Best company for lease purchase

Most of the lease ops I have talked to over the years got into it for the following reasons;

1st. They wanted to have more say over where they go and when they go.
2nd. They believe they will be able to pay off the truck and "then" will pocket more money than a company driver.
3rd. They wanted to have more control over their tax liability (Most lease ops I know do not pay taxes or pay very little and claim poverty when they file their taxes).
4th. Many carriers have restrictions on the speed of company trucks, pets onboard, inverters, idling, etc. As a lease operator you may have more say in how you drive that truck as well as what you have onboard.
5th. In the case of a divorced driver they may be able to lower their child support and alimony payments based on their "net earnings" after business expenses.

I am sure there are other reasons to go this route but I think you get the idea.

 

i am interested in being a lease op---but too look at the figures scares the crap out of me at times
its much less than a company driver--for me anyways---
but the more say--and inverter issues do make up for a lot
but a lot of leases look like a never never plan

 

What trips up most of the guys I know is the set (self employment tax).

If you have a working spouse with medical benefits you could save a boatload of cash on that alone.

Other savings come into play when you can add things to your truck like an ops1 (oil refining/filtering system). Coupled with regular oil sampling it could save the owner a serious amount of cash and detect internal engine problems very early on.

The other key to success is efficiency. You must get the best fuel economy out of that truck you can while still meeting customer deadlines.

Most carriers will have plates, permits, liability insurance already included in the lease deal.

Discounts for fuel, tires, and in some cases even maintenance "could" reduce your expenses further.

The best lease ops usually have some mechanical knowledge and are not afraid to get dirty. They know that truck is their livelihood and do what it takes to keep it up and rolling.

 

i am at the toss up of buying older truck or a lease-----and still cant decide
my wife has pretty good benifits and i was mehanic for about 25 yrs--so a lot i could do myself--no shop or special tools but still a lot to do
each one has so many pros and cons
for my own truck i am thinking maybe landstar or mercer--and for lease maybe ats
if i have my own tho--i have the benifit of not being tied to one country or the other--i think i should be free with no interstate/cabbotage to worry about

 

Make sure you do the due diligence... and if you buy a truck, you'd better have a serious plan.

 

i have pretty much everything down to how much i need permile/per day--now just have to do it i guess---thinking april would be good time to start maybe--after the seasonal slowdown and winter--not as much stuff to worry about right off of the bat

 

Hey Canuck, you are probably about ripe as far as experience in the industry. The only downfall so far that I can see is that you are married. Home time will pretty much be null and void if you start leasing. My wife and I drove team owner operator and it was tough. I cannot possibly fathom doing it by myself! I really feel for the single owner operators. They are so hardcore! I posted some lease stuff under "motor carriers"- "running with watkins shepard" might be of use to you. One thing (well a lot of things) to think of is freight is really picking up now and will run hard until Xmas. However, come the day after Xmas freight comes to a halt until sometime in February. This is the best and also toughest time of year for owner ops! Feast and famine! If you are going to do it jump in now or wait till spring. I hate to disappoint you but the same rules as far as inverters apply to lease trucks. Technically its not your truck and you have to treat it like a company truck. As far as new or used truck, I would aim for slightly used. Maybe something with around 500,000 on it. This will keep your payment low and yet the truck will not have been ragged to bad yet. Also as a single driver you have time during your day for maintenance. You say you have some mechanical background and that's perfect. Personally I believe you have no business buying a truck if you don't! Maintenance would eat you alive! Some other companies I would look into would be MCT, Fedex and also check out the OOIDA website. It is a very informative site for owner ops. Good luck!

 

Taxes are a strawman arguement ... You pay taxes on any net income from any job. The only difference is the additional 7.5% you have to make up for that an employer pays for FICA ... $70 on $924 ... not a back breaker and it does reduce your state and federal taxable income ... so the net isn't even the $70.

Same with benifits ... they are paid with pretax dollars, for now anyway. Between that and the HOS allowance, very little of that $924 is actually taxable.

The problem is lot of the people who lease have never had to do thier own tax planning. They are used to getting an income tax return check, thinking its free money, not realizing they just gave the government an intrest free loan for the year ... when self employed they don't hold out the cash and come April 15th that extra $70 plus the $70 that the employer always held out now comes due at the tune of $7300 for 52 weeks, plus they owe for thier income.

 

NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Runaway l/p is a scam