Picking my own freight baby! My journey to & of being on Schneider choice, the Adventure & Numbers!

I'll just say this. Having a paid off truck is great. I definitely miss it.

To say it makes things stress free...well no....but the best part about it is those settlement checks are bigger and there is a certain mental state of having that money saved up and looking at that money sitting in your savings account...even if you can't spend it.

Then if you have 2 months down and have to spend $20 grand like I did this summer ..well at least you don't have a truck payment on top of it.

 

I've been doubling up on my truck. A paid off truck is what i dream of everynight.
Another 1 1/2 years I'll be there.. And my truck should be under 250k.

 

A paid off truck under 250k. That's pretty sweet

 

To each their own..what I'm saying is I have less to worry about starting out with a newer truck.
Warranty should take care of everything other than regular maintenance issues.
Used truck you have to take into account unforeseen trouble..so you should be putting more into a maintenance account..which I believe most guys don't.
If you think you're making more than a guy with a new truck that takes care of it you're delusional.
Most guys with paid off trucks don't have the money for a major problem..why?
Living beyond their means.
Or the big one..NOT WORKING enough because they don't have a note.
The ones that know what their doing are constantly working on their trucks to make them better.
When I had my lease truck I never came out of pocket for maintenance..I used the account for everything that I could..it's your money that goes into it.
Everyone I talked to said I'm saving for the end of the lease to pay the truck off.
Ok your choice..more than likely what ever is in your MMF isn't going to add up to what you owe.
So you're coming out of pocket anyway.
I bought my own truck and I'm still paying into a separate account for something that might not be covered.

I get it..less debt is good.
But don't tell me you're making more money then me in the long run.
It's about the same..all it takes is 1 BIG problem with your used truck and a hefty tow bill and cancel Christmas.
UNLESS you plan accordingly.

And that is all I'm really stressing to anyone thinking about doing the Choice program or something similar.
Plan ahead don't jump until your ready.

Take it for what it's worth..

 

My two cents - even if you paid off the truck you should still be making truck payments - just to yourself instead of the finance company.

DFO calculated the intrest on his SFI lease at about 15%. When I went shopping for an equipment loan I could get 10% Apr with a huge down payment. RB's 3.5 is great but rough math it's still costing him about $2,500 in interest.

Why pay a bank when you can pay yourself?

 

I'very no problem with people using leverage - you have to start somewhere. If your investment brings in 5% and the loan is 3% then borrowing makes sense (and cents). Imagine paying of the truck in 4 years, then continue "making payments" to a high interest savings account for another 2 years. At that point you should have at least $60k. Sell the old truck for $25, put $80k into the new truck, pay it off in two years. Rinse and repeat once more and you'll be paying cash for a new truck. Plus paying cash makes it easier to get a good deal.

I'm not saying live at starvation levels. I am saying having a capital investment plan is a good idea. New or used, eventually every IC/LP/OO will have a major expenditure. The sense I get from most drivers (here and in the "real world"; company and IC) is that there is little long term thinking and planning. If you could save $10,000 a year in interest payments and still run a new, under warranty truck why wouldn't you?