Leasing at Prime

Naturally question is how much, but I wondered if you would mind continuing with a new thread about your upcoming O/O experience? I, for one, would find your observations interesting.

 

Ironpony,

Thank you for the information, it's definitely helpful.

I want to own a truck because I have always had a passion for business. I've always wanted to own my own business, regardless of how small or big it may be. I used to spend hours every day when I was younger playing whatever realistic business sim games I could find - I love crunching the numbers and trying to turn a loss into a profit. It's something I really enjoy.

I'm willing to take a pay cut to buy my own truck, because I know there's a goal to reach in the end.

When you're saying that a lot of the responsibility is lifted off of your shoulders, what do you mean? If I do a straight lease, am I not responsible for the fuel, maintenance, and repairs? If I am, then a straight lease and a lease purchase are identical, except the latter requires a large down payment, but the former means I am assuming all of the risk associated with owning a truck without actually owning it. If not, then a lease might be worth it to get your feet wet, but I can't see a reason to pay the company $800 a week for a truck I'll never own if I am the one maintaining and repairing it.

It might make more sense if that option was the only way to be a truck driver, but unless I'm going to be taking home $2000+ per week, paying for a truck I'll never own makes no sense when I can buy one from another company at the same cost and end up owning it in a few years.

So, I guess my question now is: Is a straight lease and a lease purchase identical aside from the down payment and ownership at the end, in regards to who pays for the truck's maintenance and repairs? If they are, why straight lease when I could be building equity in ownership for the same price?

I hope my question is worded right... It's so hard to type things as opposed to saying them, sometimes I don't do it right. But what are the main differences between a straight lease and a lease purchase?

 

Captainx from my understanding you have the option to buy the trucks after two yrs.The lease payments are completely tax deductible.

 

Captainx if u step back quite a bit u would see that every company driver is buying a truck that they never will own. Your .34 per mile or what ever u make is a fixed pay day. your truck is making $1.50-$2.00 per mile every time you drive it but u r only getting your fixed pay even when u drive it right. This system protects every company from bad drivers who get bad fuel mileage, tear up tires, and trash their trucks only to walk away after destroying good equipment. But what about us drivers who take great care of the company truck? Did u know that for every .5 mile per gal of fuel u save your company that your company makes a extra $10000-$15000 per year for a solo driver? But u don't see but a small fraction of this money. If you drive right and save your tires u are saving the company money that u will never get a piece of. As a lease or owner op u pay for everything u tear up and pocket all the money u save by operating the right way. Finally look at how long I have been driving and figure out how many company trucks I have paid for. I AM THE PROUD OWNER OF A SMALL FLEET SOMEWHERE OUT THERE!!!!

 

Well, when you put it that way you kind of have a point. The big difference is if I blow a tire on this truck, I'm not financially destroyed if I don't have money saved up yet.

I think my biggest worry is the cost of the truck payment when going with Prime. If I'm only taking home $1,100 per week, that's not enough to pay myself and build any kind of a serious business bank account. I think I need to find somewhere that does used trucks for a lower payment to have any chance at being successful. I really wish Maverick did this for our refrigerated division, a good friend of mine is taking home $1,800 to $2,100 a week (according to his paperwork), but by the same token his fixed expenses are about $600 per week on a 2011 Cascadia, vs. $1200 or more for a new truck. That can make all the difference in the world. I'm glad that Prime's system works out for you, but I don't think it'll work out for me.

I really appreciate all of the info and help. It's people like you on here that help those of us trying something new, and giving us an unbiased look on he actual reality and not the false one that some recruiters would have you believe. I sincerely thank you for everything you do on here, all the effort you put into helping others.

As one of my coworkers always says... "Be safe, stay in the 'right' lane, and above all, enjoy the ride."

 

Wow, kinda crazy that I find this thread just as IP is finishing his lease. Thank you for the treasure trove of valuable opinion. I'm a bit of a numbers nerd, used to do some accounting and such, and it was nice to see the opinions of a lease driver that in real life wouldnt end up with me advising them on how you would figure up the true cost of a load...

I'm not sure if you'll be on this thread anymore -- I cannot express enough admiration and appreciation that you kept with it so consistently over such a period of time! -- but if you would be so kind I'd like your advice.

I've been seriously considering trying the lease side out. As I said, I'm a numbers/excel/engineering minded person (I've done more needless calculations about things like how much money I make Prime relative to my fuel bonus by throttling between 60/55/50 than I care to admit), and the sorts of numbers and calculations you were throwing were music to my ears. I tend to excel in things that require that sort of planning, so I don't doubt that I could be one of the 10%. My main concern comes from this -- my primary motivations are a long-view increase in pay, a more comfortable truck(read as: not lightweight), and I've only been in the business of hauling freight for 10 months. Granted, I'm a sharp girl, and between learning the paperwork from my PSD instructor, and having enough experience with other types of trucks by the time I got to my TNT instructors (instructors with an s because the first didn't seem to know half of the safety guidelines of trucking and left me unable to sleep when i wasnt the one driving) more or less wondered why I was with them to begin with. This thread has already answered my primary concerns, like details about lumper responsibility, dispatch preferences vs. company drivers, freedom to deny loads and early contract termination.

I'm honestly left feeling pretty mixed, because the hard facts make me feel like this would be a great decision, but its hard for my head to get past the fact that I havent quite been OTR for a year yet. There was one post many pages back that approached my concern but didn't quite hit it, where a driver said that there seems to be no reason to need to so carefully watch your expenses because the only thing truly in your hands is your fuel. I used to do accounting, and keeping track of my profit/loss sheets and such won't be an issue, though I'm not sure I would keep track of many variables past the ones needed to keep an up to date fixed-cost estimate and estimates for the cost of loads. (I've been doing this as much as I could, and I am so happy to hear I can ask my FM for the load contract information so I can do a shadow company!) Sure, I could learn more mechanical details about my truck, but it seems like aside from setting up an emergency account, the only thing that really in my hands are my MPGs, and I was pulling top-dawg in my fleet the fourth week I was on my own. I really impressed my psd/tnt's and its all because I know it's all about resistance. But with getting to pick my own tires and such it would be even better! Since crunching my numbers have shown me the diminishing returns of miles/hours vs. company fuel bonus, the MPGs have dropped off, but I'm sure getting them back wouldn't be very hard. (I've been half tempted to talk to Prime about it but it would need a structural change to give me incentive over going faster, and somehow I dont think they're not gonna listen to some 20 something girl with a band-teacher degree who's been company for 9 months!)


anyway ---

too long; didn't read version: I have a good financial head on my shoulders, am not afraid of spreadsheets, and pull great MPGs, but my motivations are primarily having a bigger truck and making a little more money in the long view, and I don't have the in depth knowledge of things like the engine performance specs this thread has occasionally mentioned.


ps; if I do go lease, I'm going to have to get up to snuff on how they program these cell-phone apps, 10 minutes a day to thumb through fuel listings and plan my route just seems like way too much work

 

Alright, IP, lets see the thread on your transition to the 5 digit truck drivers. Oh, and welcome to the club

 

I am looking for some advice. My truck goes to the resale yard in August but my permanent replacement truck is not gonna be ready till Late September. So I have a month to kill but not sure what happens during this time? I guess I could take off that time but that be too bothersome. I guess I get a loner truck but is it a company truck or a "rent a truck"? Any advice be helpful.