Leasing

My first week with the truck, I did 3500 miles. Yes, 5500 is not much to sneeze at. I should look over my numbers as we don't get actual miles, and I keep track of my dispatched miles and my actual truck miles.

It would be nice to stay in Canada, so I can really run, but I'd have to run the double 53's and I don't want to and I'm not licensed or permitted for it.

Unfortunately, that leaves me US runs which are good miles, but their hours of service are a joke! I've been down to Laredo Texas twice, which are 2400 mile runs, but I end up sitting for longer than I like down there. Loads are not easy to come by there, I guess. Many of our drivers tell me the same.

Bottom line, I usually take home around double what I did as a company driver. As I have finished a $560 per month personal vehicle payment in May before I took a trip overseas, I expect to really sit much better. I'm working on getting some of my personal expenses down as small as possible. I'm hoping Verizon comes to Canada so I can save on phone bills and data down south.

 

When I ran the U.S., I went with two phones. I kept my Canadian phone but went to the cheapest plan allowable. I then bought a U.S. Virgin Mobile phone and used that while in the U.S.. At the time, Virgin Mobile was the least expensive provider of what I needed but that constantly changes.

 

There is some very good advice in these posts. Here is another tip. Do not got through a leasing broker , they purchase their money from direct funders therefore the rates are typically higher. Also in leasing the lender does not have to disclose your actual interest rate, brokers definetely take advantage of this.

You can send me a reply and I can work out a 60 month lease to a $1 with likely a 10% to 15% down payment.

Also, getting pre-approved by a third party ie: bank or direct funder is best. Otherwise if you see the business manager your approval is only good at that dealership. A 3rd party allows you to shop for a truck from dealer to dealer and you can tell them you are pre-approved.

As mentioned send me a reply and I can work out an example of a payment structure.

 

Verizon's not going to Canada so just walk in to a Verizon store and sign up.

 

Yeah, a bit disappointing to hear. However, I plan on moving to Skype, as 1g of data is good for around 17 hours with regular voice. And I may downgrade my plan at home and concentrate on data plans. Skype with the data usage would be around 15 to 20 cents per minute anywhere. The roaming charges are a b***h!

 

I would like an explanation of how you can run 3000 miles a week running US. You certainly cannot run that under the new HOS. If one wants to run recap you would be running about 10.25 hours a day. Maybe 600 miles depending on the amount of mountains, small towns and construction/detours. On day 6 you would have 8.5 hours for the next day and then ZERO. Or you could run 2 days of 4 hours and recapture a 10 hour plus day. Or you would have to do a reset which can only be done every 7days. Maybe on paper logs that are "enhanced". But that will be history by next year when EOBR's will be required.

 

Not hard at all. 3,000 m/6 days = 500 m/d avg. 500 m/50 mph avg. = 10 h/d driving avg. That's like going from Edmonton to Nogales and back in 5.5-6 days. Do a reset... wash, rinse and repeat. Did it for 2 years and it wouldn't be any different under the current HOS.

 

streets and trips says 1873 miles.??? Isnt Nogales a night only load? Still seems very tight. You have to stop for 30 minutes before 8 hours of on duty has passed. 15 minutes for pre trip and 15 minutes at least every other day for fuel. I know guys who do that run from Winnipeg and they either have to do a reset down south or cheat. But it is more like 2100 miles from Wpg. For them the new rules make it very hard as you cannot do a reset until 7 days after your last reset.

 

I didn't mean to say that Edmonton to Nogales was exactly 3,000 miles, but the Calgary/Edmonton produce runs are in that range. Nogales is a city, not a single dock, so there is stuff shipping at all kinds of hours, but I generally only loaded in the daytime. Even so, I don't understand what relevance that has.

A driver has three hours (if they're driving their full 11) to take their 30 minute rest, pre trip/post trip, fuel, etc. That's plenty of time. More time actually because you can continue to work after your 14 is up; you just can't drive.

Yes, Winnipeg is more like 4,000 miles roundtrip; you asked about 3,000. And they're screwed if they have to do a reset under U.S. rules.