Prime Celebrates National Truck Driver Appreciation Week

(August, 2000) Prime Inc., a leading international refrigerated, flatbed and liquid bulk truckload carrier headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, will join a nationwide celebration for truck drivers during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, August
12 - 19. The fifth annual event, sponsored by American Trucking Associations (ATA), honors the nation's drivers for their commitment to excellence.

"Prime has a long-standing tradition of attracting and retaining the best professionals in the trucking industry," says Robert E. Low, President of Prime Inc. "National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is just one of the opportunities we take to show how much we appreciate the outstanding men and women we are proud to call Associates." The company will honor its professional operators in a number of ways. Each of Prime's 3,000 Professional Contract Operators will receive a debit phone card, good for 100 minutes, to use in "connecting" with their families while on the road. In addition, each Prime Associate will receive a free lunch one day during the week, cooked and served in the "North Star Grille" by Prime's management team. Prime has also recognized its drivers with Driver Appreciation posters. Both the company and its top shippers and receivers have displayed the posters in prominent locations throughout their facilities.

"National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is the highlight of the year within the trucking industry," says Walter B. McCormick, Jr., ATA president and CEO. "It brings together the many different elements of the trucking industry in a week-long celebration of our most valuable people --- our professional truck drivers." Last year's appreciation week, one of the most successful ever, included a proclamation by President Clinton recognizing America's truck drivers, daily advertisements in USA Today, and the Goodyear Blimp appearing at sporting events nationwide to thank truck drivers. Trucking companies celebrated with picnics, cookouts, and gifts for drivers.

The "Super Bowl of Safety," ATA's 2000 National Truck Driving Championship, on August 12 in New Orleans, Louisiana, kicks off this year's celebration. Some 350 drivers from 49 states and the District of Columbia will compete in the largest safe driving event in the nation, sponsored by Mobil.

Safe, professional drivers are the cornerstones of America's shipping. The trucking industry generates $372 billion in revenues annually and employs more than nine million people. "At Prime," says Low, "our drivers are committed to the safe, on-time delivery of every load."

For more information, call Clayton Brown at Prime Inc., 417.866.0001, ext: 3102.