Looking for a good lease purchase program

Well I owned a classic that got 6.5 to 7 now the cascada i drive gets 6.3 and drives slower. truck setup gearing tire size and many other things can get you fuel out of a big nose....

 

A lease purchase is not just thru a company you work for. There are many truck lots that do lease purchase sales. The biggest advantage to a lease verus a loan is a lease is 100 percent tax write of meaning if you pay $1000.00 a month you can claim the full 12000.00 at tax time as a write of, on a loan buy you can only claim depresseasion and they work in percents each year for 4 or 5 years than you loose it. and what you write off on a loan is not what you pay for the truck. A good lease would be thru a private company not the company you plan to lease on to to haul for, with a very low buy back and a good monthly payment. truck wise get something you like. i say this because if you buy a vovlo and you hate a vovlo you WILL take time off of work after a while. You NEED to buy a truck you will like and be happy with try to learn the truck you buy watch how you drive simple things like giving it alittle fuel before the bottom of a up hill will increase your mpg. why the turbo kicks on the truck will pull better than the guy who waits on the cruse to do it for him and the motor will burn the fuel better. find out what gears you have maybe put a better setup for the area you run. IE if your running mountains get power gears to pull better while still keeping your rpms at a good rate. maybe if it has a 10 speed up it to a 13 or and 18. yes it cost more but it will pay for itself in the fuel savings pulling mountains all the time. Ive been doing this along time. all the bs about oh get a centry or a vovlo for fuel mileage is just that BS. you can take 2 trucks the same in every manner take on today and get great fuel. tommorow same load specs same weather same driver same everything and get crappy. A truck is like a person everyone is different.IE I had a 1996 fld 120 with a 430 detroit turned up to a 485, a 9 speed with 4:11 rears. 11r24.5 tires. a beast on the hills 78 mph top though, the day i bought it i sent a tranny in for rebuild and rears to change the gearing down to a 3:73 i ran it as is though for a month waiting on time and the parts. during this time the truck got 7 mpg and it never flexed hills flat land 65 or 75 7 mpg. that truck never broke down was the best truck i ever owned money wise. but how on earth does a truck with that setup get that mpg all time. its its own peronality of the truck. kinda like when you see a fat man who eats healthy but stays fat and a skinny guy like me who eats mcds and cant get over 170...lol you can plan all you want everything looks good on paper but in real life owner op you just have to go with it and make what you need as you go.

 

I got 7.5 to 8. mpg on a International Prostar with the cummins engine and it was an automatic on top of that..and the Freightliner Cascadia I got on an average of 7.8 mpg...

 

You can polish a turd, shine a turd, mold a turd into two little pretty turds, and even put a pretty little bow on a Turd....but guesss what?!!! ITS STILL A TURD!!

 

Had not heard too many happy endings with tractor lease programs. Initially, they give you plenty of miles, then the last2 years before your contract lease expires, they starve you, then pressure you to come up with the remaining balance of the principle, or they repossess your truck for "breach of contract." Ask around and investigate how many drivers had paid off the tractor, then stayed with the company. More likely, most of the used tractors they offer for lease had been repossed from drivers who couldn't pay off the lease at the end of their contract.

 

agreed on all points.

If it were me...I would go find a company that pays decent money and become a trainer...get paid for your miles and their miles. You can make a lot of money training. save every penny for two - four years and then go buy your own truck used. fix what needs fixing, get it licensed, get it inspected and then get all the permits. and then go find your own accounts and build up from there.

that way, your truck is paid for. you have surplus cash to fall back on. and if the deal isnt good you can go elsewhere. you can run when you want and where you want and how you want. no one can yank your miles out from under you in the last 6 months of your lease and then take your truck because you cant make the payment.

a friend of mine has two trucks, is an owner/op and contracts to fedex ground. clears $250K a year with the truck he drives. his business partner uses the other truck and clears the same. they set aside half to go towards maintenance, repairs, cpa/taxes, permits, license plates and fees. they usually end up with a surplus at the end of the year. set half in savings for future truck repairs and split the other half and usually walk away with a nice chunk of change. both his trucks are paid for, doesnt owe a dime and he and his business partner are living 100% debt free. own their houses, friend has a c6 z06 that is paid for. no credit cards. they pay cash for everything.

imo thats the ONLY way to do that owner/op stuff. but you have to be disciplined with your finances, your time and your committment to following through.

the truck stops have little magazines with used trucks for sale. im sure the op can find something in there thats affordable and reliable and buy his truck outright.

better for a bank to own the truck as opposed to a company that will gut your miles in the final 6 months of your lease purchase and then take your truck and leave you with NOTHING to show for your efforts and a bunch of frustration and debt.