Payroll cutoff for the week: Wednesdays at 16:00 CST
  • Friday: you get PAID!
    • 2 ways
      • Direct Deposit: settlement is posted at the end of day Friday and will not show “pending” in your bank account
      • Comdata Card: settlement comes through on Friday morning
    • Don’t wait until just before payroll cutoff to scan in your trips. Get them in as soon as you can
      • You can scan these in on the Prime app
      • 33% of all scans come in on Wednesday, please do not wait until Wednesday to scan in your paperwork
      • Even if you don’t think you should be paid detention, put your in and out times in
    • You can find your Payroll Advisor’s contact information in the Prime app if you need help

Sam Messick – Fuel Manager

• Fuel Surcharge Program
  • Protects independent contractors completely from fuel increases
  • If you’re running 7mpg or better, you only pay $0.99 per gallon
    • At pump you pay full price then get reimbursed on your paycheck
  • Customers fund the Fuel Surcharge program, not you or Prime
• We buy roughly 2.5 million gallons of fuel per week
• East Coast is still seeing fuel shortages

Matt Hancock – Driver Health and Fitness

• This month is Mental Health Awareness Month
• Your physical health can play a role in your mental health
• Primed For Life
  • Get matched with the right counselor for you
  • First session is free
  • Completely confidential
  • Avoids hurdles regarding insurance

Steve Wutke & Keith McCoy – Refrigerated Sales

• Prime won both class A inbound and outbound Carrier of the Year with Shaw Floors
• Trust the system and your fleet manager
• Safety is our number one priority always

Interested in driving for Prime? Apply online at www.primeinc.com or give our recruiters a call at 888-664-9121.

Steve Field & Dennis Davis – Safety

• This week: 165 total inspections – 102 clean (62% clean rate)
  • Industry average is 35%
  • Increase clean inspection rates by:
    • Ensuring you wear your seatbelt correctly
    • Staying on top of your logs
  • With the heavy rain currently, many roads are water-covered or even flooded
    • Do not try to cross a water covered road
    • “Turn around, don’t drown”
  • 3 driving habits to keep you safe
    • Choose an appropriate speed given conditions and your driving ability
    • Minimize distractions
    • Maintain a safe following distance
  • General News:
    • Prime’s holiday party will be held on Memorial Day (Monday, May 30) during the evening at the Oasis hotel and convention center in Springfield, Missouri
    • There is an upcoming Prime Picnic Labor Day Weekend (Saturday, September 3)

Heather Moenkhoff – Cardinal Sleep

• CPAP users need to report daily
  • ResMed (devices 2017 and prior): try to contact your provider to get a new machine to make reporting easier
  • Philips: install the app to be able to report quicker
  • There are classes on Wednesdays and Fridays regarding reassessment

Matt Hancock – Driver Health and Fitness

• The driver health and fitness website now offers zoom calls with Cardinal Sleep to help with:
  • Mask fitting
  • Compliance issues
• Weight gain can be a contributor to sleep apnea
  • Fit in 15 can help combat this
    • The average driver loses 10% of their bodyweight in this program

Sam Messick – Fuel Manager

• There are fuel shortages across the East Coast
  • In New York, fuel reserves are the lowest to ever be reported
• Pilot Flying J will have no shortages
  • Push for Points program is still in effect at all locations
• Use our fuel optimizer to help cut costs
  • The fuel optimizer also shows you the lowest cost toll routes
• Fuel surcharge guarantee program ensures high gas prices will not negatively impact Prime drivers
  • Must operate efficiently (at least 7 mpg) to fully reap the rewards
• 100% of discounts given by Prime’s fuel vendors are passed on to our drivers

Brian Brown – Flatbed Sales

• Flatbed business is booming so Prime needs more flatbed drivers!
• The American Dream is still alive and well here at Prime
• Drivers ALWAYS come first

Interested in driving for Prime? Apply online at www.primeinc.com or give our recruiters a call at 888-664-9121.

Emily Plummer’s hometown is one of those small hamlets in Arkansas that you drive through without even knowing it.  “The town name is Luxora, and it’s so small that they had to combine seven towns into one to have enough people for a school,” she says.  Growing up, Emily’s town had two main career paths.  She says she could have either worked at the local Fruit of the Loom factory or stayed home and had kids.  Neither of those sounded exciting, then one day a semi-truck pulled into town.

“I thought it would be pretty cool to drive,” Emily says.  “I thought I’d give it a try, and I’d get to travel the world.  That’s how I got here.”  Emily has been with Prime for 23 years now, and it’s that experience coupled with her time on Prime’s Driver Advisory board and her perfect on-time-delivery record that helped get her, not only nominated for this year’s Highway Diamonds Award, but to win it.  When Highway Diamonds first launched, Emily says she was really interested in the program and kept asking how to get involved.  Then she learned that as a woman at Prime, she was already enrolled and had immediate access to the community of women drivers the program was cultivating.  Since everyone is spread out across the country, the group stays in touch through a private Facebook group.  “If a woman asks a question on the page, there’s a ton of interaction,” Emily says.  “We try to give the best advice we can.”  As the Facebook group has grown, members have shared their workout success stories, photos of their trucks, family milestones and tons of encouragement.  That last part is what Emily thinks is most important.  “Even for me, there are times when the confidence level goes down,” she says.  “That’s when we have to encourage each other.  As women out here, you can go through lots of emotions and get discouraged, and it feels like you’re totally alone.  But you have a whole community of support.  No matter what, you can do this.”

That determination, and a few rounds of deep breathing when she gets stressed out, are what have propelled Emily forward in an industry dominated by men.  The fact that she’s a minority on the road doesn’t bother her.  She was trained by a male driver, and she says there was a lot of benefit from that.  When she first trained, she’d never been on the interstate.  “It was so scary,” she says.  “I was thinking there was no way I could do this, but I had a really good trainer.  He was a 20-year driver, and he taught me how to be safe as a woman out here.”  He also gave Emily the slogan she still uses today.  “Rain, snow, sleet or shine, Emily’s always going to be on time.”

More than two decades later, that slogan still rings true.  Being trained by a veteran driver is one thing Emily would love to see more of at Prime.  “We need some of these veteran women drivers to come talk to the new women coming in,” she says.  “We need to do everything we can to keep these women in the industry for the long-term.”

Interested in becoming a Highway Diamond? Apply online at www.primeinc.com or give our recruiters a call at 888-664-9121.

Rachel Dreher – Driver Health and Wellness

• The Fit in 15 Program is a fantastic resource for drivers to use on the road. This program offers new weekly workouts, weekly meal plans, and weekly accountability calls.
• You just need either a crock pot or a microwave to be able to make these recipes which all take 30 minutes or less.
• Drivers are 2 times more susceptible to diabetes than your average person and cooking healthier options can help avoid this.

Dennis Davis & Dave White – Safety

• This week: 136 total inspections – 89 clean (65% clean rate).
• April is distracted driving month.
• In 2020 there were over 3,000 fatalities reported as caused by distracted driving.
• There are 3 main kinds of distractions:
  • Visual distractions – taking your eyes off the road (for example, looking at your phone)
  • Manual distractions – Using your hands while driving for nondriving purposes (for example, changing the radio station)
  • Cognitive distractions – thinking about other things or talking (for example, talking to your mom on the phone)
• Ways to avoid distractions:
  • Completely turn off phones while you’re driving
  • Stay focused on the road and don’t let your mind drift
  • Wait to answer phone calls, text messages, etc. until you’re on a break

Brandon Austin – Security

• Keep trailers locked at all times to ensure the safety of your load and prevent vandalism.
• Make sure you’re dropping trailers only at secure drop yards or shippers and receivers.
• Be mindful of what you post and share on social media and otherwise. Never share the location of another driver with others.  The safety and wellness of our drivers is our top priority.

Interested in driving for Prime? Apply online at www.primeinc.com/?r=blog or give our recruiters a call at 888-664-9121 for more information.

Didn’t have a chance to tune in this week? No worries! Watch the video version or read the fast facts below to make sure you don’t miss out on important information.

Dave White & Dennis Davis – Safety

• With the rise in Covid cases across the nation, we will be pivoting from in-person Driver Meetings to virtual, broadcasting live from various departments at the Prime Springfield terminal.
• At this time, masks must be worn while inside any of the Prime terminals, no matter what your vaccination status.
• Covid testing is available at Trinity Healthcare in the Prime terminals.
• This week: 135 total inspections – 86 clean (64% clean rate).
• Ways we can improve safety inspections:
• 1. Be aware of specific requirements in every state. For instance, you must have 2 extra chains when driving in Washington.
  2. All of this information can be found on the Prime Mobile App, so check it out when you have some down time.

• No rewards are given out for driving in inclement weather to deliver a load. Consider not driving.
  • Should you run into inclement weather, find a safe place to shut down and communicate with your fleet manager.

Dave White – Safety

• Dave fills us in on what it was like when he was an OTR driver in 1995.
  • Technology improvements
  • Exceptional training program at Prime, compared to limited training 20 years ago
  • Importance of planning your trip and checking weather along the route.

Jim Guthrie – Director of Operations

• Work history at Prime. Moving up in the company, from fuel desk, to night dispatch, to his current role as Director of Operations.
• Tremendous demand in the first quarter, compared to previous years.
• Consider giving back, by helping Prime train the newest members of our family. To be the best, you must learn from the best – YOU! Think back about the training you were given when you first came to Prime and the impact your trainer had on you. We need your help to get through the next few months of onboarding and grow this amazing company we all love.

Steve Wutke – VP of Sales & Marketing

• The health and safety of our Prime family continues to be our top priority.

Interested in driving for Prime? Apply online at www.primeinc.com/?r=blog or give our recruiters a call at 866-290-1568.

“We’ve been experimenting for the last several years with a cloud solution for our Brokerage offering and Intermodal offering and have seen improvement in overall efficiency in those areas while still supporting and enhancing our highly modified ICC system for our Asset and Power Only offerings.  MasterMind® will give us the opportunity to move all of our business lines to the cloud and leverage the latest in technology,” says Rodney Rader, Director of Technology at Prime Inc.  “We’ll start with the Brokerage offering, emulating the current Brokerage offering while taking advantage of advanced features in the MasterMind® platform.  This will be followed by the Intermodal offering, again taking advantage of advanced features in the MasterMind® platform.  As we move these lines to the MasterMind® platform, we’ll learn more about the system capabilities as Mastery will learn more about custom features in our Asset and Power Only offerings.  This knowledge will be used to make the final move of our Asset and Power Only offerings to the MasterMind® platform.  We’re very excited to take these steps with Mastery to see how far this takes us in the future.”

Prime Inc. is the nation’s largest refrigerated service provider, and also provides flatbed, tanker, intermodal and logistics services.  The complex nature of refrigerated transportation, shifting seasonal freight network, multi-faceted transportation services and focus on professional truck driver work/life balance has created an obligation for Prime to implement a more robust TMS solution.  MasterMind® gives Prime the ability to see all their transportation operations in one place that functions across work streams and connects suppliers, vendors and customers through automation, control, and visibility.  These seamless features are key to Prime’s sustainable growth plans.

Prime has always been a high-touch trucking company with exceptional service. Its driver programs, driver pay, equipment, building amenities, and numerous carrier of the year awards have proven Prime’s commitment to excellence throughout 50+ years.  The CRM platform within MasterMind® is a function that has been missing for Prime and the company is excited to utilize this offering to create an even stronger relationship with drivers, customers, and vendors.  “We are excited about the partnership with Mastery and the additional capabilities that it will provide,” says Robert Low, CEO & Founder of Prime Inc. “We have long been admirers of Jeff Silver and his knowledge and grasp of the complexities of the logistics industry and its unique demands.  He has been a leader in the Brokerage business for several decades while always having an in-depth understanding of the asset-based truckers’ viewpoint.  We were excited to hear of Jeff’s founding and building out of a comprehensive software offering.  We are eager to join forces with his software experts to facilitate our company’s growth and advancement as a premier logistics service provider.”

Mastery is thrilled to be selected to provide Prime Inc. with the MasterMind® TMS technology offerings to support their continued growth. “Prime Inc. is one the nation’s key logistics providers. Our aligned core values of providing extensive employee services and philanthropic efforts in the community, including both giving to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in past history, extends the value of the partnership beyond technology and exceptional service. We could not be more proud to partner with Prime, Inc.” Jeff Silver, Founder and CEO, Mastery Logistics Systems, Inc.

About Mastery

Chicago-based Mastery Logistics Systems, Inc. launched in 2019. Mastery was founded by Jeff Silver, whose technology systems and teams have powered some of the largest logistics companies in North America for over four decades. MasterMind® TMS is a comprehensive cloud-based SaaS transportation management system built from the ground up by a team of 300 engineers, designers, and programmers, to help large shippers, carriers and logistics service providers manage complex transportation needs in an efficient, cohesive, and intelligent way. To learn more about Mastery, visit Mastery.net

About Prime, Inc.

Prime, Inc. is North America’s most successful refrigerated, flatbed, tanker, logistics and intermodal transportation company. At Prime, we have built a strong and enviable reputation for providing superior transportation services throughout North America. Our commitment to providing unsurpassed world-class customer service continues as we seek new methods, technical advances and systems which enable us to meet the ever-increasing demands of the shipping industry.