Driver Advisory Board Meeting-March 2, 2021
The Prime Inc. Driver Advisory Board was created in 2016 to further Prime's efforts for improvement, communication, and transparency in the company. The Board meets typically three times per year with management to discuss important issues, driver feedback, and new ideas. Due to the COVID restrictions, no in person meetings were held from February 2020 until March 2, 2021. However, the Driver Advisory Board did stay in communication via virtual meetings, phone calls, and email. Below is a summary of the Driver Advisory Board Meeting on March 2, 2021.
Agenda:
Presentations followed by Q&A
State of the Industry, State of Prime (Jack Porter, Strategic Planner & Darrel Hopkins, Prime Inc. Controller)
Sales Update & Strategy (Steve Wutke, VP of Sales & Marketing)
Refrigerated Division Operations (Jim Guthrie, Director of Operations & Stan Auman, Operations Supervisor)
Flatbed & Tanker Division Operations (Jim Wilkins, Director of Flatbed/Tanker & Brett Vonwiller, Manager of Tanker)
Safety (Dennis Davis, Safety Supervisor & Steve Field, Director of Safety)
Driver Recruiting (Travis Bacon, Manager of Recruiting & Andrea Mueller, Onboarding/Media Manager)
Technology (Brianne Madura, Information Technology)
Prime Training Program (Stan Kasterke, Prime Training Program Manager & Stan Auman, Operations Supervisor)
Road Assist & Maintenance (Justin Kaufman, Manager of Road Assist & Kevin Bergman, Director of Maintenance)
Key Meeting Discussion Points & Takeaways from DAB Members:
Driver Retention
Pay & Bonus program clarification communicated to Drivers
FM Task Overload from Home – no time to interact w/New Drivers
Equipment needs to be ready to roll when Upgrading
Loss of Earnings - Too much Time between Loads
Facebook is part of the problem – erroneous information
Local/Regional Jobs Offered to Current Drivers
Pay scale going into TNT phase – needs consistency and Pay Review
Knowing the Culture and Living the Culture during past Year
Communication
Common Mutual Respect for All Associates Inside & Out
Need to Follow Up with Attention to Details
Mental Health Line support communicated to Drivers
Primed For Life: https://driverhealthandfitness.com/primed-for-life/
DAB Communications
DAB Follow Up from last session and a Formal Routine
Drivers DAB Contact Information to a quick click
Ask DAB feature added in Prime Mobile App in April 2021
Refrigerated, Flatbed, & Tanker Operations
Accuracy of Drivers Load Information Needed
Preplans are a needed benefit for what’s next for the Driver
Prime Load Choice Program Rollout update & results
Live Loaded Call without Drop & PU Trailer reports suggested
Clear Communication of Home-Time pay Policies Uniformly
Tarping Station in Pittston
Drivers & Tarping requirements and processes on Customer Sites
Driver Recruiting
Clear Expectations and view of the Truck Driver Job
Maybe review the current Referral Program and payout plan
Driver Development/Training
Training DAB Meeting to focus on the Details
First Impression and Equipment Orientation
Trainers' quantity vs. quality is a concern in the Training Population
TNT Trainers – need some consistency
Facebook used for some Positive Training
Safety
Keep the Friday Morning Meetings Coming
Started livestreaming them every Friday at 8 am on 3/19/21
Need updates from FMCSA on any updates – FB Load Securement
On-hold message needs updated for TWIC Card message that is outdated
Updated March 2021
IT/Mobile App
Referral Tracking on the App – Workflow tracking
Trip Sheet on the App
Fleet Side of App available to Small Fleet Owners
Driver Repair Job – standard forms and workflow
Navigation vetting and feedback from Drivers
Tanker Detention Process – App which tracks and follows payment
Maintenance/Road Assist
Maintenance/Road Assist
Night Coverage needs better attitude for Drivers
New Truck w/New Driver needs to be road ready
Completed Action Items from DAB to Date:
Drivers DAB Contact Information to a quick click
Ask DAB feature added in Prime Mobile App in April 2021
Add detention rules to stop info
Added in 2020
Livestream safety meetings so drivers out on the road can participate
Started livestreaming safety meetings in 2021 every Friday at 8 am central and streamed both to Facebook and YouTube
Safety Annual Review in the Prime Mobile App
Added in 2020
Shop Campaigns in the Prime Mobile App
Added in 2020
Onsite Chiropractor one time per week
Opened full-time chiropractic clinic (Happy Spine) with Dr Popa in Springfield, MO terminal
Added Travel Update section on Prime Mobile App to reduce non-critical QC Messages
Prior to change, Prime drivers were receiving an average of 400+ QC messages/week.
After change, Prime drivers receive average of less than 100 QC messages/week.
Qualcomm message signed with full name
Pro Maintenance 1.0 Class created and launched in July 2019
Over 170 drivers have attended PM 1.0 as of Oct 2019
Shop will keep on APU when truck is being worked on
Trailer Parking Solution for Pittston
Pedigree Sale Trailers moved off of main yard down to training pad in Oct 2019
More Training Videos for New Drivers
Examples of new training videos created in 2019:
How to Fix Tandem Slider Pins
How to Fix a Trailer Chute
How to Jump Start a Reefer Unit
How to Fix a Mud Flap
Home counter viewable in Prime Mobile App
Develop a Training Advisory Board
ELD Roll Out program to prepare fleet Sept – November
Move the open gate button in Denver to Outside of the Office for food ordering/taxis
Food Trucks brought into SLC while Amenities Building is being built
Program for Million Mile Company Drivers to order new truck
Military graphics on flatbed trailer skirts
Review staffing and wait times in Springfield, MO New Plaza
Added Driver Advisory Board Members to Prime Load Choice Program for testing and feedback
Currently over 500 Prime Drivers utilizing this feature for testing
Review orientation experience to find areas of improvement for welcome/family first impression, promote benefits of the company and career path/options to new drivers on front end
Create restroom & facility upgrades at the Auburndale yard
Exterior Restroom facility added to yard-Feb 2019
Provide receipts at Auburndale yard for washouts
Provide better/stronger inverters in the truck
Now installing Tundra inverters into new trucks instead of previous Cobra model
Utilize geofencing to cater road updates to drivers in those areas
Update the My Fuel feature to let you view it on current week, 4 week, 8 week basis
Streamline/reduce repetitive messaging to fleet (i.e. red-light tickets in Hannibal, MO)
Add Macro 33 to app
Work on communication of Road Assist Dept to provide confirmation that they receive messages and are working on the problem and/or ETA when they should hear back from RA Advisor
Fix Reefer Dept Live Load Dispatch inbound call queue/waiting message to not auto hang up on callers if there was more than one person in queue holding.
New My Fuel feature to see your personal stats and how you rank in the fleet
Create phone line to call in to hear Prime Hold Messages
Prime Class List on Prime Mobile App
Standard Transmission Truck Loaning for Practice
Hold Messages updated more frequently
DIY fixes and Pay Information Shared and Promoted
Enhanced communication through Mobile App
New truck optimization program implementation
Vacation pay for second seats
My Truck, My Trailer, and My Contacts features in Prime Mobile App
ACE2 Videos on Prime Mobile App
Road Assist Vendor List on App
If you have questions or feedback, you can reach out to Prime Inc. at communications@primeinc.com. To communicate with current Driver Advisory Board (DAB), you can send questions via the Ask DAB feature in the Prime Mobile App or send an email to daballdrivers@primeinc.com.
