BEST LEASE PURCHASE??? (to head me towards ownership)

I completed a lease purchase program this year. Looking back on it I wouldnt do it again. It was not a walk away lease and I had 5 companies to choose from, none of them paid well. I was treated terrible and my finances were in ruins. Plus I can tell you there is little to no way to get a truck with that low milage. If you do youre lease payment will be so high you would go broke anyway. I now own my truck and Im with a good company making good monry, but Im still trying to rebuild my finances from the beating I took over thr program. My advice from a guy who did it, save the money to buy a truck outright or a big downpayment and then be an O/O. LP programs are designed to take advantage of the driver, only 30% of most LP drivers complete the lease.

 

I had 10k in the bank when I started and a 2yr warranty on the truck. Then things began to go wrong with the truck, I did as much as I could myself and had to pay for the rest because the warranty company fought me on every claim. Im still fighting and Im about to file a suit against them. Thetr are a million things to consider, Im not trying to step on youre dream, I just want you too consider what can happen to you. Just dont get starry eyed with the idea. Really dig into it and contact OOIDA they have great resources there that can help you make the best decision. Good Luck to you, I hope whatever you choose, you are successful.

 

Pretty much everyone on this forum says you can't make any money in a lease purchase. I made about $80,000 last year doing it and will clear $100,000 this year doing it because of all the recruiting I was doing the beginning of the year this year. Without recruiting I would of cleared between $70,000 -$80,000 again. I guess they don't know as much as they think they do.

 

Is that gross or net? Also, how many miles , and what type of trl you pull.

 

That is net running about 11,000 miles a month. I pull a dry van.

 

The advice you got you didn't like and somehow bad advice seems to be worse than no advice in this case. It boils down to the math of it all. Have you drawn out an expected expenses and projected revenue and what will be leftover for you? That is the first thing you should do. To hell with what everyone says on here. Be realistic with your numbers. Example: don't figure on running 3500 miles every week for 48 weeks a year. You will fall short. Take the number of miles you drove in your one year of driving, it may be 100,000 or 120,000 or whatever it is. Now take what they say they will pay you for those miles. Perhaps you should account for some out of route miles, or if they decide to pay you 950 miles when really the load takes 1000 miles. If you can see a profit on paper by what you figure out and you are happy with that amount, by all means go for it. Compare that amount to what you earn now. Also draw out average case scenario, best case scenario, worst case scenario. Life throws things at you and if you have to take a couple months off from driving your truck will you be financially able to handle that? If you do not have enough cash to get through those times then you will be faced with what could be a decision of say, seeing a loved one in hospital, could be their last days, and missing out on loads, or drive the truck and wish you hadn't had to make that decision. I know this might sound kind of heartless and everything but if you are going to be in business you can either think of these things ahead of time or become like many others and say "well I have no choice now but to give the truck back. Thanks for choosing this time to die [loved one]."

 

OK Lease or not ? What I'll never understand is why people seem to be in such a hurry? A business is a long term commitment and there are struggles along the way.

Why not look for a good paying company job? Use the time to learn ALL the in's and out's, put some money aside along the way, and then under no kind of pressure make the decision and pull the trigger.

 

Pretty much every Lease Purchase is same old forced dispatch that company drivers deal with. The companies don't call it that because as a 1099 contractor according to the law they technically cannot force dispatch you. And the LP driver does have the "freedom" to refuse loads but what one will run into is that will cause dispatch to red flag you as a problem truck and you they will starve you out. They need to cover loads and could care less what you think of any given load. You are just another truck that they dispatch and you best not rock the boat.