I'm Seeking Prime Lease Details (Contract, Truck, Permits, Insurance, Fuel, etc)

Read IronPony's thread on the subject. Also, contact him directly. He has been very helpful to many.
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/prime/182163-leasing-at-prime.html

 

PM me, I'll give you the honest truth. Good, bad and the meh.
Our first lease is up this month, so we have a good perspective.

 

If your taking home 1400 a week as a co. driver, stay a company driver. If you stay with the dedicated acct. as a lease driver your net MIGHT be more, but not much. 1500-1600 at best. Just remember all the bills for that truck are your responsibility. (didn't mean to overstate the obvious) But, IMHO, its not worth the headaches. Even though I am not a current lease op for Prime, I have been in the past, and I have friends at Prime that are on both sides(co-L/O) both OTR and Dedicated accts. Its kinda like the trucking lifestyle in general. It just works for some, while some have tried and decided its not for them. Try leasing, get a taste of what its like to be an O/O and compare paychecks. Ponys posts are very good and very informative. My suggestion would be if your going to lease try and get a shorter term lease, right around a year, (10-15mos.) that will give you the opportunity to really evaluate weather or not leasing is for you. As well as let you experience the fluctuations in freight from season to season.
When I leased my fixed was $921 a week, with fuel and other deductions ranging between 1200-1800 a week, but I was over the road. A good friend of mine is running dedicated out of WM Lewiston. He is leasing his truck, he's been leasing with Prime going on 10 years now and he averages around 1500 net to his pocket. Obviously some weeks are less and some are slightly more, but if your company check is on average 1400, I don't see leasing as much of an improvement. Just my $.02 It's all up to you.

 

Motha, here is what I do as a lease op.

What I would like to learn (From LEASE DRIVERS ONLY, please and thank you) is..
1.What truck you have/recommend.. And why?
- I will have a 2014 KW t680 I know others like the cascadia. Best this is to see what you like but the cascadia is the the cheapeer unit ot lease and can be more or less troublesome.
2.What are your weekly truck costs broken into (A.Truck Payment, B.Insurance, C.Permits, D.Fuel, E.Misc)
- Currently fixed costs are about 1275(trk/insurance/permits only) Fuel (is a variable cost can be anywhere from 500-2500)
3.How many miles you average a week (honestly)
-Since we are a percentage of load (72%) I focus more on that then mileage. Average about 2300-2600 per week.
4.What do you gross and take home?
- Sometimes I don't take any but other weeks I can get from 200-3000 per week depends on the loads and when you get in the pay cycle.
5.I'm especially interested if you run a dedicated and your comment on what else you think I should know.
- I run OTR 48 state out of california so this is form my own experience.

Sorry if I'm asking too much, but I want to be informed and I know you guys have lots of info. Please, no hate or insults.
(We should ALL be about money here) THANKS IN ADVANCE!!

 

Just depends on where you want to end up at. If all you're looking at is the money, then the company side is a good place to be.

Me? I do better when I'm running my own show. The money is good, the challenge is stimulating, and working for someone else long term just isn't where I want to be. You have to decide for yourself if you need more than a paycheck. My goal is to pay the note on my truck off next year, and then we'll see. You can't do that being a company driver. But, you have to dedicate yourself to do the hard work... driving down the road is the easy part. It's the rest of it, running a business that is the hard part.

As far as your truck choice is concerned, you want to minimize your costs... that's what will get you the best return. By far it seems as though Freightliner stands behind their product much more firmly than Paccar, and the costs are lower.

 

How the heck do you manage 1400 per week, most co drivers I talk to average 6-800 a week

 

I would recommend that you go to the Lease class. you don't have to take a truck if you are not satisfied with the info.