Want to avoid getting burned by a lease-purchase agreement?

One HUGE difference, the guy paying the bank for his truck can change the name on the door if his business partner isn't keeping up with their end of the bargain.

 

yes--90cpm plus fsc------ if you own the truck you arnt making money--and if you lease the truck you definately arnt making money----hey dont get me wrong i would love to have my own--it does give a bit more independance in what you do--but not a lot---unless you have your own authority--but at 90cpm its not like you are going to be taking much time off for holidays

 

Going into this I had some assumptions based on my research about what I was getting into. Now that I have been at it I am finding I was pretty close in what I thought would happen. The biggest problem I see is that most people don't understand why you get your own truck. I don't care if you purchase outright, do bank financing, do a third party lease or lease from your carrier- You have started a new business. You now own a small business with everything that goes with it, all the headaches, expenses and stress. The other side is that you have opportunities others don't have. It is no longer just how many miles you run, it is also how well you run your business. Every cost you cut is money in your pocket. Your motto becomes "It's not how much you make, it's how much you keep."

Not everyone is cut out to be an o/o and that's fine. Company drivers just have to take the load they are assigned, deliver it safely and get paid. For many this is what they want. Then there are those who have to make their own way and be in charge. I don't care what business you are in, you are never totally in control at least as long as you have to deal with customers. Still I can decide if I want a load or not and I can decide how long to be at home when I get there. For the right person it is great, for the wrong person it is a nightmare.

 

both positions definately have their pro's and con's---
you are right ,its what ever fits you--its just some times the wage difference just isnt that great
IF you can get the right company job(like my last one)--no forced dispatch--you pick your home time--generally have about 3 or so loads to pick from---and on a good month i would bring home 4 thousand---
how much you want to bet my next job wont be so nice?

 

In all honesty,

if you work for the right company,

you can have most of those advantages-being a company driver !!!!!


But I understand your point, and agree with your reasoning.

 

I can't imagine,,,WHO'S NAME IS ON THE DOOR,,,is really what is most important...Like stated already, its a small business and has to be run as such...where the truck payment is being made makes NO difference...That's my point...

 

The name on the door makes a big difference. You are making a commitment to haul freight for someone. Everyone who pays by the mile will be in the same general ballpark, but do they have a big enough ballpark to keep you rolling? Some things I have heard that I would avoid are full maintenance plans. The ones I have heard about control when and where you can have your truck worked on. Most companies do have a maintenance escrow account, find out how hard will it be to get access to your money. Some won't let you use your money for anything less than $500, Roehl only has a $25 limit. Don't believe that free plate stuff, they will only pay for your plates if you run a certain number of miles, usually above 9500-10000 a month. There are a few other issue anyone going down this road needs to be aware of. There are a few good lease purchase deals, but you have to really, really be careful. The right deal and right truck, you get a good chance at making it work. A bad deal and a bad company you will fail.

 

don't really think THE NAME ON THE DOOR is the biggest thing to worry about.....Really, you should be worried about a lot more...

 

Swift just changed how they handle access to the maint account. Now you just macro in the amount you want transfered to your next settlement. It used to be that you could only do it once a qtr. It's a nice change.

 

Lease purchase has gotten congress' attention, especially with the Teamsters trying to push everybody to employee status. With that in mind I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of changes coming especially with access to maintenance accounts. My guess is the one thing companies will want to fight tooth and nail is the exclusivity clause. The last thing a company wants is to lease a truck and then have the driver take his truck and himself to another carrier. Other than that I can see them doing things that will make things fairer. The more control a company has over a driver, the less like an independent contractor the driver appears.

Most companies use a computerized system of dispatching. Usually they use a closest available truck method of dispatching, so even though it looks like it, there is only limited favoritism among drivers. Companies don't really make much on an honest lease deal. They make their money acting as your broker. They have no truck expense. They only have to worry about their office cost. The thing that makes it possible for a driver to make money is the fuel surcharge. If you keep your mpg up, the higher the fuel prices, the higher the fsc and the more money you make. It is possible to make money, but you really have to watch what you are doing.