Want to avoid getting burned by a lease-purchase agreement?

Discussion in 'Lease Purchase Trucking Forum' started by rookietrucker, Dec 13, 2009.

  1. MysticHZ

    MysticHZ Road Train Member

    5,811
    5,551
    May 28, 2010
    0
    It's the so forth ... depending how you drive. Brakes, shocks, seals, and tires. Definitely tires.

    Blow a steer in the middle of nowhere and you can easily spend close to a grand to get it replaced.

    You're going to to replace the drives at least once. The steers probably twice.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. TruckernFl

    TruckernFl Light Load Member

    71
    53
    Jun 26, 2021
    0
    Very true, by the time that happens and I dont blow my money ill be ok
     
  4. TruckernFl

    TruckernFl Light Load Member

    71
    53
    Jun 26, 2021
    0
    And if your not a goofball you will not blow all the money you make, I have a nice chunk saved before even attempting to go over there. Money management is key in life if you want to succeed. That goes no mater where you work or drive for.
     
  5. roundhouse

    roundhouse Road Train Member

    2,859
    6,353
    Jul 11, 2018
    0
    Very true
    When I first started in 1989, and did a lease purchase , (my LP was a two year rent to own with a walk away anytime option) I was used to bringing home $800 a month at the job I’d worked for the last four years.
    So when I started bringing home $5,000 a month , but kept living like I was bringing home $800 a month, but spending even less since I gave up renting a trailer in a trailer park , and lived in the truck.

    I had no problem saving up a ton of cash in no time at all .

    if you can’t budget and manage your money and live on less than you earn,
    If you borrow money for cars and motorcycles etc and run up credit card bills,
    Then earning more isn’t going to change things .

    if you lease or own a truck then you’ve got to know what your costs and expenses are , what your fixed expenses are , and what your variable expenses are.

    how much is your truck insurance and health insurance and short and long term disability insurance and workers comp insurance , every month.

    how much is your payment every month?
    How much are you going to set aside every month for maintainance and repairs ?
    i set aside 10% of my gross income ,after I had paid for the fuel,
    So when I needed new tires or a clutch or a water pump or roadside mechanic , that money was already budgeted and set aside for that purpose and available.

    i also set aside 10% of the gross after fuel for taxes. It makes it less painful to write the irs a check every three months , if that money has already been budgeted and set aside .
    When I wrecked the lease truck with ONE payment left on it , I was able to just find another used truck and pay $14k cash for it and be back on the road.
    One year later when the engine blew , I had money budgeted and set aside to have it rebuilt for $17k

    I should have just scrapped the truck and bought another because the downtime and loss of revenue was more than the repairs, but I got the engine trans and both diffs rebuilt for $17k
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2021
  6. TruckernFl

    TruckernFl Light Load Member

    71
    53
    Jun 26, 2021
    0
    Spot on now that I have been clean for over 6 years money management comes easy. Very sound advice, come hell or high water (Detroit) your ready for it
     
  7. crzyjarmans

    crzyjarmans Road Train Member

    3,293
    2,410
    Jun 9, 2010
    Home
    0
    So many warning about the lease program, and so many still trying them anyways, and 90% come back to say how they got screwed, please just don’t come back and cry how they screwed you! You’ve been warned, at this point these flease deals have been around a long time, so only one to blame is yourself
     
  8. MysticHZ

    MysticHZ Road Train Member

    5,811
    5,551
    May 28, 2010
    0
    I completed 2 leases with Swift ... my observation, those that fail do so because they have little to no understanding of what they're doing.

    Then when they ultimately fail, they have horror story after horror story of how they were screwed over.

    Leasing is not for the ignorant. Unfortunately leasing is easy enough to get into, that it attracts the ignorant.
     
  9. roundhouse

    roundhouse Road Train Member

    2,859
    6,353
    Jul 11, 2018
    0
    I did a lease purchase when I first started .
    I had never driven a truck before.
    And had zero knowledge of trucking .
    They required two years of driving , I had just gotten my CDL and had driven dump trucks pulling backhoes for a few
    Months , but my boss told me when they called that I had done it for two years.



    mine was a ,I think, a 2 year rent to own walk away anytime lease ,
    With a carrier that didn’t have any company trucks , had plenty of their own freight and trailers and was growing rapidly and had just opened a terminal near me.
    They moved their trailers long distance on the railroad and their service area was 250 mile radius of the terminal.
    The pay was a combo of a daily flat fee, milage for all miles loaded or empty , and a few per stop, and detention after three hours.
    I went to their orientation, picked out a truck , signed the lease purchase agreement , and the owner operator lease agreement and started getting paid.

    I was earning $975 a month at my job, and the first month in trucking I brought home $5000 after fuel, truck payment insurance , maintenance fund contributions etc .

    I just kept living like I had before, and was able to save a ton of money.
    When I crashed the truck and totaled it with one payment left, I had no problems paying cash for a used truck a few days later.
    I went to my mechanic that I used to do the stuff on my truck that I didn’t have the tools to do myself , and told him I was looking for a truck , he knew several people who owned trucks that he worked on, that had mentioned selling their truck.
    I was able to find a good used truck that my mechanic was familiar with,
    i was just in the right place at the tight time.
    I’ve seen some of the lease purchase agreements and they just set you up to get screwed.
    If the lease is not a walk away , or you are competing with company trucks , you’re gonna likely get screwed.

    I did ok , but I was able to understand the business end of owning a truck.
    And I was able to do all of the minor repairs myself .
    If you have to pay a mechanic to replace every blown fuse or light bulb or sit for hours waiting on road service to replace a leaking air line or brake can, then you’re going to struggle .
     
  10. crzyjarmans

    crzyjarmans Road Train Member

    3,293
    2,410
    Jun 9, 2010
    Home
    0
    So you own two trucks now right!
     
  11. MysticHZ

    MysticHZ Road Train Member

    5,811
    5,551
    May 28, 2010
    0
    I own one ... traded the first for the second ... took the second plus cash and spec ordered one from the dealer. That truck will be paid off this October.

    I left Swift 6 months after Knight bought them. Knight screwed up the o/o program taking away the ability to work with a broker.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.