We could debate the whole lease thing... right or wrong... I would agree that right now, in this economic situation, it is not the right time to get into any lease operator agreement.
I take exception to the whole Prime will "push you to lease a truck" statement.
Ive been a company driver for over a year... at no point during training did anyone push me one way or another. When I finished my training I was simply asked the question by management "Are going to lease, or are you going company?"
From there I was sent down the company path to getting my truck.
If anything, I heard stories from other drivers in the lounge or on the road talk about how well ($$$) they were doing...(this was over a year ago) I can imagine quite a few rookies with dollar dreams... signing up to make the "big bucks" (my trainer showed me his settlements, he was doing VERY well at the time)... only to find that they had to run a business efficiently...and within a few months (the dowturn) found themselves in over their head.
I took a practical look, and determined I needed some experiance and get a feel for things before I would make the lease "plunge".... hindsight it was a good decision.
There are lease guys making money... getting by plus a little more... but not like it was... Its a serious business right now for them, with little room for error...