Steps to "Lease On" to a company

Steps to "lease on"?....

1. Dig hole....approx 6 ft long, & 6 ft deep.
2. Step/climb into same said hole.
3. Shovel dirt back into hole, & over oneself.
4. Have creditors finish shoveling/patting dirt in.
5. A tombstone is strictly optional.

-- L

 

I don't think an immediate implosion is the point being made about 30k is not enough, I think it's the all too common slow bleeding out during the bottom of a market cycle where if you don't have enough dry powder the frequency of those bad weeks eats away at that cushion and a guy would run the risk of not making it to the upturn.

 

Which is why I also said earlier in this thread that leasing to a carrier without their own freight base is pointless.

 

Which is still a risk on several fronts. The foremost being that a guy wouldn't know the contracted rates, from the carrier's previous bid season, that he would average until after he has jumped on board. How long does it take to get a large enough sample of the rates a carrier has hustled up to have a clear picture of what you've gotten into?

The giant problem is stacking two giant unknowns on that small of a cushion at this stage of the freight cycle. Sure it could be a great peak season and turn tomorrow but that's not proper risk management when you have the larger unknowns of zero history with your equipment and zero history with your source of freight, contracted or spot for that matter...

 

You’re right. I for sure wouldn’t reach out to people currently leased on to the carrier I’m thinking about going to. I definitely wouldn’t ask to see settlements with all of their personal info blacked out. I would just wing it and hope for the best without doing any research at all. Think of how exciting it would be to get your first settlement and find out what you’re making!

I guess it’s wrong of me to assume that people will actually take time and do research when I post my short replies here. Maybe I should start typing long novels like others and explain every little detail.

In the age of social media there’s no reason to fly blind into a new situation. Everything is at your fingertips on the screen in your hand.

 

Not gonna lie I had to laugh pretty hard on this one. Some people just want to argue and look ignorant, even though they are not. I guess boredom is the real reason or they are just not happy people.

 

I recently switched carriers that I had been with 6 years but it wasn't over money....it was over bad attitudes from management.
Turns out I'm making 3000.00 more a month working no harder .
Some carriers shoot themselves in the foot and they will never get me back.

 

Contract freight isn’t always on the high. It’s steady yes, but it can dip. Lost my lane to lowering of contract rates. Just bid on 17 more lanes. Will I get one? I hope. But rates are lower. Some starting to dip lower than spot! If you think it’s competitive on the spot market, I challenge you to compete with all the carriers that got their #### together and fight over direct freight. That direct freight payer gets calls daily from all kinds of carriers beating on their doors. How do I know, I’m one of them.

I prefer having a customer but sometimes that brokered freight pays hella more, if it needs to get moved. Remember pulling 1 and 1 easy reefer loads from eastern WA to upstate NY for 12.5-13k each. It wasn’t contract. It swings back and forth. I think we are getting closer to even rates soon. Then if the market picks up one day, spot pays more. All that said, I like seeing my trailers with my name on them at a customer. When it could have been someone else’s. Makes me feel good. That’s my motivation.

 

Since 20k is above your floor for this scenario what would be your minimum starting amount as a cushion, for the situation described originally?

 

In 2011 fresh out of a divorce I borrowed the down payment for a truck and had $3500 in the bank and a line of credit for fuel and I started hauling cattle. I don’t recommend that but I also don’t agree someone needs a big pile of cash to lease to a carrier.