What new drivers should know.

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by 2insane, Mar 25, 2010.

  1. 2insane

    2insane Bobtail Member

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    Well I am an experienced driver that has been in the Trucking Industry for many years and I would like to explain a few pros and cons about you looking for a trucking job. I will monitor this thread and answer your questions as you post them.

    LEASE PURCHASE
    Ok you have read about the Lease Purchase Programs offered by dozens of major carriers. I will explain this in detail so you fully understand what you are getting into.

    When you lease a truck from a major carrier you are basically just renting the truck with an option at the end of the 3 to 4 years to buy it. You can pay from $1 to over $40,000 at the end of your term. When you enter this program you will be paying extremely high lease costs and you are charged for everything on that truck that breaks, fails or otherwise stops working. You are told they pay for base plates, permits etc. That is 100% false its just a myth. Its all worked into your amounts paid, so don't think they are giving you anything at all. You might not need the normal down payments, good credit, etc to get into a lease truck. But this should only be a temporary thing you do. DO NOT SIGN A MULTI-YEAR LEASE unless you have leased or working in the industry for a min of 1 year. Start off with a short term lease, this way if you dont make it, you will not get a huge bill on the return, yes you will get a bill. Most Lease Purchases are basically a piece of paper given to you saying you lease the truck, but it is not a true lease, lets get that straight first. They make you buy their insurance, they have full control of you and you need permission for a simple tire change.

    The lease program is designed by greedy trucking companies that put all the pressure on you and throw all the costs at you, saving them thousands of dollars in payments and costs.

    Now you have read you can make 100,000 to 200,000 a year as a lease operator, well that is both a true and false statement, you can GROSS that amount but remember you pay for fuel, lease, insurance and a ton of other fees. The average lease driver makes around 18,000.00 a year Net. Around 350.00 a week paycheck. As you can make more money, it is both not easy and not done just by being there. You need to beg for more. Now you say that's all, well yes. You thought you would be a millionaire?? The lease program is designed to use you as a driver to deliver their freight and they make wheel barrel full of money as you make crumbs. Its business deal with it. Now if you have not been a owner operator before, or you have not been in the industry OTR for at least a year, stay far away from this program, as the Lease Programs have a 80% Failure Ratio. Go with a company as a company driver and test the waters for a year or so, this way you will not have to worry about getting a paycheck with a (-) in front of the amount as lease drivers.

    I currently am a Lease Driver with a major carrier and have struggled and begged, screamed and yelled at my DM, Supervisors and Planners, but it seems that with fuel skyrocketing my weekly settlements are getting less and less, so I am about finished and moving on soon. This program was my biggest mistake in my life, but I tried and tried to make it work , just to get a snag this week, blowout the next, delay that week.

    I would have made 3 times my pay as a company driver. In last 3 months of 2009 I Grossed 50,000. After calculating my settlements for take home I made 6,500.00. That was for around 50000 miles which is hmmm .13 per mile. They pay Company Drivers .30. So just because they say .80 , .90, 1.00 per mile, thats GROSS. If you average out the fees from all companies you are more like around .28 per mile. With easy miles and low fuel consump. meaning no wind, no hills, no mountains, no traffic. Each other factor costs you.

    Go with Company Driver first. Do not let them steer you to Lease you will regret it, I promise you that.
     
    Baack, bigcove, MattyC and 4 others Thank this.
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  3. jtrnr1951

    jtrnr1951 Road Train Member

    Very few of them have the option to be purchased.............

    Hope the rest of your info is a bit more accurate !!!!!!!!!!
     
  4. 2insane

    2insane Bobtail Member

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    Oct 11, 2009
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    95% have the purchase option if you complete the full term of the lease the normal is 3 or 4 years. After that time you have a purchase option in which you are sold the truck at the then Market Value. Most Fleet trucks after 3 or 4 years average around 32,000. A Lease Purchase is just that. JB Hunt, TransAm, Crete, Prime, JCT, US Express is just a few of them that have the end of lease purchase option.
     
  5. BullGoose

    BullGoose Light Load Member

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    New Effington, SD
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    You drove around 50,000 miles in the last quarter of '09? That's 4000+ a week! That's 200,000 a year! In a lousy economy! I have been driving a little while as well and it's been a good long while since I was able to average over 4000 miles weekly for a full quarter. Especially if that quarter included Thanksgiving and Christmas, two of the most difficult holidays to schedule loads around.

    With those miles. whatever company you are leased to should have your picture plastered on the back of their trailers declaring "2insane is farting through silk!".

    I agree that lease purchases are risky business. I agree that new to the business drivers have slim chances at being successful owning/leasing their own. I will even agree that big companies are evil hounds of hades. However, I have a hard time buying the idea that at $50,000 per quarter a guy can't stay afloat.
     
  6. Gonzo_

    Gonzo_ Medium Load Member

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    Oct 30, 2008
    Clayton, NC
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    You keep telling these nit wits that those lease purchases are "fleese purchases" and nobody belives you.... There still signing up for them one after the other.. What's wrong? I give up? I don't bother wasting my breath any more... There are thousands of posts here and on the internet saying DON'T DO IT... Yet they don't listen... SO I let them find out foe themselves...

    I'm having a hard time tring to stop a friends cousin from doing it... he's with Steven's Trans. It's NOT even a lease purchase... just a LEASE!!! You NEVER own it!! He somehow thinks he'll make more $$... After 6 months I "think" I've talked him out of it?? But dam, the company calls him like 2-4 times a week trying to get him to sign... They high pressure sale and push this on NEW trainees! (he has NO experiance.. just went through their CDL school).... Scary HUH???
     
  7. Infosaur

    Infosaur Road Train Member

    Look it's really simple, we had the same scam in NYC with Limo's.

    Driver's got a 40/60 split of the book (it's kinda like a logbook, except it's all the money you take in on a shift). After about 3 months SOMBODY (dispatcher, company mechanic, another driver,) would tell you that you can make another 10% of book by getting into a lease.

    And of course that would be the last time you could ever get a repair to your unit done in the company shop.

    Sure if you stuck it out you'd own,,, what exactly? A 10 year old Lincoln Town Car that's knows every pothole in NYC on a 1st name basis, has about a half mil miles on the clock, fires on 7 cylinders and has at least one major body part attached with duct tape and would set you back about $4-7 grand if you'd just bought the thing from a seedy corner dealer in the first place.

    At least some of the comapnies I worked for let me stay a year or so before insisting I "buy" one of their cars. I moved on.
     
  8. 2insane

    2insane Bobtail Member

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    Oct 11, 2009
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    These companies praise their programs but they make 10x what you do to drive their trucks and pretend your an owner-operator just for them to put the liability on you and save hundreds of thousands on taxes.

    Some people are desperate to sign with the anticipation to be rich, haha.

    80% find out later that they are bankrupt with no money, own thousands of dollars in taxes and have a DAC report thats negative, costing them chances of working for a real company. People dont listen to others, thinking they are all wrong. Later, to find out we were are right. Kinda like how the government is gonna save money on this new health care takeover.

    People dont be desperate to work. Lease programs are not the answer as a new driver or even a seasoned driver. Stay away, go company driver or buy your own truck. This program has a 200% failure ratio.
     
  9. truckerdave1970

    truckerdave1970 On Probation

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    Dec 15, 2008
    Rochester, NY
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    Let me sum up what every new driver should have been told BEFORE they became CDL HOLDERS:
    RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN! DONT LOOK BACK!
    MOVE ALONG, THERE IS NO MONEY TO BE MADE IN TRUCKING BY THE LITTLE GUYS! YOU WILL LOSE YOUR MONEY, YOUR FREEDOM,YOUR FAMILY, YOUR HEALTH, AND YOUR MIND!
    TRUCKING IS NO LONGER THE RESPECTED JOB OF PROFESSIONALS (IF IT EVER WAS) IT IS NOW THE CHOICE FOR THOSE TOO STUPID TO HAVE GOTTEN A REAL JOB OR DESPERATE AFTER LOSING THEIR REAL JOB!
    THINK ABOUT IT. HOW MANY KIDS ARE SAYING TO THEMSELVES "I WANNA BE A TRUCK DRIVER!"??? NONE!!!
     
  10. JustSonny

    JustSonny Big Dummy

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    Troutman NC
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    Now, now Dave! Drop your BP.....go pet the puppy!:biggrin_25523:
     
  11. Jamester

    Jamester Bobtail Member

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    Mar 27, 2010
    carthage, TX
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    Is that all the info you are going to put.:biggrin_2556:
     
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