Panther Premium Logistics reviews

Panther Premium Logistics has too many drivers and not enough work.  They will lure you in with promises of steady loads and not deliver on those promises.  My final two weeks as a contract driver for them, I was finishing half my loads a day early and the other half were getting completed hours early.  I was basically completing my loads in the quickest amount of time possible with zero breaks other than DOT mandated ones.  Did completing my loads early to get back on the load board as quick as possible help get more loads?  ABSOLUTELY NOT.  If only that was the  entirety of the problem working for this logistics firm. Panther sets you up with a fleet owner when you come in as a contract driver.  I was set up with Prime Logistics.  If you read this and don't heed my warning above, definitely take the following warning into consideration.  If they try to set you up with Prime Logistics, REFUSE.  Ask for a different fleet owner.  This company, or at least the people I dealt with in Prime, is rife with people that do NOT communicate, people that lie to your face, and people that cheat you out of your money. It all began with a clear pay error in which my co-driver was included on a load I completed solo as my co-driver was away on home time.  Once I realized this looking at my statement the day it was emailed to me, I called and texted my fleet owner Chris K. asking for a call or text back.  This was 2 days following another call I made to him about an unrelated issue.  All these attempts to communicate were simply ignored.  So I then reached out to Bryan F. who acts as Prime's driver recruiter and seemed to have acted as the go-to if Chris wasn't around to handle things with his employees.  Bryan informed me he would have Chris contact me the next day about my pay discrepancy and informed me Chris was the person that must handle those issues.  Two days go by and still receive no word from Chris, and now I'm sitting with half a pay check (which also happened to be the most pathetic work week I experienced with Panther dispatch as well where I sat around basically 4 days out of 7 with no loads to show for). At this point, I've had enough and contact my Panther Logistics recruiter requesting a formal  ownership change and explain why.  She asks if she can reach out to Bryan at Prime on my behalf to help with the situation and I agree to this.  Bryan F. calls me a few minutes later apologizing for the situation explaining Chris was out sick and not taking calls.  This was lie number 1 as I found out that my co-driver was able to reach Chris by phone the same day I was trying to reach out to him.  Bryan then stated he could step in and rectify this; a complete 180 turn from his statement to me that Chris had to deal with the pay issue.  He also told me that he thought my fleet owner was someone else which was lie number 3 as both he and I only referred to my fleet owner as Chris K. only 2 days prior in our text messages about the situation.  At this time, I also brought up how Chris was ignoring my request to get a 2020 IFTA sticker sent to one of us so we could get it on the truck.  Bryan informed me that Chris handled the next day mail and sent me a picture of the IFTA sticker and paperwork.  This just goes to show the ignorance of this firm.  If anyone from Prime Logistics happens upon this review, I have a free tip for you.  To mail something as simple as an IFTA sticker, put it in an envelope, put your return address in the upper left corner,  put the intended recipient's address in the center of envelope, and put a single stamp in the upper right corner and add it to your outgoing mail or drop it off at a post office or mail box. To close this rant up, my pay discrepancy was never handled as it was concluded that I could recover my money from my co-driver which is unprofessional at best, and at the time of writing this review, I have yet to recover from my co-driver.  I also wouldn't be surprised if that truck is still driving around with an outdated IFTA sticker, but this is just educated speculation.  Panther Premium doesn't have enough work for it's current driving staff and should NOT be hiring at the moment.  And at all cost, STAY AWAY from the den of liars and incompetents that is Prime Logistics.

It’s a contract position...no pto, 401k and stuff like that as stated above. Granted there are a handful of wonderful and understanding people in dispatch and fleet experience; For the most part, drivers and not treated well by dispatch or fleet experience. The problem is there is no consistency or relationship built between drivers and those sitting behind a desk. There is no understanding or respect for what goes out on the road. No regard for needed rest to be safe. You will get taken advantage of very easily by dispatch. They are not clear on their policies with drivers. Policies favor dispatch and so does upper management. Poor communication between departments.

They are a bunch of crooks and thieves that think they are entitled to the lion share of the loaded mile rate....they want to put the owner operators on a set mileage rate....so if the load pays $3-$5 or more....the company is taking the lions share of the profits which belongs to the owner operator....again they are thieves and crooks....not a good owner operator fleet Teams might be able to make it but solos really cannot.... And FedEx custom critical has also become the same way....thieves and crooks trying to take the lions share of the owner operators profit

Well to start off ive been on the road for a month and have not been home yet. BUT thats because i love being on the road making money. You cant make money sitting at home. Now as far as loads go i have only sat 1 day since ive hit the road and thats because i wanted to be out of service to get my truck serviced and a few things changed. My fleet owner Otis with YWC Express is very helpful when it comes to repairs. The shortest run ive had thus far is 600 miles and panther offered a bonus because of the short miles. I usually wont take a load under 1,000 miles.

Dispatchers are young with no life experience. Some won't let you finish in your "other office" or let you review the load offer. Most get irate if you refuse the load regardless of the reason. "Fleet Experience" team doesn't actually care how you're doing or if you have any concerns and some will make excuses for the negative attitudes of the dispatchers. Some fleet owners will tell you to be more aggressive in getting loads, but the Contractor Relations department won't do anything for you if you call them. Bonuses have gone extinct and sometimes it's a battle to get tolls getting to the load let alone anything else. Some fleet owners (especially mine) do care about their drivers, but do your homework on them. Some are snakes. The high maintenance score I gave was for my fleet owner. He cares about his driver's and his trucks.