Lease purchase

OK this has been fun..........

It is pretty safe to say DON'T DO IT.

When I decided to get into driving I also did some research, just last year CR ENGLAND had a case dismissed and I do beleive it was with prejudice.
A number of L/O sued the company because of fees not defined but were stated in their contracts.
If I am stating this correctly; a fee for this / that /and the other, however when the drivers were being charged the fees they were excessive and were not preset the company made the costs up as they went along or something to that affect.

I had my lawyer read over a contract 6 months ago and she told me if I were to sign it she was going to drop me as a client.

Running a business is different when you are not being controlled by where your business comes from.

In this day and ECONOMY it is toooooo dangerous to take these types of chances without legal help. Always consult a lawyer before signing ANY contract.

We must control our own lives and not let our jobs, bosses and more importantly companies run or destroy our lives while they are getting richer off of our sweat.




Just had to add thanks.....................J

 

Well put and honest. That is the inherent flaw with every lease purchase I have ever heard of or seen.

As it has already been said many times over; Depending on the company that has "leased" you a truck to also secure the freight for you to be profitable is counterintuitive. Especially at places that have company trucks competing with l/p or full fledged o/o's.

Drivers "think" as a lease purchase operator they will have more say over what they haul, when they haul it, and where they go. Not necessarily true though. You are truly an "indentured servant" and will do what you are told just as the company drivers are but in your case your on the hook for all the truck expenses. Annoy your dispatcher and load planner enough and they can break you financially. Dispatchers expect drivers to pull the freight that they assign regardless of the 'status' of the driver.

I suspect the companies offering these lease purchases to the general driver pool are counting on the naivete' of the drivers to actually keep their company profitable in this recession.

Not too difficult to compare the profitability of a lease purchase operator to a company driver, to the companies bottom line. Think about it. You have a lease purchase op on 1 hand that pays for the truck, fuel, and additional expenses without the added burden to the company of payroll taxes, insurances, or benefits costs while on the other hand you have a company driver that requires a full boat of insurances, benefits, and tax filings with matching social security and medicare tax.

Some of you may say; But this reasoning is contrary to the first part of this post! Not so. The point is so long as a lease op is a good boy or girl and does as he/she is told then the dispatcher and load planner will keep him/her moving and profitable to the company AND make a little money for him/herself after expenses. Of course this is dependant on the companies ability to secure freight consistently. For lease operators that may get "uppity" and start declaring; "I wont go there or I wont haul that" will find themselves weeded out and replaced with a new, more "receptive," lease operator (probably in your old lease truck).

 

Andersons' lease program is pretty straight foreward. At least it was when I drove for them. The lease was for 12 months, not 3-4 yrs. After the 12 months are up you get a $3,200 or $3,400 lease completion bonus that you can apply to a brand new truck to lease, or you can pocket the money and re-lease the same truck you've been driving, or walk away if you dont wanna stay. I leased a truck from them from 3/05-1/06, got good miles and had a great DM. From 3/05 to 12/05 I made $113,259 and after all was paid (fuel, taxes, insurance, etc) I still pocketed over $68,000. Not bad for just over 8 months ( I took a week off for Thanksgiving and 2 weeks off for Christmas & New Year's). The 1st truck I had was a high mileage Classic, and after about 3 months I got to turn it in for a newer 300,000 mile 379 Pete for about another $40/month. Also, you can purchase the truck you lease at the end of the lease if you want. The Pete I had was averaging $70,000 on the truck lot, but I could have got it for $36,000. I had an accident in January was was termed, but if I could get on with them again, I wouldnt hesitate.

 

whatever you do, stay away from ats. worse l/p program in the business. i say and have said many times....if you lease a truck and pay the plates, insurance, escrow, maint. and all the other crap, and get paid anywhere around $1.00 p/m, you will never ever pay for that truck. problem is that all the drivers out there think they're different and can run 5000 mile per week, and get sucked in. i have paid for 2 trucks on lease, but my average p/m is 1.80. you sound like you are doing your homework, so find the other posts on here about the companies you want to lease with. believe me, there's nothing like someone else's experience to teach you. good luck

 

I don't doubt anything all of you are saying regarding the problems with company leases.
I think my situation is not unlike a lot of others, so your 'help' would be greatly appreciated by many of us.
I have more than 20 years driving time. Good history, no accidents, tickets, etc.
I was out of the industry for a little over 5 years and have recently come back. Boy what a change!
First of all, every company out there rates me as a new driver. So here I am at the bottom of the pile again, starting over. I can handle that, however, the pay leaves a lot to be desired.
I was getting 44 cents when I left this industry. Today, I'm getting 28 cents. I figured after I did a year or so, I could move on, however I'm finding the better companies will not give me credit for previous years, so they would be hiring me at MAYBE 30 or 32 cents and it would take 10 years or more to get back to the mid 40's.
The company I'm with has presented a lease plan, that after I've calculated all my costs, would still leave me a net of about 48 cents b ased on 140,000 miles per year. I've talked with more than 100 (literally) L/Os with this company and they all tell me they get as many miles as they want, and generally speaking are pretty happy with their deals.
So the question is: Where does a person go to make a decent wage in this industry without gambling on a L/O, and does not have the experience to go OO?
It appears to me that companies that offer L/Os will give the miles to those drivers first, before company drivers, if for no other reason, to draw company drivers over to the lease side.
I am getting about 2400 miles per week right now, which I'm told is better than most company drivers. L/O's here tell me their mileage increased 10-15% immediately when they signed and has not dropped back.
Any thoughts?

 

I did the lease with ATS 2 of them to be exact had good and bad weeks to me with them if you do specialized it depends on the class you are the more oversize the better the pay.I went with John Christner after alot of research and talking to the drivers in person alot seem pretty happy with them . But regardless of who you choose make sure you have money of your own saved. I know in today's economy that is hard to do but in the long run it will only help you IMHO.

 

What if you get your truck though a dealer and then run under someone else authority?
I have been studying so when I have a year in I can make an intelligent decision. I just have to figure out a way to make more money at this game.
Any thoughts?
Lone Mountain will lease a truck with a year or 100K warranty.

 

That seems to make more sense as you are free to switch companies if you have to. Like one driver said, be sure you have plenty of your own money already socked away for emergencies. At least 10,000. I've been recently thinking about this myself but I am no where near being ready yet. No hurry, I'll drive company and save , save , save so that I can lease or buy a truck from a dealer and pick 'the right company' that suits my needs.

 

Im thinking about leasing thru schneider.they have a program where you dispatch yourself,dedicated or mileage..i been tlking to some o/o and they seem happy with the outcome.but i will have an accountant to look over paperwork..this forum is very helpful..thanks driver..keep it between the mustard and mayo