Eagle Logistics Services. Indianapolis, IN

I have no desire to own a seven yr old truck it's not hard to do math after all, ok sometimes u might think I have hard time doing math.....but at 5 year lease and a 65,000 residual sorry call it stupid if u like and disagree.....it's like the resturant that leases space to conduct there operation...they will never own the space,right? This truck is a tool to achieve what I desire which is the freedom afforded a lease operator while also hopefully making a decent weekly income.....stop calling it payments eagleops....your not paying a darn think...u are renting it while it depreciates...that's all! None of mine or anyone else's that leases is buying a piece of anything except a depreciating tool.....and is done all the time...only time u are buying into anything is at the last payment of the residual.......then u own a piece of crap worn out(in my opinion) truck.....lease payments don't get u anything except the exclusive right to use that asset...that's all....

 

Only value of buying your lease truck is if u took very good care of her U know the history,maintenance record and u know every mile she's done...it's the only value I see in it...it's a tool and I use it like one but you have to take care of your tools in the time u have them....

 

Your not paying for anything with a lease anything? Lease option....lease purchase,lease to buy,lol.....it's all nonsense coz not one cent while u are making "payments" goes to anything! U are renting a depreciating asset lol....and some may do it as a "path to ownership" as u call it.....I see it as an opportunity to squeeze dollars out of that truck and put it in my pocket...if u hVe a mileage based lease u play the fuel game lol...u make that truck as fuel efficient as possible! U buy fuel as cheap as possible! U find or get or beg for the longest loads over the flattest God blessed earth u can,and u do the same with light loads...u beg for them,lol......or u run the wheels off of that depreciating asset! That's how u win as a mileage based lease op! And hopefully u do better than a company driver,have more freedom and the power to say NO to stuff you don't want to do! On the other hand as a percentage l/op u still want the same as a mileage based owner,but it becomes less important becoz what is important is getting a better rate! It's a spread game for both,u as a lease op are playing that blancing act,and yes u get to do that in a shiny new truck....I mean after all u are getting paid far better than a company driver. At .92-1.08 plus FSC u take that shiny new depreciating asset and u squeeze your dollars on that spread game.....weather u buy that truck or not to me is irrelevant! It's how u play the game.....

 

EO, heres a question foe ya. Why do we as L/O's get cut on our tolls, Fsc, detention, driver assist unloads ect?? Even if the shipper puts it seperate from linehaul you still take your 25%. We don't get any fuel dicounts, you guys keep that also. And i understand useing the comdata for fuel has a transaction fee, thats fine but $3.50 a pop in network, or 7 a pop out of network. Seriously. Comdatas useage fee to Eagle is no where near that

 

Yep, I think all of that is wrong basically, but those decisions aren't made by me. Won't defend it though.

 

Excuse me if I butt in again. Did I see that correctly, 7 years paying on a truck and trailer that's still going to have a $65k balance? Or is the estimated value of the truck supposed to be $65K at the end?

The former is insane and the later is a pipe dream. Which side of crazy we talking here?

Internationals in particular are on the low end of the resale value to begin with so anyone with a Lonestar running the kind of miles it will take to pay off and still eat is looking at closer to $45k. Might get $50ish from a T680... might.

For EO... $300+ for fixed cost not including truck and trailer payment... mine is $114 a week. In fact my fixed costs INCLUDING my truck payment is only $494.

I'd also like to see an explaination on why Eagle gets 25% of anything other than line haul.

I'm going to toss another conspiracy theory out there... Maybe Quality wanted a bigger price break on truck pricing and tax write-off than they could get without finding a way to get someone to pay for the extra trucks.

 

Some guys don't want to actually purchase a truck. Some do actually use these programs to provide a better living for themselves. Which to me is kinda crazy considering how much more you can make for your business by going with traditional financing.

Some guys actually want to own the equipment. If it's a good program, and you have reasonable payments that are going toward paying off the equipment not just leasing with a residual value at the end that you also have to finance, go for it. Especially if you don't have the credit for traditional financing.

Some guys are just in it to save for a down payment to go get a solid used tractor for 10 to 20% down. In a good program you can not only do this within an 8 month time frame while also beginning a least a 10k maintanence account, you'll also meet your goal faster.

But all these rely on good steady freight and/or negotiating skill. Barring that, a company with direct contracts at good rates. So I guess to answer your question as far as expectations. Some use the equipment, some want to own it outright, others want to stack a few grand and move on, or stay with the company if it's a good fit. Personally, I wouldn't expect more than 6 to 8k profit from any lease program considering the expenses. But considering taxes and non warranty repairs, you had darn well better be profiting at least 6k a month during slow periods, or you're going to fail pretty spectacularly.

 

Lease for 5 years. Then either get financing for the 60 to 75k residual value. That is the contract with quality. If I remember right the lease itself was around $870 a week with everything. When you add the trailer with insurance and a few other things you sign for at Eagle the grand total is around $1,235 a week. But it does get cheaper once you pay down the three escrow accounts. Which take about eight months to do.

Don't ask why three escrows. I don't have the paperwork in front of me. It's in a file at home. But yea lol.

 

Me too.

Truck Payments are $623/week with new trucks, generally $300-$450 with used trucks (varies obviously). Trailer payment is $160/wk for DV, not immediately sure what the rate is on reefer at the moment.

 

Nice. Can't comment on how that compares without knowing things like what kind of equipment you have or what your credit was, but either way, those payments seem perfectly manageable to me.

Don't have one. Like I said, it's not the way I'd do it were it my decision to make, but it's not.

My best guess, and again I stress this is only a guess, is that it relates to the golden rule: The man with the gold makes the rules. Eagle has all the resources to co-sign with someone with no credit and/or no money down so they decide that they get 75% of the total LH. It's not exactly "nice", but it's a luxury that large companies enjoy in all forms of business.

At this point, nothing Quality does would surprise me. Working with them is incredibly frustrating.