Need Some Advice

$46,800 per year in truck payment alone. On a used truck.

 

That is a terrible deal. You're talking $3600/mo for a truck payment and assuming 7mpg, which is a mistake. You need to run, not walk as fast as you can away from that deal.

 

Numbers aren't even close.

I wish I was getting $1.07 a mile plus fuel rebate (fsc). An 05 division O/O (solo OTR) gets paid between $2.35-.92 plus fuel rebate per loaded mile. Most of my loads fall in the $.94-.96 per mile range.

7 MPG is certainly doable. My 02 Cascadia has a lifetime average of 7.55. The information is stored in the QualCom.

My fixed costs are $703-718 per week (depending on heavy haul tax) of which $542 is my tractor payment.

 

Another thought. You have no experience yet. Buying or leasing a truck before you know all of the ins and outs of what it costs is a really bad move. You should wait at least three to five years before you even consider it. Cut your teeth, as they say, at Swift's expense, then go out and buy a truck from a dealer or private party.
What Swift, or any other company that offers lease purchases is doing is using you to save them money. You are not an owner operator. Use this simple test to compare before you buy;

1. Is the truck in your name?
2. Can you do what you want with the truck, such as putting the tires you want on it, or adding extras to it, or have it turned up etc. if you wish to do so?
3. If you are unhappy with the company, are you free to lease it on with another carrier if you want to even though it's not paid off?

These are just three of many questions you need to ask before you consider buying a truck. This is the minimum you should have. If you answer no to any of the questions, then you are not an owner operator, but simply a lease driver. The company is using you to save money on taxes and insurance at the least.
The fact that a company "sells" you a used truck, charges you way over what is reasonable for a truck payment, then is nice enough to give you the truck after it's old and worn out is no bargain.
You can buy a truck from a dealer and pay the truck payment, insurance and registration for way less than $3600/mo. It may not be a 2014 model year, but you really don't need one near that new, especially for a first truck.

 

Allow me to explain it in detail:

Don't do it!

 

you would be better off living with a wife beater than leasing a truck. that being said dont do it. sorry for being blunt. be safe out there

 

Yep, you don't want an old truck that you wore out ... you will be much better off going to a dealer and buying a truck that someone else wore out.

 

now that i think about it sometimes i show my wife of 46 years who is the boss around here, let the dog sit in her chair while she is at work.

 

Steve, I understand that $1.07 comes with a FSC about half of what we get. But, they do get paid the same loaded or mt.