Lease Purchase VS Buying a Rig

Lease purchase is for stupid people with bad credit, much better to finance your own truck through a bank.

Don't even think of owning your own truck until you have done company driver work for at least 5 years, way too easy to lose money in this business.

 

Go read OOIDA website first. Then NASTC website. Also, you may want to download the booklet OOIDA published on how to get your own carrier authority. Whatever you do NEVER sign a lease purchase deal. Until you have mastered your personal finances, you can forget being your own boss. Check out Dave Ramsey podcast subscription and catch up on all his radio shows to learn personal finance first. There's no easy button you can push to be successful. It's hard and tedious. Discipline is important. The lease purchase scam was designed to trap those seeking the easy button!

 

Some carriers allow lease purchase drivers to pick their own freight and others don't. It depends on the carrier. Most people lease purchase a truck because they think that it is an easy way to become an owner operator. Few lease operators will complete their leases and own the truck. Drivers do a lease purchase because they usually have poor credit and little or no money. Many also have limited experience. It sounds very easy to be able to get into a new or almost new truck with no money down and no credit check. In reality, many make less as a lease operator than they would being a company driver. The truth of the matter is that most who lease have no discipline and won't do what is necessary to buy a truck. Most of us who own trucks worked and saved our money until we could either pay cash or at least have a good down payment. Most lease operators are not willing to wait and save for their dream. There are many posts about lease purchase on this forum and about every other trucking forum that you can imagine. There are leasing companies who's business is leasing equipment that are not tied to any specific carrier. With these leases you are buying the truck and the payments are usually much more affordable so that your chances of success are much greater.

Unless you pull flats or run your own authority, you don't necessarily need to buy a trailer. Most carriers that pull flats will require you to either buy or rent a flat bed. Van carriers often do a lot of drop and hook, so you don't usually need to own a trailer. If your goal is to run your own authority, then you should count on buying a trailer first. Since you are talking about leasing a truck, I assume that you have little cash or credit to start. It is not a good idea to buy a truck unless you have cash set aside. Finding loads on loadboards is a simple concept. If you are willing to haul cheap, you can stay very busy. It is finding the good paying loads that can be the challenge. Each load is a negotiation when you run your own authority.

 

I am on my 2nd truck.the first one I went through my credit union and paid off early.Sold it while doing a local job and then wanted to go back on the big road.Financing for a big truck these days isnt easy,because so many drivers were irresponsibile about their trucks those of us who had good finances suffer.Most banks now want 20% down.I checked into how much the payments would be with the bank verses leasing and the payments are the same with the last month being a 1.00 buy.I wouldnt lease a new truck through a company but there are some who have good used ones.My company has used penske that go through their inspection before the final purchase from penske.Risinger bros has been a good company for me but if you call around you may find others with the same deal

 

I would say length of time you spend as a company driver isn't as important as what you learn before going into business for yourself. I suggest you get XM/Sirius radio and listen to Kevin Rutherford's Trucking Business and Beyond show. Dave Ramsey for personal finance is also a good suggestion. You'll need to learn about things like fixed cost, cost per mile, ROI, etc.

If you lease/purchase you will still be treated just like a company driver and pretty much have to go where they tell you to when they tell you to. If you buy just a truck you can lease on to a company and most will steal treat you mostly like a company driver or you can lease it onto Landstar and pick your own freight off their loadboard. You can also get your own trailer then lease it to landstar, Mercer, or many other smaller carriers and pick your own freight. Or you can get your authority and really have total control, and total responsibility.

 

Its a tough thing like previously stated above, to get personal financing on a used truck. I went to my Freightliner dealership where I live, 20% Down Pymt, a $10,000 line of available credit and a credit score of at least 700 - 750, and a good decent credit history. And that's just to apply!'

If you don't have that going for you, then your probility just wasting your time.

Now you might find a company who sells its' used trucks and leases new and slightly used trucks as well. Mine does, I got an 09' on a sign and drive deal. The only glitch that I can honestly tell you is. Is that if I default or lose my employment with this company, the truck is still financed and owned by them. I get screwed in other words if something bad were to happen.

On the other hand, my contract is for 3 yrs of pymts, then I own the truck completely.

If I were to have leased a truck on the other hand. I would have made pymts for 4 years, and then would still owe an outragious balloon pymt, usually around $40 - 50 K. So most just turn in the trucks and start over with a new truck and a new lease agreement.

If you really think about it. A person that leases a truck, after 4 yrs still owes a fortune for the remaining balance still owed on that truck, right? So then, what if he decides to keep it, he has to finance it again usually for another 3 yrs, so hes in that same truck now for 7 yrs. A 7 yr old truck, that only has a few yrs of good life still left in it, for him to really make some decent money without a monthly trk pymt.

To contrast that. Lets say you buy a trk with a 3 or even 4 year note. You pay it off while the truck is still young, you hope to get several more yrs out of it, without having any real major work done to it, and you may just really make some money in the long run.

But here! Either way you go, you are the one still responsible to make any and all repairs to that truck, tires, oil, engine, brakes, anything and everything, its all on you to pay.

There is a lot more pressure buying and owning your own truck, than there is being a company driver and just enjoying being out here on the road each day. And a lot more things to think about, constantly!

 

I got a 2007 century with the nice cabinets(not the nets in front)and a built in fridge.530,000 miles, virgin tires and it was a ryder truck.I got it financed through stark leasing 3 yrs and my last month I hand the man a 1.00 and Im done.I am leased onto risinger bros.I have driven for many companies but after I fell in the pothole and been off work 8 weeks and they continue to financally help me I have no complaints.I am not a company driver.I choose to go where I want to go and when I want to go home.good luck

 

What do you guys think about a pumpkin 07 with an ultrashift with 450k miles for 20500?

 

when I was looking at trucks I had more then one mechanic tell me not to get auto shift due to the computer amd the y splitter having issues,but you will hear others say no problems.wjatever you look at pay to have it inspected at a dealer.it will be money worth spending