Ok. Let's say I get on with a good, well paying company and decide I want to stay there and buy my own truck. Is this normal? I just saw what I believed to be a Crete O/O the other day. He had a red Pete 389 with Crete info on the doors. Last time I checked, Crete was only using Freightliners. Right?

I'm liking the idea of doing something like this in the future. I'm 21 years old and just started driving for Werner recently. Within the next year, I'm planning to get myself out of debt (college and truck driving school) and find a better paying long term company to work for. I'm also hoping that I might be able to become an O/O for that company in the future. I have no other bills (no house, no car, etc), so I imagine buying my own truck would be very doable. The main questions I'm wondering is how long would it be before anyone would actually let me buy a 130k dollar truck and what kind of down payment would I be looking at.

By the way, my credit history is perfect. I've never had any problems or missed any payments in the past and my score is constantly going up. Also, I won't buy unless it's new or very close to new. I'd rather buy a new truck and trade it in every couple of years to put towards another new truck. That way I don't have to deal with too much stuff going bad due to wear and tear, and also, I'm a neat freak and will really go out of my way to keep my truck looking clean and new. I want a new truck. It's just the type of person I am.

Any info/advice/opinions are welcome, and thanks in advance for your responses

Yes, it is normal for company drivers to become owner-operators at the same company if they are adding owner-operators. If I recall correctly, I think it was Schanno Transportation that required prospective owner-operators to work a few years for them as company drivers to be sure the driver understood their freight rates and the effort necessary to earn a living there. The driver had to prove himself to Schanno before he could lease to them.

Generally, companies will add owner-operators during an economic upswing if interest rates are high. During a period of low interest rates and tax incentives on new equipment, the companies prefer to purchase their own trucks. The coming upswing will experience a shortage of equipment because of the export of used equipment in recent years. Prospective owner-operators may not be able to get loans due to tightening credit markets.

You past good credit score may not apply when you change jobs. The high failure rate for owner-operators is legendary.

Crete has 389's for company drivers too. But they also have a lease purchase for either those or the Century's.

Make sure you can in fact purchase your own truck and actually be a true O/O and not get sucked into one of those lease purchase deals where they dump as used truck on you then tell you 2 or 3 years later the truck is too old and you need to lease another . If you properly maintain the right truck with the right company you can run it 5 or 6 years or more .

I know a guy that is leased on with my company that bought his W900L new in 1994 and still drives it today. Just saying, proper maintenance and not pretending it's a porsche can make a truck go a long ways

I plan to buy my own. I'll never lease a vehicle. Truck or Car.

Thank you all for your input.

Probably had a couple rebuilds already, just because you dont abuse it dont mean it will last forever.

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LOAD EM LIKE RAIL CARS, DRIVE EM LIKE RACE CARS!!!!

Open up that CB radio, most likely you'll hear more wisdom than trash.
Many O/Os and old time drivers have said repeatedly do NOT buy trucks from the company you work for and do NOT buy a new truck if you are a new driver.
Reasons being - the company will lease the truck to you with their own interest tacked on, the payments automatically deducted wether you like it or not AND they are much higher when the truck is new. It's a way to bypass bad credit problems BUT prepare for the consequences, what if you get fired or quit or have a wreck ?

Doing a lease/purchase from the same company that you contract to for freight is probably the single-worst decision you can make in this industry (besides deciding to get into it in the first place ). Buying a new truck as a new O/O is probably a close second. Yes, I know there are (and will always be) exceptions ... but not that many. Do you feel lucky?

Having said that, if you are buying/leasing your own truck independantly of your freight company (or truly going on your own), you'll probably need 20-25% down. YMMV.