Driver Advisory Board Meeting
March 2, 2021
Oasis Convention Center
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
- Prime 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 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
- 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
- Flatbed /Tanker Operations
- Accuracy of Drivers Load Information Needed
- Tarping Station in Pittston
- Drivers & Tarping requirements and processes on Customer Sites
- 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
- Night Coverage needs better attitude for Drivers
- New Truck w/New Driver needs to be road ready
- O/O Maintenance changes not communicated
- Tire Inflation System Test w/Tanker needs refinement
- Staffing issues with Decatur Shop 6Am – Midnight (Missing Pickups)
- Keep the Friday Morning Meetings Coming
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
- Next meeting tentatively Feb 2020
- 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
- Clayton Brown/Paul Smith
- Review staffing and wait times in Springfield, MO New Plaza
- Paul Smith/Kevin Bergman
- Added Driver Advisory Board Members to proposed load feature for testing and feedback
- Currently over 300 total 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
- Examples of new training videos created in 2019:
