Question for SNI choice guys. Why did you choose?

And you sound like a little school girl in love with a boy and just follows them around everywhere.. hence why you know all the posts I've put up. Seriously man I feel like you're some twisted perverted stalker but then again
lol you are a SNI driver so what can I say. Anyways man since you're so in love with me and cant bare to put me on ignore.. I'll do the honors.

 

To get back on the original topic...

My reasons were pretty similar to DFOs. And, I had an additional reason - everyone under the sun says that lease purchase programs are impossible to make a living at, and I intend to prove otherwise. If I can't, then that's my problem, but as my dad always said:

Looking back over every choice in my life, I would much rather say "I wish I wouldn't have done that" than "I wish I would have done that."

Anyways, I honestly don't care how much the truck costs me each week as long as I'm bringing in enough income to live my life in the way I want to. And so far, it's working. Times were tough my first few weeks, but that's the case in any business. It's too soon to tell if I'll succeed long term, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

I can say this: I have a lot less stress now than I did as a company driver (although I didn't drive for Schneider as a company guy). I choose where I want to go, what I haul, and how I do things. After I deliver tomorrow, I will have hauled 4 loads this week, driven 3,267 miles, grossed $5,648.80 for an average of $1.73 per mile, and I've been in the sleeper berth for no less than 12 hours every night this week. I'm well rested, happy, fed, clothed, and caught up on my bills. I played video games. I had decent dinners. I'll be taking home my first BIG check next week. I'm driving a new Cascadia Evolution that gets 7.6 mpg average loaded and that will actually drive 70 mph. After I deliver tomorrow, I'm taking a 34 hour restart at home, and no one is telling me I can't.

I really don't care if the truck costs $736 per week. I consider it the cost of doing business, the same as if I had opened up a restaurant and was paying rent on the building.

A lot of lease purchasing is how you look at things and how you manage yourself. If you spend all your time thinking about how you COULD be making more money with a cheaper payment, you will be miserable. Forever. Hell, I COULD be playing the lottery and maybe one day I would win. Or I could be happy with the fact that I'm doing pretty #### well all things considered.

Last week, I took 5 days off because I haven't had 5 days off in a row in the last three years. I went in the hole. I don't care. This week's income will cover everything from last week, this week, and I'll still take home around $1800. It all depends on how you look at it.

Would I recommend the Choice program? Yes, assuming that you either have some cash saved up to run on for your first couple weeks, or you can live very cheaply for your first couple weeks. After that, you'll do fine, as long as you can keep track of what you're doing and use some common sense.

 

Cal, SNI always was a great company. When it was run by DON schneider who was the son of the founder and basically the guy that took this company and shot it up to the sky over the last 30 years.
Then the greedy board members removed him and put conniving CEO's that didnt care for the drivers like DON but only looked at the bottom line over everything. That is when this company became junk and anyone
like myself, that worked here during the time Don was running it and now.. will tell you the same. Alot of the comradary you see is from the old school guys that just stuck around since they've been here so long. Most the new people coming in are not like that and don't expect them to be.

Anyways man I wish I could sit here and tell you how great SNI is.. it was once upon a time.. today its just another swift, werner and jb hunt.

 

Cal I actually did make a thread and it has about 75 pages of input. I wrote down everything I went through from day 1 till the end and then some. That is why here I just put in some input. I still have a couple buddies that drive there and leased the new cascadias but truthfully they're both single and neither one has a home.. they live in their truck. Both after expenses go home with about 14 to 1700 a week after expenses before taxes. Both got the new EVO's so they get about 7 to 8 mpg and drive between 55 and 60 mph. If they take an entire week off for xmas or thanksgiving then they will not make any takehome pay for the next 10 days as that pays off the past week and present one.. but they pretty much drive 7 weeks at a time so they do alright.

Now if they had a truck with smaller payment.. and this is where people misunderstand.. im not saying don't go with SFI.. if it is all you can get then go for it.. but if you can do better than get something that charges alot less for payments... Because in the end it will work something like this....


SFI lease payment plus all insurances per week 1100
SNI Gross roughly with FSC about 4400
minus fuel depending again on the truck lets say 6.5 mpg about 1600 week
brings you to 2800
Minus lease of 1100 brings you to about 1700 take home before taxes not including food and toll expenses. But if your lease payments with insurance were say 600 a week then you would be going home with about 21 to 2400 a week. Now thats some money.

now this is under the best circumstances with really good end loads and yes this is a sample of my own first 2 weeks at SNI as lease operator so no BS

But avg week you may make a little more or a little less.

All in all man its not a bad gig if you don't plan on spending much time at home and plan on being on the road all the time. If you have hometime in mind then it will take a toll especially if you buy a brand new one.

 

By the way Cal here is my thread from last year .....

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...choice-program-orientation-getting-truck.html

 

There's a reason why the failure rate on lease purchase choice or system is 90%. I know alot of company drivers who had dollar signs in there eyes when sni leased them a new truck. I mean most guys are coming from old beat up trucks to brand new ones. They think there king ####, then they start rolling trying to make money and cant seem to stay ahead. Call ooida talk to there legal teams they'll make u see how rough it is. All your doing is making is the company's payment on that equipment.

 

At least some of that failure rate can be attributed to treating a L/P as a company job with a paycheck. If you do that, you're screwed. You are a business owner now. Better start thinking like one.

And a lot of the remainder of the failed drivers just don't use their brain or any common sense. Some don't save for when that first big breakdown hits, some don't bother saving for taxes, some go home every other day and that payment catches up with them... It's true that I can take any day off that I want, but any time I do I have to weigh how much it costs to do that, and can I afford to do it this week. If not, then I keep working until I can. That's part of being a business owner.

Along with that immense freedom comes commitment. Even the O/O with truck payments can't afford to take off every couple days. And they know that every day they're off is costing them income. It's just the way it is.

 

Very true and depending on there age most are 20 somthing just starting out. They'll be doing this for the next 40-50 years. Not a easy to save for retirement.