lease to own or bust

The answer is I have a 4 axle truck/DD 4 axle stretch. I own the truck, me and the bank own the trl. I don't have a lot of bills. My time at home and Elk hunting means more to me than money. I make enough to keep me happy.

 

Lease to own, freedom to do what you want with who truck? Until you get it paid for its not your truck you'll be a company driver just making the payments for them. And no matter what if you lease to them there is still company polices and dispatcher. And dont make the mistake some drivers make even if you buy a truck outright. Have an attitude that its my truck I do what I want to do. You will have guidelines and polices weather it you company or someones else. You do have some freedom but remember freedom comes at a cost

 

Big Red has it right. Get your feet wet first as a company driver. Save you up $5000 or so for a downpayment, do your homework and become an owner operator.

These lease programs are designed to benefit the companies profits.
I've seen too many, you go home for some R&R aand the next week you don't get a check. Them weekly lease payments don't stop. Once you are behind it's very hard to dig yourself out. Before you know it you are way behind and quit. Advantage company.

 

First, you're making the classic mistake of confusing miles with income. You don't want to run "lots of miles so i won't loose eveything" you want to operate your business to make a profit. Not understanding this will likely result in business failure and significant financial hardship for you.

Second, as other drivers have already mentioned, you need experience as a company driver before you ever bother with any O/O or L/O plan. Think 12-24 months minimum behind the wheel OTR before you have enough knowledge and experience to even form the basis for such a decision. The company I lease through requires at least one year's verifiable OTR experience plus an extra 60-90 days as a company driver here before you're even permitted to make that kind of decision. If you find yourself considering such a proposition from a company that takes anyone off of the street, run.

Do as much research as possible on this site and the rest of the internet. Google likely search terms ("lease purchase program" for instance). If you search for "OTRjournal" you will find a link to my old blog that will forward you to the web site where I show all of my financial data in spreadsheet form for the past 27 months of my lease.

Good luck,

Jim

 

That makes sense... at my point in life being home is more important than working but I still have to keep the lights on.

I had planned on taking early retirement this year and put the truck and equipment in the wife's name and drive for 10 cpm to keep my income under the 14K limit....but things changed and I can't do that anymore.

So I'll soldier on a few more years... running harder during harvest and kicking back during the winter just a little more...

 

After many years of running as hard as I could I have finally found a balance between working/money and life. Some folks never find it. I consider my self a lucky man.

 

It may not take you 3 years, but this post sounds a whole lot better than your first. Good luck to ya.

 

Doing a lease purchase is not for everyone as is having your own authority is not for everybody. When you go to work as a company driver treat that company truck as your own. drive it that way and keep track of all expenses so you know what your costs will be when you do buy or lease your own. Also when you choose a company make it one that has a good owner operator program. That way when you buy or lease your truck and if you want to stay with that company it will make that transition to owner/op much easier.

 

(F)Lease Purchase= Indentured Servant, if you survive!