New to trucking

JMO a lease is never the way to go for anyreason. There have been some posts made by TurboTrucker about the rip offs a lease is NEVER set up for the driver to be successful. I will get you the specific threads a.s.a.p.

As for doing the O/O thingy, you need to know A LOT about this business, brokers, load boards, expenses, on and on the list goes, AND you need to have plenty of cash to back you up. There are numerous threads about this also which I will go dig up and refer you too.

 

I'm also curious about this avenue. I'm wondering what trucks might be the best for this option and so forth. I know rigs like Peterbilts and Kenworths are popular choices, but I really love the ride of the Freightliner FLD120 myself. I'm also curious as to what the actual cash reserve should be before thinking about tackling a job like this....

 

There are many Lease/Purchase plans out there, and every company that offers them advertises them the same way.

"Inquire about our Lease/Purchase plan. We have the best one out there."

I've analyzed many of them from a limited point of view, and three of them in detail. Not one of them was worth the risk involved, and all of them were disguised with one purpose in mind. The company reaped most, if not all, of the revenue generated by those trucks, and risked practically nothing in the transaction. Why do I say they risk nothing? Because their concerns are insured 100%, at the driver's expense.

These companies dangle ownership of that truck, or completion bonuses in front of an eager driver, much like a child molester would offer candy to a child, and in about 90% of the cases where a driver will take a bite, the driver will feel just as victimized at some point afterward.

When you sign those lease agreements and leasing papers on the truck, you take on the entire cost of operating that truck, the responsibility and entire cost of paying increased amounts in income taxes, the entire cost of any benefits if they are available to you at all, and you risk profit loss of immense proportions.

In every one of these plans, are buried fees and costs that are not customarily charged to those that lease their own trucks to a company. The effect is much like being offered a date rape drug, but in this case, the victim is wide awake while the act is being performed.

The lease payments are often structured to allow the company to collect 150% of what it actually costs them to provide the equipment for lease. If the driver completes the agreement in full, he/she will pay for all maintenance costs while operating the truck, and will pay all insurance premiums to fully cover all instances of loss that may be encountered in the course of operating the truck. I've read horror stories where the truck will be involved in an accident, the company collects all the proceeds, and passes on nothing to the lessor, even if downtime is collected. In some cases, the driver was discharged, blackballed, and lost all of their investment.

90% of all drivers on average, who enter into these arrangements will never realize ownership in the truck. The company controls all aspects of the generating revenue, in the form of providing you loads, and far too many of these companies will limit your production if their goal is to keep that truck at all costs to reap the reward of trading in equipment that they actually have nothing invested in, and trust me, most of them don't want to sign over that title.

75% of drivers wind up in debt to the IRS due to unpaid taxes, and the lack of income to pay them. They are barely making enough to pay their bills in most cases, but the company is getting their fair share and just about everything else the truck makes, long before you see yours.

I would dare offer, but cannot prove, that 50% of those that fail to do well under those programs file bankruptcy or lose possessions that they previously were able to pay for, before they signed those papers.

The 10% that wind up with the title to the truck or who receive completion bonuses for completing the programs? They are selected for show and tell purposes. If a check of the actual miles that they have driven during the lease term were performed, there would be serious questions as to just how legal they were at all times. And after all, if NO ONE made it through, they'd never have the copies of the fake checks or pictures of a smiling driver receiving the title or the check, to plaster on the wall, to essentially offer to those with wanting eyes, "See what he did? You can do it too."

Read a little on the in's and out's of a couple of the plans I've dissected for the forums:

The Worst Lease/Purchase Agreement I have Ever Seen

JB Hunt's Lease Program

 

I recommend a minimum of three years on the road before you make a leap like that.

I have yet to see ANY lease/purchase program that is worth a second look, much less the first.

If your goal is to own a truck, find a good company that takes on owner/operators who hang with them for years at a time, then go out and buy your own truck and give it a shot.

Do this only after you have sufficient funds in the bank to weather six months with no pay at your present rate of pay, and enough to pay a down payment on a truck. This is not to say that you will need all that money, but if you have some sort of setback early on in this venture, you're prepared for it.

Buy a good quality used truck to start with, and buy it for the purposes of making money, not to look good. Chrome and fancy gadgets will not make that truck pay you a dime more than one that is plain Jane.

If you do well, then blow all the money you want...'cause that's what it's for...but don't neglect to protect yourself from the pitfalls in life, such as having health and accident insurance, just in case something goes wrong. It would be a shame to have a fall on a slab of ice cause you to lose your home and your source of income, a year from paying them off.

Always set aside a portion of your income for retirement and for unexpected expenses. You should attain at least $10,000 in the bank in liquid assets for every truck you own, and keep it there to take care of the worst, should it occur.

Do those things, and you'll do well.

 

Saveup $20000.00 and send it to me, continue driving for the comapany. Youll be just as wise, or spend it on a new Peterbilt with all the bells and whistles. They just get smaller and noisier every day. Then write off-trade off every 4 years before the warranty runs out. If you do it right, you can buy 2 trucks after 8 years, go broke twice as fast and be twice as happy.






Why do they lock bathroom doors in service stations, are they afraid someone will clean them?