REAL numbers in leasing a truck: Read before you consider leasing a truck!

You bit on the troll bait ...

 

And 80% of the load means nothing if there is not guarantee of how many loads you're going to get each week.

 

It costs over $1.00 a mile to drive a truck.(including the fuel surcharge) Subtract $1.08 a mile from whatever it is they are paying is a good guideline.

 

it is what it is

 

Only way I would ever even consider leasing a truck would be if it were a brand new one with a full factory warranty. I'm not signing on the dotted line for a piece of equipment somebody else has done god knows what with.

6.5 mpg might be a little conservative. I was getting 7.2 with a 2013 Cascadia/DD13/straight 10/not sure on the rear ends last month.

Also, you're probably not going to work all 52 weeks of the year. 48-50 is more realistic.

 

When I leased my truck it still had 260,000 miles on the engine warranty. The transmission and rear ends still had almost 500,000 left on their warranty. In all the repairs I had done during that time exactly 1 repair was covered under warranty. It was a whopping $500.00 repair. The difference between my 2 year old truck and a new truck would have been about $40,000 to $60,000 which is more than all the repairs I paid for over the four years of leasing and buyout. My point is that if you get a bit less truck and put the payment difference away in a maintenance savings account you won't stress nearly as much over the inevitable repairs that are going to come out of your pocket. BTW- tires are expensive and not a warranty item, radiators carry a 1 year warranty as well as starters, hoses, belts and most of the emission control garbage.

 

The only way I see something like that working out at all would be husband and wife team, no house, no car, no kids, living in truck and saving most of the money... Then, only then, when the time comes you start getting chocked to death to make you leave without a truck you can maybe finish paying it off... Just keep this in mind: There are no short cuts in life... There just aren't.

Wanna be an O/O? Be a company driver first, build up some cash, buy a truck and become one.
Seen it way too many times, I can't believe this companies keep getting away with such a scam!

 

Respectfully, I disagree on both points.

I run solo, wife and kid at home. I am making it work.

Secondly, leasing can provide substantially more income than company driving allowing you to save money for that truck you speak of. It also gives you real world business experience with minimum risk. A company driver simply will not, cannot run his truck as a true independent business as he is not subject to the costs and decisions a true business owner is. Leasing can be a great foot in the door to true o/o status with very minimal risk.