Lease Purchase? Ask yourself one question....

Yes when you pay it off, you will have a brand new truck with 800,000 miles on it. You will spend every week in the shop spending your money on repairs. You now have a truck that doesn't meet the age requirements at many companies. But hey you are now an O/O

Many dirty companies out there will do the starve out plan. Things will go good until the end of the lease and then you start sitting. Then when you are in default, they take the truck back. I seen it a hundred times over.

I don't know about you, but health insurance and a 401K retirement are important to me. You lease, you have no benefits.

 

Show me a company that will let you be a company driver and pay a fair wage for X number of years, and then give you the truck. None you say? Well those are about the same odds as most Fleece set ups.

 

Then there is Joe Lease driver with no business sense. All he see's is bigger check because no taxes are taken out. He spends his money as fast as he gets it. Then come tax time he's scratching his head trying to figure out how he's gonna pay the IRS.

Yes go out in the parking lot and pick your truck out. You get out there and there is two ragged out trucks in the corner. Then you decide which is prettiest.

You wanna become an O/O. Get some experience first as a company driver and save you $5000 for a downpayment. Then go buy a real one. If you can't save, then you don't have the sense to own.

Before you step in Injun You're not the average lease driver. You have some sense.

 

123456 look on a local level like Craigslist or a local job board for transport jobs. Just on Craigslist Atlanta there are several O/O opportunities posted each week. Some of these companies are 100% O/O. You are not going to find these jobs in the trucking magazines. Some of these companies are actually freight brokers who rely completely on O/O’s. RoadLink, KCH, and Suno are just a few of them. Most all of them run dedicated accounts out of Atlanta. These are great opportunities for an O/O’s who wants home time. I don’t know about other areas of the county. What I am saying if a person feels comfortable with a lease operator opportunity and can actually pay of their truck then there are options.

Again I am not promoting anything. The only reason I researched companies that offer a lease program is the shy away from them until I gain experience. Hell, I haven’t even got my license yet. No way am I going to jump into a lease or buy a truck anytime soon. But if someone is dead set on being a lease operator then start at the beginning and understand why and how leasing works. Like DirtyBob said two people can have two different experiences.

 

The next company I register is going to be called, Menial Labour Inc.

 

I am in a lease purchase. After my expenses I have made .54 per mile to the bank after .07 per mile is already deducted for my maintenance fund. I can turn down loads and take as much timeoff as I want. I have taken 3 of the last 6 weeks off. We are a small company of about 300 trucks that is 65% lease and owner ops and 35% company trucks. We have had 17 drivers complete their lease and the truck is now theirs so far this year. Tell me anywhere I can be a company driver and make as much while taking off as much. It's not for everyone but it works for me. I am at American Central Transport.

 

Is this 0.54 CPM after taxes, social security, medicare, health insurance and workmen's comp? How much are you banking for equipment replacement? How new is the truck? With 0.07 CPM for maintenance, repair and tires, you will eventually come up short. What extra do you pay for fuel tax? What about base plate each year? Are you getting any return on investment or profit?

As you can see mine and your idea of costs are quite different.

I forgot to say a company where you can complete a lease purchase and own your truck has to have some merit.

 

No it is not after taxes. It is a 2010 Kenworth T660 with 148,000 miles on it. It is under warranty until 600,000 miles and I believe .07 per mile will cover the other stuff. I get money back from IFTA so far every quarter. .54 per mile is after the base plates and insurance and workmens comp.

 

Good questions. I'm thinking of O/O (used rig, own not lease) and I need to think along these lines. Thanks.

 

Thanks! The age question was relative to the maintenace account and I agree with you on that amount being sufficient for a new truck.

Also with the depreciation or lease cost of a new truck, the tax liability will be greatly reduced.