KLLM - Atlanta -

I was promised no pressure for lease purchase for a new driver. I have been thinking more about this. With the lease purchase do you have to stay with KLLM? If you are able to go with other carriers to get loads then you might be able to make it (If you know the business.) I am a newbie so I am not sure how the lease purchase works. I just know not to do it. I gave KLLM my word that I would go with them. I haven't signed a contract. From what I am reading KLLM doesn't go by their word.

 

Newbie + lease purchase = recipe for financial disaster...

Don't do it!

 

No, when you lease with KLLM you can pull their freight only with their trailers. Anybody who says otherwise is lying.

It's unbelievable that these companies get away with getting newbies to lease a truck. You don't know how to shift it, you don't know how the things works, you don't know what preventive maintenance needs to be performed and when it needs to happen, you don't know what some of these roads are like, you don't know how to manage trucking income to ensure that you'll have money on the slow days - SO WHY BUY THE TRUCK FRESH OUT OF SCHOOL?!?!

Everything with these mega carriers is geared for one thing - to save or make a quick buck for the company. Do you really think they care whether you go bankrupt and ruin your career? Hell no - they'll just find another dumb newbie fresh out of school to scam. Everything is there for the company to make money, they are not really that concerned about your success. If you really REALLY believe that you want to do this for the rest of your life, work as a company driver and save your money to buy a truck ON YOUR OWN TERMS and can go work for a company that you want to work for, that being yourself or a company of your chosing that specifically hires owner operators.

The lease is there to get the truck note off the company's dime. When you lease the truck, you're agreeing to pay the truck note, pay the insurances on the truck, pay for all of the extra equipment that KLLM decides goes on that truck (qualcomm), and YOU PAY FOR THE FUEL. When you read these ads saying that you can make $120,000/year - that does NOT include the fuel expense. If you have no idea how to climb mountains with maximum fuel efficiency, you're going to spend a good portion of that $120k on fuel.

OR

You can be a company driver, get paid .32/mile and NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR FUEL, INSURANCES, AND TRUCK NOTES. You can learn how to shift and not have to pay for that clutch that you're going to tear up. You can learn how to slide an air-slide fifth wheel without tearing it up. You can have an engine problem and not have to worry about paying for it like you would a lease. You can learn to go over the mountains without burning through $100 of your income.

Your choice. The lease is a S-C-A-M and it should be downright illegal for drivers with less than a year experience to do it IMO. If the lease is such a great program, why do I not see more former KLLM trucks out on the roads? Why aren't there more copper Freightliners that have KLLM stickers removed working for companies like Landstar? The answer is simple - it's not a successful program and only the drivers who are wise enough to save back money for the lean days will finish the lease. It's a known fact that these companies will run you for the first 85% of the lease term, but those last 15% their goal is to get that truck back so they can sell it and make the profit without letting the driver walk away with that truck and go to another company to work for. If you don't believe me, go look on the Jackson yard and see how many of those trucks are trucks turned in by lease drivers because they couldn't afford it anymore.

 

Thanks Zantrix. This is one of my pre-hires and they seem better than the others I have received. I have read some of your post. There very informative. Sometimes on these websites you get people that are down on these companies because of prior employment problems with companies. Do you think that maybe they will leave me alone for possibly a year before they start the Lease/Purchase pressure? Being a newbie I have very limited choices. If I could get 1 year experience I could then go with better reputable companies. Being here in Florida doesn't help either. I appreciate your help and I am taking it in. Another thing. I don't believe there is a shortage of drivers. At least in Florida.

 

The slick talking recruiters/office personnel promise bigger paychecks with the L/P plans.

 

Paying for fuel and running 60mph, you can make money on fuel surcharge.just dnt hammer down that's where u lose money..dnt lease ur 1st year..know the business first than think about

 

They were pretty cool with me about being a company driver through the first six months, then it all fell apart. Would get the old "Well, we have to give this trip to our lease drivers - you know if you were to decide to lease that would be your run to Cali right now...". When I finally got fed up with it I basically sat every weekend for two months. Got a local job and bailed.

All depends man. If you're a good driver and they know they can depend on you to stay out and be on time all the time, they're going to pressure you. Big time. If you slack off on your paperwork, late on loads, etc., they won't bother with you because chances are you'll get fired anyway.