CCJ Innovators profiles carriers and fleets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking’s challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact CCJ Chief Editor Jason Cannon at jasoncannon@randallreilly.com or 800-633-5953.
YouTube can be a handy resource for many things, from learning how to change the engine oil in a 1997 Honda Civic to the basics of karate. For the drivers for Prime, Inc., (CCJ Top 250, No. 14) YouTube has become an invaluable enabler of staying connected with their company and fellow drivers.
Driver meetings aren’t a new concept, especially at Prime, where they have taken place for more than 25 years. Former longtime Director of Safety Don Lacy, who retired in 2014, instituted safety meetings one Saturday per month, but with more than 2,000 drivers at the time, a large in-person turnout couldn't be expected. In order to reach drivers who couldn't attend, Steve Field – who now serves as Prime's director of safety – recorded them on cassette and had copies distributed at truck stops across the country for drivers to pick up.
Over the years, the meetings transitioned to every Friday morning. The cassettes evolved to CDs, and eventually were distributed through the company’s app. Regardless of delivery method, the meetings have been a staple of Prime, Inc.'s culture since day one ... until the world was blindsided by a global pandemic.
“Until March 13, 2020, we had never missed a Friday meeting," Field said. "We’ve had tornado warnings, bad weather, the day after Thanksgiving … and then COVID hit and we worked our way back to weekly face-to-face meetings.”
Rather than allow the meeting to become a COVID casualty, Field and Prime's social media team – spearheaded by Prime's Media and Onboarding Manager Andrea Mueller – sought to figure out a new path, and turned to live videos hosted through Facebook and YouTube.
“We did pretty well on those because we could get questions from our drivers,” he said. “That really just progressed, so when we went back to the full meetings, we said, ‘Let’s keep that going and make it so our drivers that can’t attend can attend through technology – and hear and see the speakers and ask questions in real time.'”
