Truckers Are REFUSING Six-Figure Prime Inc Jobs in 2026 - Here's Why

Six figures to drive a truck — a hundred thousand dollars and up — and experienced drivers are still walking away from Springfield. The signs say top pay, new trucks, six figures. Drivers who ran the lease, ran the miles and ran the math are saying no anyway. I'm Ray Callahan, 22 years on the road, and in this video I break down the 4 reasons drivers are refusing the most famous number in trucking: 💵 Reason 1: Six figures is the gross, not the paycheck — lease operators keep about 72% of the linehaul, then the truck payment alone takes about $1,000 a week off the top; a good $5,000 gross week leaves about $2,000 before the driver pays himself a dime, and Marcus out of Springfield netted about company-driver money after three years of risk 🛣️ Reason 2: The slowest truck on the highway — Prime governs its trucks down to around 65 miles an hour, which costs about 50 miles a day over an eleven-hour driving day, while the fourteen-hour clock burns at the same speed no matter what 😴 Reason 3: The reefer life eats your sleep — 2 a.m. grocery warehouse appointments, hours waiting for a door, lumper fees of $200–300, and a rhythm of drive all day, arrive at midnight, wait till four, sleep in pieces; one Salt Lake City driver quit with money still on the table because he was earning like a king and living like a raccoon 🏠 Reason 4: Months from home before you start — weeks of instruction, then about 50,000 team miles living in a truck with a stranger, before the lease and the big money even begin; a father of three in Missouri watched his youngest start school on a phone screen Plus: what smart drivers are doing instead in 2026 — honest per-mile company jobs with no payment book, buying their own truck the old-fashioned way and leasing onto small carriers who answer the phone, regional dry van or local reefer home weekly or nightly, and a few running Prime as company drivers with eyes open, using the training as a stepping stone. Chapters: 00:00 The Six-Figure Jobs Drivers Walk Past 00:50 Reason 1: Six Figures Is the Gross, Not the Paycheck 02:20 Reason 2: The Slowest Truck on the Highway 04:00 Reason 3: The Reefer Life Eats Your Sleep 05:50 Reason 4: Months From Home Before You Start 07:20 What Drivers Are Doing Instead 08:20 The Truth From The Road If you are driving for Prime right now — company or lease — I want your real numbers down below. Gross, net, home time. The comments on this channel are real trucking talk. And if you are thinking about that lease, ask the recruiter one question: show me the settlement statements of the last ten drivers who finished — AND the ten who did not. Then listen to the silence. Next up: we are exposing the oldest trick in trucking — the dead fleet that comes back to life under a brand-new name, same trucks, same owner, same unpaid drivers. Do not miss it. Subscribe for the truth from the road — every day. #trucking #truckdriver #primeinc #owneroperator #cdl #semitruck #truckingnews