Teach me about 1099 and lease purchase

I have to agree with @xsetra an LLC will not protect your assets. Any good lawyer will pierce that corporate veil very quickly and you the driver will be sued knowing you are the owner. It does not mater what the LLC says, you are the driver. A very good umbrella insurance policy will offer better protection.

There is only one reason why a one truck O/O should incorporate, and that's if it makes financial sense. I suggest keep it simple for a year or two and run as a sole proprietor. Get a financial track record together then go talk to your CPA and see if it makes financial sense.

Thinking that an LLC gives a one truck O/O asset protection is a false sense of security. You the driver (any driver) cannot do harm to another and think your assets are protected.

 

When I first started as an owner operator "those in the know" also convinced me that if I was driving the rig, that a LLC would offer me no asset protection what so ever. They also told me they would be more than happy to set up a LLC up and charge me for it. His suggestion was to run for a year or two, then revisit the subject and see if it would make financial sense.

I think I started with a very honest, very good CPA. We had many deep conversations about taxes, the IRS and lawyers. At the end I could almost call him a friend, but he was all business

 

How many of the 6 required tests have you passed so far, and in what time period?

I do believe that there are companies that will hire you as a company driver, which will save you a whole lot of heartache and headache vs doing a 1099 lease-purchase deal. @Chinatown is very knowledgeable about SAP and second-chance companies, and you may be able to find something locally like driving a dump truck, hauling refuse, or agricultural work to help you get the wheels back under you and move you toward a better opportunity.

Good luck man, and as a wise old man once told me: "keep your head up, your mind open, your mouth shut, and don't even think about quittin'. You'll be fine."

 

I'm sure there are tax advantages also, but I can't really compare the difference as I've always run LLC, and I do let an accountant handle my corporate taxes since that's a little too complex for me to figure out on my own.

Paying myself dividends, and not actually on a proper 'payroll' just seems like a simple way to pay myself. The only downside (or upside depending on who you ask), is that I'm not contributing anything to my Canadian Pension Plan by doing it this way. I may regret this later in life, but that's assuming I'll even make it to retirement!

 

Murphy's Law...
The best laid plans of mice and men...
Fate is a fickle... something.

 

@brian991219 since you know this stuff better than me, can a company, even leased on, legally allow him to drive at this step? What does he need to do at this point to get on with a company that's not a sketcy lease purchase scam?

 

I'll throw in my $0.02, but it may not even be worth that! Things may have changed.

20 years ago I got nicked on a drug test. While I'm Canadian, the same rules applied to me since I trucked into the States at that time. Weed. I had never been much of a toker, but went to a buddies birthday party and after a few drinks what gets passed around. You guessed it. And after a few beers, what are the odds I thought? The odds were very good that two days later it was random pee-pee test time!

So long story short, I speak to addictions counselor. It's clear I'm not a cracked out meth head. Just had a couple tokes during off duty long weekend at home. He was good. We were laughing and joking around. It was obvious I never mixed business with pleasure. So one more pee-pee test and I was trucking again in the States.

So this would've brought me to level 5 if I'm not mistaken? I was trucking again in the US. Now I don't believe there was any level 6 to achieve, since the counselor didn't actually recommend any follow up actions. Maybe that automatically brought me up to level 6, if the counselor doesn't recommend that any follow up actions are necessary? I guess that's the part I was unsure about.

 

Stop talking to the LP company. All you need from them is the paperwork/contracts. Follow the advice given so far- have a contract attorney look it over and also consult with an accountant about how to set up your finances.

Also, you don't have only "8 days" for anything. If the LP company is putting that pressure on you, ignore them.

Seems like this company is being predatory towards you because they see you as desperate- as another driver mentioned.

Your SAP troubles are the same whether as a LP or company driver. No one will do you any favors in this industry. Keep looking for a W2 position...

 

Owner op, these days? You're funeral, pal, but hey, like marriage, I didn't listen, why should you. My O/O experience was the classic "best of times/worst of times" deal. Best, in that, after 20 years, I FINALLY was on my own. Lot of perks there, worst in that, ruined EVERYTHING for me. Home, marriage, family, sanity, yep,,took it all. Quarterly taxes will kill you. The gubment doesn't care that you need steer tires that 1/4. I missed the part about the drug test, that, my friend, will dog you 'till the end of days, regardless of what they tell you. My advice, ash can the whole magila, and become a manager at Walmart, or whatever. There are so many opportunities today. My little hometown paper, continually has 3 pages of employment, many not needing a drug test. I don't advocate what happened, but in our society today, one hash( pun intended) mark is all you get, and I say, move on to something else. I mean no disrespect, but I've found, once a burnout, always a burnout, and I wouldn't be ashamed of that. You're probably a good person, good worker, places, like Walmart, are finding out, "once in a whilers" are really good employees. Best of luck. Keep us posted, eh?