Going Green

You might not think of trucking as a place where green practices are top of mind, but Prime has long been on a mission to reduce the impact it makes on our planet.

For instance, it recycles the water used at its on-site wash bays, and that’s a whole lot of water. On average, it takes 100 gallons of water to wash a single truck, so in places where water is becoming harder to find like Salt Lake City, every gallon saved and recycled makes a difference.

Another way Prime is cutting its energy consumption is by installing solar panels. At the Salt Lake terminal, Prime built two onsite solar fields that house hundreds of solar panels. The project started in 2017 when Prime installed 296 panels. It added even more solar panels in 2020 after it saw how much energy was being produced.

Speaking of solar panels, Prime is currently testing out adding solar panels to its refrigerated units. The idea is to use the solar panels to keep the truck’s batteries charged. The panels can’t produce enough energy to run the reefer units, but they do create enough energy to slowly charge the truck’s battery. That’s good news considering a truck’s battery can accidentally run dry if a driver keeps the battery running all night. So far, Prime has outfitted 150 trucks with the solar panels and is keeping an eye on how the test program performs.

One green program that doesn’t need any more testing is Prime’s Ecotire, which got its start in 2014. After Robert put environmentally conscious initiatives at the top of Prime’s priorities, the team came up with the idea for Ecotire. Basically, when a truck’s tires get worn down, instead of being tossed in the dump, they can now be retreaded in house and put back on the road.

Prime estimates that 35,000—40,000 tires are repurposed and placed back on the road each year thanks to Ecotire. Amazingly, it only takes 1 hour to retread a tire.

By The Numbers

20+

Prime is hiring around 20 people to work at its Salt Lake City shop. That includes truck and trailer technicians, mechanics and paint technicians.

400

That’s how many tractors come through the Pittston terminal each week for maintenance.

750

Some 750 technicians work at Prime as of May 2023, and Prime added 179 new technicians to the team since January 2022.

28% Prime’s Springfield shops have seen a 28% spike in the number of trucks that come through each week from 2022 to 2023.

67

That’s how many new associates Prime added to its shops in Salt Lake City within the last year.