Trans Am Rookie Asked Me Some Questions

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by 315wheelbase, Apr 17, 2015.

  1. 315wheelbase

    315wheelbase Heavy Load Member

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    I am in Kansas City helping a broker I used to haul for find a and buy a couple tractors for his new FedEx account,
    While I was going over a Peterbilt tractor I found for him a rookies driver attending Trans AMs orientation stopped to ask me questions about Trans AMs lease purchase and owning a tractor'
    He told me Trans AM offered him a new KW680 with a Paccar engine and auto shift trans.
    He told me that Trams AM was charging $175/week for insurance and $2400/mo for pmts for 60 months,,
    He also told me that Trans AM pays O/Os 84ctns/mile plus a fuel surcharge.
    I gave him my best advice just be a company driver forget the lease purchase and at 84cnts/mile plus the fuel surcharge this week 21cnts/mile it was a rip off.
     
    joesmoothdog Thanks this.
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  3. joesmoothdog

    joesmoothdog Heavy Load Member

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    My buddy bailed on TA about 9 months ago. He still hasn't found his ####.
     
    runningman0661 Thanks this.
  4. Brandonpdx

    Brandonpdx Road Train Member

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    Thats awful. Last flease I looked at just for fun was Cowan systems out of Baltimore. It was about $750/week all in for 48 months on a new Pete 579 or something like that with an APU. Then a ~$50k balance you could finance or write a check for.

    No way would I ever sign up for anything like that. They lure the idiots in with the shiny new rig and hardly any of them fulfill the contract.
     
  5. paul_4lp

    paul_4lp Road Train Member

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    ? .84 CENTS A MILE.......HA HA HA HA HA HA (but seriously.....Sad!)
     
  6. G.Anthony

    G.Anthony Road Train Member

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    I get either emails or snail mails from nearly every truckload carrier, asking me to get on board. They hawk their lease deals. I laugh as much as when I watch a 3 Stooges rerun.

    The only (to me) true lease/purchase plan, is the one in which you walk into the finance company, with your credit report, business plan, signed letter of intent to haul, and back up money for the first 6 months to a year.

    Only then do I feel one has a true purchase plan.
     
    Lonesome and Oaker Thank this.
  7. Jimmbuds

    Jimmbuds Medium Load Member

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    Thats is why they are referred to as TransSCAM

    Lord help the guy that buys into that LP deal. How sad, companies like that shouldn't be in business because it shows that they DGAF.
     
  8. Tall Mike

    Tall Mike Road Train Member

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    I'd love to know how much money they make in a year leasing trucks to people who don't know any better ??

    guess that's how they can haul freight so cheap, huh ??
     
  9. 315wheelbase

    315wheelbase Heavy Load Member

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    Cowan in Baltimore used to be called Key Way,,
     
  10. STexan

    STexan Road Train Member

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    Yep .... cheaper to run a contractor (lease op) truck then a company truck, the way they have the contracts written and given real-world employee and maintenance costs. Sad so many get roped into these contacts where you are destined for failure right out of the gate.

    It's a win-win-lose .. win for Trans Am Carriers, win for Trans Am Leasing (or whoever operates the lease side), and lose for the driver contractor
     
    Tall Mike Thanks this.
  11. Brandonpdx

    Brandonpdx Road Train Member

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    if you've been in the game awhile and it's your 2nd or 3rd truck and it's going to be a new/nice one, but you know what you make and are comfortable with the overhead, that's a realistic scenario. For a guy looking to get into ownership for the first time who really has no clue what he's getting himself into, financing anything is a bad idea IMO. If you can't save up $15-20k for a starter struck you're probably not serious enough about this business to make it work long term. (Not that I'd recommend it to anyone as a great way to make a living anyway, but that's another discussion :)
     
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