Lease story from around 20 years ago

I worked for a fleet that the bean counters could not figure out why the Detroit 60's were scattering at 700-800k. I mean 25k plus oil changes and 191% driver turn over in 2004 probably had nothing to do with it. Nor did they listened to the mechanics working in the shop 18 hours a day. We didn't know anything.

Another company I started at in 97,98 was the only decent LP that I've seen.

They would order a batch of W900's, you could pick engine. But they all would be one color, same wheelbase. You got a new East trailer, you could pick how many axles. The truck was 20k less than individual price. Trailer was under individual price, but I dont recall savings. Service and repairs had to follow company schedule like company trucks till completion. You had no choice, if it needed brakes, tires. It got them. You even could take the truck to another carrier. But you couldn't return to them for 12 months. They would keep you financed.

Only 50% of the leases were complete. Those 50% actually did really well and it propelled them to a long career.

The other 50% went broke.

But most I've seen was a set up, just as you described.

 

Leasing nightmares are everywhere.
I found success through leasing ? I never hear stories like that.

 

I also had success with a lease purchase . But it was a looong time ago .
In the early 90s .

two year lease, finish the two years and the truck is yours .
$500 down ,
Certain amount per month for the truck
Certain amount for the ins
Some for the reserve fund etc

I wrecked mine with one payment left .
But by then I had saved plenty of money to pay cash for a good used tractor.

I started with nothing , was working in a dead end job slightly above min wage , no savings , no college degree or education , so I had nothing to lose .

I was making $900 a month at my job .
First month trucking I made $5k after all expenses . so I had no problem stacking cash

I guess a lot of it depends on if the company wants you to succeed or not .

the company I was with was expanding and needed O/Os desperately and wanted them to succeed and stick around .

 

Congratulations you made it work !!
I just wish others would find the same success that you produced for yourself.

 

plenty of success stories with the right company.. i personally know a couple people that have been success 2 and 3 times.. even 1 guy that i used to run with that had paid off 4 trucks.. he didnt look at LP as a way to ownership rather as a business model.. of course it takes the right company to make these programs work and those companies are few and far between.. or non existant at all.

 

i did 1 better than that.. i wrecked my paid off LP truck 3 hours after I made my last payment.

 

Yeah but did you jackknife a cabover into someone’s front yard,

Hit a brakes a little too hard in the rain with an empty trailer and Jack knifed in a flash.

drivers side door was bent and wouldn’t open ,
Was on a busy four lane so a group of folks gathered pretty quick , they were standing back away from
The rig and pointing .

So I climbed out the window , and reached for the ladder that was no longer there , and I fell to the ground .
As soon as I hit the ground several people rushed up grabbed my
Arms and legs and dragged me away

After they stopped dragging me I looked back and saw what they were all pointing at .

I had hit a power pole and the transformer was sitting on the roof of the truck , complete with sparks and a small fire on the roof .

mat least they were apart enough to stay back away from the rig , but it would have been nice if they had communicated to me that I had live wires on the roof .

 

I worked hard , after I got the truck , I worked 102 days in a row without a day off .and I’m a pretty decent mechanic so I was able to fix the little stuff .
The company I was doing the lease purchase with had endless freight with direct their own customers. And they were paying local drayage companies a lot lot more than they were paying the owner operators who leased on . So the company WANTED the new o/o’s to succeed since it was so
Much cheaper than hiring local drayage companies


although the third week I got two roadside inspections in one day .
Where they checked the travel of slack adjusters , checked the air pressure buildup time etc etc.

The second inspection they found a loose U bolt where a leaf spring had recently been replaced , and I got put out of service.
Had to call a road service for that .

but in two years of making a thousand a week when I was used to earning $200 a week , I was able to save like $50k
So writing a $9k check to add to the $7k I got from my insurance for the wrecked one , for a used rig to replace the wrecked one , was no biggie.

second rig was a Ford LTL-9000 with a big cam 400 and 13 speed .
It had leaf
Springs too, I had never ridden in a rig with air suspension so I didn’t know what I was missing , the ford had power steering , which my first rig didn’t have so I thought that was awesome .

same drivetrain as a Pete or KW but half price since Ford wasn’t a status rig .

I built a shower and toilet and fridge in the big Ford , and after about 18 months some offered me too much money for it and I sold it , and bought a IH 9700 cabover with the set back steer axle and air ride drive suspension and a double length sleeper .

loved loved loved that rig .
Rode like it was on a cloud and the short wheelbase would fit anywhere

 

Back in the 90's I answered an ad in the truck paper. It was a lease purchase running for McKesson. The truck was a Dick Simon FLD with a K19 Cummins, and the Eaton equivalent of a two speed power glide transmission. The schedule was so tight that even time spent shifting could compromise the load so they developed the transmission just for Mckesson. That K19 would do rolling burnouts going up Monteagle and still get 7.5 mpg.

The truck came complete with IV bags filled with sweet tea mounted overhead and a sackful of Krystals every trip. The loads paid well, but there was a caveat, it was a team lease. One driver had to man the mini-gun in the trailer to protect the freight at all times. That's where I met @Jubal Early Times.

We ran the ammunition belt through the man door on the front of the van trailer into the cab. Since we were often ambushed, and he would get hungry during a shootout, i would place the Krystals on the belt to feed him as he fired rounds at would be thieves. The sweet tea was pto driven to his IV for hydration.

I won't brag and say how much we made back then, but Jubal had a time share in Branson and front row seats to the Hatfields and McCoy's show.