who has the best lease program for some one with six mounths otr

As a o/o leased to small co.if you depend on co. To load you,that's not a good thing. I have turned down plenty of loads. If you don't have that option you can go in the hole fast. Also have strong contacts with brokers. It took years to develop but now have a hand full of brokers,they know my price,if co.im leased to cant find load,I can within couple hours.

 

Argh. It's like a broken record. Why is leasing the biggest mistake ever? If things don't work out with the lease, then you walk away and sign on with another company as a company driver, or look for another lease.

There are different considerations when purchasing a truck from a dealer as opposed to from a company. That's all.

Here is a great write-up by user Rawze from his book. I think everyone thinking about a lease should at least glance over the book, as its free, and has some great pointers in it:

I am copying and pasting this here without Rawze's permission and I hope he doesn't sue me or otherwise track me down and beat me up. It's long but its worth a read. Keep in mind these are more of what you call guidelines than an actual code (arrr). My lease has a few things in it that are in here, but I still consider it a good lease:

"Spotting bad lease-purchase deals is not easy, but if you do not learn to
spot them, and you end up in one, you will not be successful. Here is a list of
some of the things you need to avoid the most...

• Any deal where you pay based on the miles driven. These are the worst of
them all, but sadly the most inviting to newbies.
• Any lease where the term, interest rate, truck payment, and/or final asking
price is not set in stone.
• Any lease that does not have a clearly defined payment schedule.
• Any lease that does not have a total asking price for the truck.
• Any company that does not give 100% of collected fuel surcharge back to
its owner-ops, or that does not provide fuel surcharge. This will put you
out of business fast.
• Any company that does not offer a fuel surcharge that is fairly close to the
current average going rates.
• Any lease that has no defined 'cap' on maintenance or other escrow
account withholdings.
• Any lease that does not allow you to pay off the truck early relative to
what you owe.
• Any lease where the interest rate is high compared to the interest rates of
other sellers.
• Any lease where the asking price, before interest, for the truck is higher
than what the truck would sell for in a truck sales magazine.
• Any company that does not allow you to take the lease-purchase
agreement to someone else for a second opinion.
• Any lease that forbids you having upgrades or improvements done to the
truck to improve its fuel economy and/or lower its operating costs. It is ok
for them to have an 'Undo' clause if you fail your lease, but limiting you
from improvements is like saying that you aren't allowed to make a bigger
profit. This defeats the entire reason for owning the truck in the first place.
• Any lease that limits who does PM and/or repair work to your truck,
especially if you are willing to pay for that work yourself out of your own
pocket.
• Any lease that has large penalties for missing a truck payment.
• Any lease that has a lot of long term administration fees.
• Any lease that does not guarantee you a free and clear title to your truck at
its end, especially if you are willing to make your 'Balloon' payment.
• Any lease that forces you to pay for a truck warranty, or that forces you to
have all work done at the company shop. This is typically a scam to keep
taking back the money you have earned from them already.
• Stay well away from companies that try to put students or rookie drivers
into brand new, or fairly new equipment as lease-purchase operators.
These are definitely slave labor companies.
• Run like hell as fast as you can away from companies that push their
lease-operators to trade their truck back in and start over at the end of the
lease. Not only will you end up perpetually leasing, but you will never
have a truck to show for it.
• Stay away from companies that take fuel taxes out of your settlement pay
based on 'Average' or 'fleet wide' rates. If you are going to be dumb
enough to sign on with a company that makes you pay fuel taxes, then be
absolutely sure you only pay fuel tax based on YOUR individual fuel
purchases only. If you get really good fuel mileage, and the rest of the fleet
does not, then you will end up paying taxes on their bad driving habits.
As you can see, the problem is clearly based on 2 basic things. First, trying
to limit how much you are able to make as settlement pay, and second, trying to
control when, where, and how you spend your money so that all your cash flow
ends up rolling back into their hands. The more you let someone else stick their
fingers in your pie, the more sour it will taste. You don't need a babysitter for your
money or your truck, and long term, the only way you will be profitable is to have
the freedom to push your costs down on your own by being able to repair, modify
and tweak on those things that make a difference."

EDIT: Actually, my lease doesn't have anything in here that signals it as a bad lease. Maybe I should reread the book again...

 

If you feel that you absolutely have to lease, wait until the spring of next year. Why? Wouldn't you prefer to spend your first winter in someone else's truck? Imagine the headache of messing up YOUR truck on an icey bridge and having to pay to get it fixed. Get thru the winter. Get a full year of driving in, then look at your options.

 

Milage contracts were a great way to learn lanes etc ...and to set a floor for my revenue goals

That being said a good percentage contract with a reputable carrier and good direct freight lets you know how much u left on the table....i got 2.15 on 1350 loaded miles and 1.56 on 1050 loaded miles going back....now i do have 300 dh miles but on this round trip i,mout fove days home two but i bet those numbers still beat any milaege contract around

 

Would love to know the original posters age if he or she wouldn't mind!

 

Hey this aint the same hang man worked for Parris TRucking is it

 

Negative cowboy wild

 

IMHO having $15K in reserve is not nearly enough. If I were to go out and purchase a used truck I would want to start with $20K in my maintenance account at a minimum and about $20K in my operations account. This would be in addition to the cost of purchasing the truck and all other fees associated with setting up my business.

My brother got back into trucking a couple years ago after a 25 year hiatus, went out and bought a used truck (with a 90 day warranty), then ended up dumping $12K on it within the first 2 months for a menagerie of problems that magically weren't covered by the warranty. After the warranty expired a cracked charge air cooler caused air leaks which damaged the turbo, the exhaust manifold, injectors, etc. etc. for a total bill of an additional $15-16K within the first year. That's approaching $30K without taking into account normal maintenance that your maintenance reserve would cover. Having at least a $20K deposit in the maintenance account would be my starting point and I'd still be nervous.

Having $20K to start with in my operations account would be to take care of fuel, etc. and make sure I am drawing a salary consistently. Remember, as an O/O you should be paying yourself, doing your own taxes, paying insurance, etc.

As noted in a post somewhere above 80% of new businesses of any kind fail. Most fail because of under capitalization at start up, aka they didn't have enough money to survive the first year or two. Most businesses that fail, will fail within the first two years. If you survive past two years then your chances for long term success increase.

No matter whether you purchase a truck outright or do a L/P you should have money to deposit in a maintenance account and in an operations account. The more the merrier (or at least the .... less unhappier?).

 

Check out SNI Choice Program or looking for Post of "Deselfuelonly" who current running this program right now

 

Don't go threw JCT. My husband and I team drive for them and their dispatchers are rude. Make you sit for days at a time. you can make a 6000. Settlement but only get 800 of it. they don't care about their drivers and weather they make any money.