LEASE vs OWNER operator?

Lease train drive team = ha ha ha ha

 

Ok so I know I'm going to get flamed here and don't care. I am a former England driver. 2007 CDL class in Mira Loma, Ca. I guess I am a lucky survivor. I drove company for a year and then took time away and came back and leased. I made money as a lease driver. Not the best but 800-1000 week average take home.

 

As a lease operator you are responsible for all the trucks expenses. The company will take money from your "settlement" BEFORE you see any yourself.

Truck payments can range from $400.00 to $850.00 per week.
The fuel for the truck will be deducted.
Plate and permits may or may not be charged back to the driver.
Bobtail insurance will be deducted.
Fees for qualcomm usage.
Fees for prepass.
Road use and fuel taxes may be deducted as well as an "office processing fee" for doing the work.
Toll charges may be deducted from your settlement.
There may be an escrow account required as well as a maintenance account. That money will be with held on a weekly basis and doled out for repairs IF the company approves.
Scale fees and lumper fees might also be charged back to a lease operator.
Some carriers will even charge for trailer "rental."
You will be prohibited from modifying the truck in any way (you don't own it YET).

The above are just a few of the potential charges a lease operator could be responsible for. You collect NOTHING until ALL expenses for the truck are collected each week. This means you have to be very careful about taking hometime. When the truck isn't moving your'e not earning any money yet you are STILL responsible for the trucks weekly fixed costs.

Now remember as a "lease operator" you will be considered an "independent contractor."
That means you will pay your own taxes (social security and medicare). The company will not pay half unless your'e an employee (lease operators/owner opertors are not). There will be no 401k. there will be no paid days off (sick days/personal days/holidays/vacation) unless your able to set aside money for it yourself. Health, dental, vision, and life insurance is ALL ON YOU.

It is YOUR responsibility to pay taxes on a quarterly basis. Fed, state, and even local taxes in some areas so be sure you have been setting aside 20 to 30% of your earnings each week.

In the past some carriers have offered lease purchase deals to their drivers and run them very hard for the first couple of years and then mysteriously miles start dwindling. Why? Because if the lease operator quits (is starved out) the company can take back the truck and start the process over with another aspiring lease operator.
When a carrier can lease a truck several times it increases THEIR profit. Once the truck is too old to be of much value they may let a lease operator complete the program or they may sell it at auction.

Remember when you are in a lease purchase you must abide by all that companies rules and regulations and take whatever loads they "offer" you. Should you not like a load? No problem you will be put at the bottom of the list and will have to wait for a different load to become available. That might take several days.

Should you not complete a lease purchase program thats ok the company will attempt to keep all the money you have "saved" in your escrow account/maintenance account. Any scrapes, scratches, dents, wear on the truck will be documented by the company shop and will be "charged" back to YOU. some lucky drivers even get a bill from the company AFTER they leave.

The sad part is many drivers do not realize what an awful predicament they put their families in when they become a lease operator. Read a few of the threads on this site and you will soon discover negative checks, lease operators taking cash advances each week just to eat on the road and rarely getting home. Reposessed cars and home foreclosures are pretty common as well as divorce.

This job is tough enough without being taken advantage of by unscrupulous companies that don't care about you or your family.

As others have stated be a company driver for the first couple of years. Save your money and learn the business before even attempting to get your own truck. Should you decide that after a couple of years you do want to take on all the responsibility of ownership then be sure to PURCHASE a truck. If you cannot do that then lease through a 3rd party company so you have the option of moving that truck to a different carrier if things don't work out.

At the end of the day you will find that a good paying company driver job will pay better and provide better benefits than being a lease operator.

 

It is possible to make money there. My experience is that you were either a trainer, or had a nice dedicated run. But they just took those away from lease operators too.

Why attack another trucker? I am curious if you ended up with the truck or in another lease or with another company though.

 

Congratulations! You must be the one in 100. To finish a lease with cre ! I wonder why you didnt stay on with such a wonderful company?

 

OMG 777 where do I sign up for that ? OK thats the nightmare, now where does the "living the dream" part of the story start.? gotta hear that because these tards are lining up to sign up..I think the pain of GhostRyder bending me over the fuel tank would be way less than that post I just read ....

 

There is a sucker born every minute.

 

I can't speak from experience, but the CR England drivers I've met that got tricked into a lease op were miserable.

 

Longroadtrucker, you are doomed for failure! Who brainwashed you into thinking that you have to go with England for a year?

Probably the same guy that's going to talk you into leasing a truck in the next three months!

You want some advice? Avoid that guy and his company! The chance of you coming out on the winning end are slim to none. Its actually worse to drive for a mega-carrier for a year then to have no experience at all. Not to mention when you are done with England they will most likely tarnish your DAC making it extra difficult to get a job somewhere else.

Do yourself a huge favor.... if you are serious about being a professional driver, take the bull by the horns and find yourself a good company that you are going to want to stay with! Its going to take you a litte time and you are going to have to put forth some effort but it will be all worth it! If you are going to be away from home for long periods of time why not drive for a company that is going to make it worth your time?

Sorry man, not trying to give you a hard time but I am trying to lay into you enough to put some thought into what you are doing!

 

I will illustrate:

Was sitting in Laredo at the hook (before they put the Denny's in) in the restaurant chatting with a couple drivers. Saw a young driver kept hitting the buffet, run back, look at the clock on the wall and chow down some more.

An old hand points him out to me, so I had to ask.

Six: hey Youngblood, you going to boys town?

youngblood: Yep!

Six: first time partying south?

Youngblood: Yep! The first time I came to Laredo, I was in a trainers truck and he wouldn't let me go. Now I got my own truck and I'm going!

Six: How much money you taking with you?

Youngblood: A hundred dollars.

Six: Yea, you can have some fun with $100. Are you a company driver or lease driver?

Youngblood stood straight and tall, puffed his chest out

Youngblood : I am a CERTIFIED LEASE OPERATOR!

Six : Good for you driver. I don't mean to be nosey, but how much is that truck payment each week?

Youngblood: $1000 a week.

Everyone got quiet. They all looked alarmed. Youngblood hogged down the rest of his food and ran out.

Old Hand : Did he say $ 1000 a week?????

Everyone nodded.

Old Hand: That hundred dollar bill has to be his entire paycheck.

$1000 a week works out to be twice as much as an owner OP pays for a brand new, tricked out truck. TWICE. a company driver usually is forced dispatched. Lease operators are normally lured in because of the 'no forced dispatch' advertised. They are given a weekly truck payment instead of a monthly payment. Why? Because they can keep you hungry. If you are hungry, they can force you to pull garbage loads. Thing is, even if you make a decent check one week, like $4000-5000, that doesn't mean squat the following week. The following week, you will be just as hungry because that good check is history. Don't make enough to cover the rent the following week, you will come out with a negative check.

Need to go home, your dispatcher schedules you home time just like he does a company driver...the only difference is that when the company driver leaves the house, he won't have a negative check. The lease driver has to play 'catch up' quickly, otherwise the negative amount snowballs tremendously. If a company actually wanted their drivers to succeed as lease operators, at the very least, they could allow a lease operator to have a monthly payment. Even if its $4000, it would give a lease operator more breathing room.