Who has completed a lease purchase and fully owns truck with title?

I have come back to trucking after 6yrs off, I also have completed atleast one L/P would like to get some information from you if possible. would like to talk ty walt

 

I sucessfully purchased 1 tractor and 2 different trailers through a company lease purchase plan.
This was 9 years ago. The company changed the program about a year after my initial signing and the new people could never seem to make ends meet.
The comany is no longerin business in the same form.

 

FWIW, I have not done a lease/purchase. I'm going to share my thoughts since I have researched this as a way to get back in. The road is calling my name after many years out of trucking. I have owned a couple of truck over the years. If I can pull the cash together, I will purchase equipment and run my own authority. I'm certain, after spending quite a bit of time on this forum, that there are other possibilities for me if I can't purchase. Even if there were no other options I would avoid a company lease/purchase because playing against a stacked deck is foolish.

I believe it is possible to complete a company lease/purchase if you research and choose wisely. However, I believe the odds are against you and the chance of failure is 10 times more likely that success. To succeed I believe you will have to:

1) Work harder than a company driver,
2) Often work for less than a company driver,
3) Take less home time than a company driver,
4) Insure you don't irritate any personnel that control your destiny,
5) Get your truck worked on where you're told to - often at their facility,
6) Run your truck where you're told and
7) Pay more for your truck.

In short, if you want to own a business complete with all the risk and no control, this is the deal. You can do it as long as you allow them to make you successful the way they want it done.

This makes little sense as most of us who choose to be an owner/operator do it for specific reasons. I want the potential for higher earnings but money is not the biggest motivator. Freedom, lifestyle, pride of ownership and controlling my own destiny are what draws me to it. I know if I do my job right I will make an above average living. I would rather own a business complete with all the risk than work for someone else. So a lease/purchase that I have no control over does not appeal to me.

 

AEL out of Little Rock Arkansas has a great program. My husband and I have a 05 International 9400i we pay 450 awk and we pay .06 amile that go into our Escrow account.The great thing about our escrow is that at the end of our lease if there's anything in it they cut you a check the same day. Also if you happen to be in the hole after you truck is paid off they will continue to do work on your truck and charge it to your escrow. Also you can lease your truck onto Central Hauling which is the owner op side of CalArk which owns AEL and 3D Reefer, Conway, Schneider, USA, US Express and Convinant. We haven't paid off our truck yet, we've been there just a year but I personal know around 15 people who have paid off their trucks and have stayed in it or they have leased another truck. Also another thing is there is no balloon payment at the end. they've included your interest into the total price of the truck.

 

I "participated" in the lease purchase program with two companies in the past, the first being CR England and the second was May Trucking. What I will say about this program in general is that a single person, or someone who can have their significant other with them most the time usually does well with them. However, the best way to do it is finance a truck yourself at way lower payments per month than the traditional L/P plans. My marriage being new at the time when I was with CR England ended that stint. The later one with May trucking....well, it worked fairly good for about a year, until I decided to d/h home after several weeks, on MY fuel dime (I paid it, not them). They "terminated" my lease, and the $18,000 of the $29,000 I paid into getting that truck paid off....was never seen again.

 

Anyone had any dealings with Crete's purchase program. I understand that it is a true purchase, not lease/purchase.

 

Go to the favorite company threads. Look for "Crete, a year in review."
A guy there named jdrentzjr. He is currently leasing. A great guy with really good information. I think he also has a blog, not sure where though.

 

I have completed just over three years on my lease and almost none of these points are true in my experience. The caveat being that most drivers believe these to be true, and many lease-purchase and o/o's operate their business like what you describe.

My counterpoints:

1) I only average about 2,350 miles per week and my work cycle is normally a 3-day weekend at the house followed by 11 days over the road. Sometimes I stay out an extra week so it is 3-day weekend followed by 18 days, but that is infrequent. When I was a company driver I had strict rules about time off I could take, and I normally took a 34 at the house or maybe two days. During my first year as a company driver I was entitled to 52 days at the house but ended up with 26 "banked".

2) After all truck expenses, but before taxes, I net 51 cents per mile to my bank account. It is true I pay more in taxes than a company driver but comparing after tax numbers I'm still far ahead. Best I did as a company driver was about $42k pretax, and I'm averaging over $60k pretax per year for the past three.

3) I take off a lot more home time now than I ever could as a company driver. I wanted Xmas and New Year's off this year so I went in on Dec 20 and came back out Jan 4th. Weather was pretty nasty later in January so I took an extra three days off on top of my weekend for an impromptu 6-day home stretch. No way I could do that as a company driver.

4) This goes without saying in any line of work.

5) I get my truck worked on wherever I want; my maintenance escrow is my money, after all.

6) Actually, I'm pretty sure I turn down more loads than any other driver in my fleet. Turned one down yesterday and another this morning as a matter of fact. Ruffled some feathers, but feathers have a way of getting unruffled. Company drivers can't turn down loads

7) This is true. You're using someone else's money and whenever you do that you will pay Vigorish.

Good luck,

Jim

 

What company are you with and are you doing a lease purchase through the company?

 

I lease my '07 Volvo 780 from Hill Bros out of Omaha, Nebraska.

Good luck,

Jim