Best company for lease purchase

FOR A BRAND NEW DRIVER, one with no experience, I would very strongly suggest forgetting the L/O route and get a job as a company driver for a minimum of 1 year and preferably 2. I say this because there's so much to trucking, the trucking life, the job, the lifestyle, that they don't teach you at school and you can't even get a good handle on it from these boards. You have to experience it all first hand to really understand.

Go out there and do the job for a good year or two and talk to other drivers face to face. THEN if you want to start looking into L/O you'll at least have the knowledge of what the job is all about.

Save yourself a ton of grieff and work as a company driver first.

 

I am curious as to why anyone with driving experience would lease a truck from a carrier. You will most likely make about the same or perhaps less than you would as a company driver. It just doesn't make sense to me. If you want to be an owner operator why not just buy a truck that you will actually own and pay about 1/4 the payment each month? At least you would have an opportunity to make more money than if you stay a company driver or lease operator. If I am going to obligate myself for a payment I expect a return on my investment.

 

How about because most new owner-operators are about one major truck repair from living under a bridge?

 

I'm thinking that *most* lease-ops (certainly not all) may not be able to get their hands on a purchased truck. In the past four years, credit has gone into the toilet but a lot of people still want to become an O/O eventually. While someone may not be able to get financed on a used truck, just about anyone can get into a Lease/Purchase plan. There are a lot of them out there with $1 payoffs.

BTW, I've read a lot of posts about how people think that JCT drivers never reach the end of the lease and pay off the truck with $1. I just got done reading some of the old newsletters on the JCT website. Seems to me, with a lot of drivers there 5 years or more, several well over 10 years (this is just in the newsletter, obviously not reflecting ALL of their tenured drivers), you would think that most of these folks there that long have paid off one or more trucks. There was an article in one of the months (July 2010 I think) showcasing two drivers who went and paid off their truck with the $1 bill. Now they are O/O's.

Were I to lease, and I don't know that I ever would, I don't know if I would have the guts to lease anywhere except JCT. It's pretty obvious that they have the miles. Get that first truck paid off, trade it in for another truck at JCT or a dealer, lease back on to JCT.

 

If a driver can work for a year or two and put money back out of every paycheck he could pay cash for his truck and not have to worry about financing or leasing a truck. If a driver only puts back $200/week, he could purchase a truck in 1-2 years and not have any payments. He could then put more money away out of each check and in another year or two trade up to something a little newer. Some of these older trucks are in better shape than some newer trucks. There are those who think that unless you pay a lot for a piece of equipment you are not getting value. That is simply not the case.

Most people are not willing to sacrifice and do what is necessary to be successful in life. Everyone has ups and downs. Most people want what they want NOW!! By waiting and doing some planning they could achieve their desires without all the stress of leasing a truck. These lease trucks are usually way over priced. You can expect to pay at least 1/3 or more for the lease truck over what you could purchase one outright or through traditional credit sources. I would bet that some will pay double the retail price for the privilege of getting into a truck.

I saved my money and paid cash for my first truck and trailer. It can be done. I know others who have done the same thing. The problem with some people is that they want the new or newer truck and don't want to save or spend time learning this business before jumping into ownership. When you get into a lease with a carrier your entire future is tied to that entity. If they decide to close the doors or cancel their lease program you are out of luck. There is no way to recover money that you put into a lease. Payments are NOT building equity.

Perhaps rather than telling the truth about these programs I should start buying trucks and leasing them to drivers. I would probably make more by leasing trucks than owning them and hauling freight.

 

I agree with you about saving the money. I also agree with you that most people are not willing to work and save to get the things they want. And to tell the truth, the day I drive a brand new truck off of a dealers lot will be the day that he!! has frozen over completely.

I think though, that it might be different depending on each drivers' circumstances. I will admit you are going to pay a lot more for a used truck/lease purchase than you would saving cash and buying one outright with two to three years savings. No doubt about that. Matter of fact, for giggles, I go to truckpaper every now and again and pretend I have a sum of cash. Pick out a truck and play with the numbers. It's fun!

Here is the thing, knowing that some people DO manage to pay off their lease purchase (probably more at some companies rather than others), they now have at least a little bit of property that they can use for a trade-in, or an outright sale to use as cash for another truck. Same amount as if they had saved as a company driver? Probably not. But then again, I'm willing to bet that a *smart* JCT driver running his behind off is taking home WAY more than company driver pay. If you check out the JCT thread, you'll see what I mean. I've pm'd a few of the JCT drivers over the past couple years and they have confirmed their average with me, which definitely seem to be at LEAST 40% more net-before-taxes per week AFTER expenses than the average company driver is getting. BigKid is another one who is definitely earning more than a co driver with a lease. His lease has NO $1 buyout either, but it suits him fine. He's earning a very nice paycheck.

That all said, there are exceptions. EverrTrucker (Crete thread) is a company driver and earns a LOT of money with no expenses, but then, I'm guessing not many company drivers are willing to work as hard as he is, nor is every company going to give a driver the opportunity to run like that.

I don't know, I see benefits in it for those who want it, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart, or those who don't have the stomach to stay on top of EVERY penny spent, run smart, keep on top of maintenance, etc. I personally would have to be able to earn a LOT of money in a lease before I'd even consider one. There are only a few companies who, based on my reading over the past few years, even offer that much potential.

 

I do not have the knowledge, or background to tell anyone whether they should or should not lease a truck. I am not going to tell you that a company lease program is good, or bad. But come on...........you can't want to be taken seriously making comments like the above. If you put $200.00 aside each week and work 50 weeks a year, in two years you will have $20,000. That $20,000 will need to cover taxes, tags, insurance, fuel, ect. The only thing that you could possibly put on the road with $20,000 would be a small box truck, or a tractor that is soooo old that no reasonable company would consider consigning freight to you.
http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=2398221&dlr=1

 

Sorry about my original response. I read it as that is what you made WITH fsc.

 

There are plenty of good trucks around for under $20,000. I bought several under that amount. I have never failed a DOT inspection with any of them. I still own two of them. In fact, I am driving one of them right now. You may need to look a little harder, but they are around. Even if you spend $25,000, it would take about 2 1/2 years if you can save $200/week. In my state we don't pay sales tax if we have a MC number or can use someone else's number. My state has one of the highest sales taxes in the country. Adding taxes on a $20,000 truck would be less than $2,000. If you pay cash you don't need to have collision insurance. If you do decide to insure your truck the cost runs from 2 1/2-4 1/2% of the stated value of the equipment. When you lease to a carrier all they require is bobtail or unladen liability which can cost as little as $30/month. Many carriers offer base plates that you can purchase through them with a weekly deduction from your settlement.

I only addressed the cost of buying a truck. There are other expenses in the purchase, but whether you lease a truck from your carrier or buy one out right you should have money put aside to pay for major expenses.

Some people make the mistake that they cannot buy a decent truck unless it is new or near new. If you are patient there are plenty of affordable trucks on the market. I saw an older truck at a KW dealer a couple of years ago and they were asking about $10,000 for it. The truck appeared to be in good shape.

I suppose you can rationalize about anything. It is easy to rationalize buying a new or near new truck. Some points are valid, but by discounting the positives about buying an older truck that is in good shape for under $20,000 just doesn't make good sense. Not all trucks are listed in The Truckpaper. I found a Freightliner Classic a year or so ago that the owner wanted to sell for $5,000. It seemed to be in good shape except for the transmission. Worst case, the transmission would need to be replaced. At most I would have had less than $10,000 in the truck had I decided to purchase it. And I don't drive junk. My trucks are well maintained and look good. I just happen to not spend top dollar to purchase them. It is easier to find a deal when you get away from the hoods. All trucks are basically the same. The main difference is the skin.

You can choose to believe me or not. It really doesn't matter. I can only tell you that this is something that I have done and others can do the same. Or, you can go out and pay $40-60,000 for a used truck that won't make any more money than my $20,000 truck. Most people are surprised if I tell them how little I paid for my trucks.

One other thing. I have NEVER had a company tell me that they would not allow me to haul a load because my trucks were too old. I have an excellent safety rating and a good MVR. In fact, I don't recall it ever coming up. Buying a truck for a good price doesn't necessarily mean that the truck is too old. I could take my trucks and lease them to another carrier and not have a problem with most of them. The carriers who have age restrictions don't pay enough to lease to them anyway. Most have low mileage rates. The better paying carriers only care that your truck looks decent and will pass a DOT inspection.

 

My first truck was well under $10,000 and my current was listed for sale around $16,500.