Prime's lease deal. The math gets done.

this is true but you only get out of it whats put in to it my lease has only 4 wks left and im not in the hole

 

The link is just informational. No PDF copy. But, thanks for the help. I'd still like to see one of these, from any company. There's always something in every contract. And, the really good lawyers are working for themselves. Not in a "firm". You see, it's like the really good/responsible truckers have their own authority. As opposed to working as a steering wheel holder, or leasing a truck to a company.

 

Swift, at the beginning of the year, had a 'short term lease program'. It was basicly the driving paying 'rent' on the truck. after 9 months, the truck could be sold, and the driver could continue to lease another truck. if not, they'd have to be re-hired as a company driver.

Couple i know went and did it. I almost did it, but a) there was no guarentee on miles, b) i was being fed some BS regarding how much i'd make (i was told i'd bring home $800-1000 a week take home, and that 1500 miles a week was what it'd take to pay the overhead from the truck....at the time i was getting 2000 average miles/week....kinda hard to come up with $800/wk take home on 500 miles) and C) my weekly payments of $450.00 wasnt going toward buying the truck.

I asked about going to a 3rd party and buying a truck to lease on, and i was told they are not doing that anymore, for the time being.

But look at the big picture. Any company has trucks just sitting around...company trucks and trucks to lease to wannabe O/Os. I just drove by a Werner terminal, and there had to have been 150-200 trucks just sitting. Now depending on how big the company is, they may or maynot just outright buy an order of trucks. But to have trucks available to lease to drivers just sitting around, the company is losing money on those trucks. And with the economy as bad as it is/was, a company has to do what it has to do to maintain a margin of profit.

Here enters the lease program. They get new drivers on the hook with what sounds like a sweet deal, yet they never have the chance to 'own' the truck, and the company has the driver on the hook for all the overhead they WERE paying. Driver just saved the company money. The driver now has the duty to pay all that overhead, and to try to turn a profit. The driver defaults on the lease, the company takes the truck back, and then re-leases it to another sucker driver.

Any company that has a lease program, or a lease to purchase program will always write the contract in their favor, so they make money, and their tail is covered. Why do so many drivers out there have a problem with this??? They think they are OWED something from the company?? If the tables were turned, they'd be writing the same contract to make the same profit.

Dont blame the company for trying to do anything it can to show a profit on trucks that are sitting dormant for weeks/months on end.

 

For drivers that live in their truck - a fleece can be a sweet deal !! Why have an apartment or a house when you can just live in your FreightShaker condo?

-It's a sort of bizarre trucker's logic that only the Prime and CRE fleecers can figure out. Trucking companies just need to market this better. There is a fleece somewhere for all of us.

 

Do I know this for sure? As sure as a few news articles on the internet.

-Google this "Prime Inc. OOIDA" Im not going to post links to other websites... Google said it took 0.02 seconds for my search... You could have saved yourself some time

Do I know your friend? No... does your friend practice law within the trucking industry? or versed in legal issues facing the trucking industry as it pertains to Leases?... I garauntee OOIDA does, or they would be doing a dis-service to their membership.

I drive for Prime... Im not a lease driver, I dont have a copy of the lease... You will find I dont really comment in any detail on the lease thing, because its not in my area of knowledge or experiance.

However, I was simply pointing out the fact that you seemed to think you were navigating "uncharted waters" of legal scrutiny against Prime and other Lease companies... Maybe you fancy yourself as a modern day Upton Sinclair?

Google

 

BARTAGE my post was generalized , directed more at those that SIGN without looking or realizing what the deal is just so they can say they have a TRUCK. And the REGARDLESS of the LEASE or the COMPANY sort of indicated it.

ROOKIE O/O do you know what a PDF is, the link opens a pdf in ADOBE and goes to the 1st page of 7 and it is not a LEASE never said it was just the result of the LAWSUIT from OOIDA that you asked about.

 

Well, first, you seem to be lost. This is a thread concerning Prime, Inc. - not Swift.

Sounds like the "junk trucks" you hear about alot on this forum. Again, this is a Swift deal, nothing to do with Prime. Prime leases trucks for 3 years from the manufacturer. Due to driver turn over, it's quite possible for someone at Prime to lease a truck with anywhere from a few months left on that 3-year period to a brand-new truck. Frequently (especially for very new drivers) the leasing office at Prime suggests that one starts on a short-term lease for a number of reasons... to make sure that "it's for you" - meaning trucking and the entire lease-op thing, to get some of the end-of-lease completion bonus money in your pocket, and of course, it keeps the wheels turning for Prime. After all, they are a for-profit business, not a social welfare agency.

Again you're talking about SWIFT, not Prime. I agree, the up-front projections are just talk. Perhaps at SWIFT they feed you a line of BS - having never driven for Swift, I couldn't tell you. At Prime they are quite clear that there is a difference between being a company driver and a lease op that involves risk. The risk that you won't be able to make your lease payments, that you can go "in the hole," and loose the deal vs. having a more secure paycheck as a company driver - same deal though, no miles, no money. Anyone saying "they were screwed by Prime" wasn't paying attention at orientation. Anyone who figures they can just firewall the accelerator and make money is a fool.

Trucking is a game of averages. Even as a company driver you will have better and worse weeks. If you want a guaranteed paycheck, go flip burgers.

As far as "ending up with a truck," I will agree with the morons who decry leases, that most of the wheel holders are probably better off buying a junker truck with a zillion miles on it, and then loosing the whole shebang when you can't make it work or the thing craps out - you're probably only out $10,000 on the low end. Maybe you'll luck out, and it won't blow up. Maybe you've got enough mechanical aptitude to keep it running.

On the other hand, to be a successful lease-op, you need to be a "businessperson." If you're dumb enough to fall for a Swift Fleece (oh GAWD! Now you guys have me doing it!), then you probably don't have the acumen to qualify as a "businessperson." At Prime, it's called an ACE II Lease, and you can plan to be at it for three years, starting with a new truck. Then it's up to you whether it's a piece of junk at the end of the lease, and whether you're enough of a "businessperson" to actually make it to that point.

You're lost again! I'd suggest a GPS. This is a thread about Prime, not WERNER. I'm told they keep their junk trucks around after they die... parts ya know! I have no idea if that's true or not. At Prime, they don't have trucks just sitting around waiting as bait. I do know there are some Cascadias at Springfield that were delivered by Freightliner, that were not "taken possession of" when the economy went south. Those trucks are not costing Prime anything at this point, since they don't belong to Prime yet.

The last time I was at the Pittston terminal, there were perhaps a dozen vehicles on the leasing lot, and perhaps twice that at Springfield when I was there. I have no idea how many of those vehicles were assigned - you have to leave them parked on the lease lot until the contract is signed.

Actually, there can be a wait at Prime until something is available, or a new block of trucks is released to leasing. In my experience, there isn't a lot of "trucks available to lease to drivers just sitting around" - and I've noticed the same thing (there aren't a lot of "trucks available to lease to drivers just sitting around") on threads devoted to other companies... Trans AM and PTL come to mind. If Swift has hundreds of trucks just sitting around, I wouldn't expect them to be in business too much longer - just my opinion there.

Ahem...

"with the economy as bad as it... was"

You've got some seriously rose-colored sunglasses on this morning, eh?



Agreed... loose enough money and you're out of business. Works just the same for wheel-holders pretending to be business people with the RPMs up against the governor. Like almost all Swift drivers, that I've seen, at least... gotta live up to the name I guess!

I'd say you're talking about SWIFT. You really need to invest in that GPS! I've talked to three folks at Prime recently, all solo lease-ops, who are doing well. Netting an average of $1k [edit: net revenue to the truck] per week through the first third of the year. Teams seem to be doing really well too.

That doesn't mean everyone can be successful at Prime - and they aren't. I think a lot of people read what they want into employment promises - they are just that. After enough experience as a working person, most people learn to see through promises that aren't more than BS, and the fact that unless a direct supervisor signs a statement agreeing to said promises, it's nothing more than BS. I have never seen a truck lease that guarantees minimum net revenue to be postive to the leasee.

However, when you refer to "sucker drivers" you must be referring to the wheel-holders at SWIFT, since you've never had any experience with Prime.

Dude! I was expecting the usual "fleece" comment ala Badsey! You get tired of driving for Swift, you might give Prime a call. I detect some intellegence behind your steering wheel!

Gotta go... delivery appointment is calling!

 

pony....its something called 'comparison'. LOL.....and you go on a rant that had to have taken you a couple days to write all that down. dont get so butt-hurt

and when i refer to 'sucker drivers', i am refering to them in general. I dont base the level of skill or experience of someone just because of what is painted on the side of their truck. who really cares. everyone was once a newbie driver....even you, good buddy.

 

Look. I'm not trying offend anyone on here. I've seen some good advice here. I just thought, maybe, I'd try to return the favor. The last thing I want to do is make ANYONE feel inferior for their mistakes, or the company they work for. Again. I ask what harm would it do to have a fresh set of eyes on one of the contracts? And, no. I'm not throwing OOIDA under the bus. They are a good group of people. But, how many law practitioners are on hand dealing with how many thousands of cases? I don't know the answer to this question. But, I'd bet they deal with more cases per day than many private practices. Therfore, they are in a rush regularly. When things get rushed, things get over looked. Again. Speulation, on my part.

By the way. Since you aren't into a lease with Prime, why are you here commenting on them?

 

Fair question... here's a fair answer.

Just because I don't lease, doesn't mean I don't have an opinion on the subject. Additionally, the more I answer questions about the subject, the more I know about the subject myself. And, as an employee of Prime Inc., I have an "inside view" of the lease and lease-operator situation at this company. Besides, all the jerks who post "I got screwed" posts without looking at their own contribution to that situation, and the "fleece" jerks who have never driven for Prime PO me. They like to trash the company I work for - and I feel that Prime is a pretty fair company considering the competition - without ever having spent a moment on the inside. Just my opinion, your mileage my vary.

That being said, I do at some point intend to become a lease operator, but I certainly want a fighting chance at being a successful lease operator on my way to being a successful owner operator. One step at a time.

Finally, as a veteran of the Vietnam era, I swore an oath to defend the Constitution of this country, and just because I am not currently an active duty member of the US Military, doesn't change or negate that oath. I offered to put my life on the line for the freedoms afforded by this country, the freedom of speech, being just one of them. Just try to shut me up!