THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE - DFO gets a truck and hops on Schneider's IC Choice Program

Moosc and I butt heads sometimes, but this is a really good post and something that a lot of the drivers that want to be lease-operators for Schneider should read. I think a lot of them have seen what some of the drivers here on the forum make and the visions of $$$$ overwhelm their logic. They jump into a lease position with families to support, debt to pay off, and don't realize that on top of a $1100/week truck payment, they now have to set aside 25-30% of what they bring home for taxes, have to pay for their own (and their families) health insurance out of pocket, and on top of that have to manage planning their own loads, hometime, maintenance, etc.

It's a decent program and there are plenty that make it work. But also realize the guys who it doesn't work for aren't on here posting about it. There are guys that struggle every day and end up having to turn the truck in, or get by with so little that they'd actually be making more money as a company driver. The cost of health insurance alone depending on your health situation and the size of your family could make it not worth leasing a truck from SFI.

For me it was great - single guy, no kids, no wife, no debt, no big expenses, and super cheap health insurance - I got to go where I wanted to go, took a whole bunch of time off, still made more than I did as a company driver.

But it isn't a get rich quick scheme like some view it to be. There are those drivers that are very successful at it, but for every one of those there's also one or more that can't make a buck to save their life. The majority of drivers that I see succeed at this (not all, but the majority) were previous Schneider drivers, so they know the freight base, know how the workflow works and the tricks to make it work for them, and are comfortable with how the company works.

Look through this forum, you see a lot of posts by sadwar (prev SNI company driver), tennman (prev SNI company driver), myself (prev SNI company driver), dougal (20+ yrs trucking experience), drifter42 (11+ years exp), rickybobby (owns his own truck from the start), and a few guys that came on with only a few years driving experience and no experience with SNI, and most of them have admitted to a bit of a struggle from the start. Seeing a pattern here?

I'm not knocking it by any means. I just bought my own truck, I could go to any other carrier, but I'm still here. I like it, it's been working for me and it should continue to do so. But to anyone considering leasing, you seriously need to look at all of the costs/expenses/debts involved in both leasing and your own personal financial situation before you even start considering leasing a truck from _any_ carrier.

 

What areas are you finding that you are struggling with the most? Lots of good minds on here that could come up with some ideas to help out.