What happens to leasers when fuel prices go back up?

It's a trap.
It's a trap even for an experienced driver.
Best to learn about trucking first, while driving someone else's truck.

 

If you use your youtube ##, theres a trucker who made an excel spreadsheet to enter in the lease info and yadda yadda. It will show you whether its worth it for that particular deal and most are not even close to being smart. You are lucky to net $350 a week, may as well go work retail for 9 bucks an hour for that.

 

To answer your question: when fuel prices go up, the fuel surcharge goes up so the revenue earned on loads increases. For people with inefficient trucks, or heavy loads getting less than 6 mpg, the fuel surcharge helps, but doesn't completely make up for the increase in prices. If you haul lighter freight in a truck with good mileage, the price of fuel going up will actually increase your bottom line. Some people in this situation actually hope for the price to increase, because they can pocket the extra money. I believe the fuel surcharge is based on a 6 mpg average.

 

Fuel surcharge increases never go up as fast as they go down.

 

The megas, should be tried for putting a rookie driver in a flease purchase. They wind up making $400 a week, and they pay into a maintainance fund they never get. There are companies who have company drivers and beginers make more than $500 a week. If you don't even have your license yet, you should wait until you have a least a little experience.

 

Can I ask...

As a company driver...can we claim perdiem if we are OTR?

if so, how? Because I asked hr Block and another tax preparer and they asked me for another tax form, not my w2 and since I'm on w2 I can't claim it?

 

I have done some research on L/O from people with various mega carriers and from what I have seen, IF, and that is a big IF, you are successful, you don't make any more money than an experienced company driver from a good carrier once you take into account the extra portion of SE taxes you have to pay.

There are also lots of negatives to L/O being that you are not considered an employee and lose certain benefits and rights.

It is a lot of risk and responsibility without much gain if any.

I think a lot of people do it because they want their "own" truck and they believe they are an "O/O" etc.... I can only imagine the tall tales you drivers are hearing in the truck stops from L/O.

I would only lease a truck if I could pick my own loads from a load board and self dispatch. The more control you have over your expenses and revenues, the better. The more freedom and control you have over your business, the better.

Also, do the math, do the math, do the math.............. get all the information, numbers, expense amounts/items, revenue information, read the lease agreement, contracts etc... and do the math!!

I bet a lot of new drivers are like, "I can make more money mr mega carrier, cool, where do I sign." and never run a single calculation or even read the contract.

Lots of people are 100% against L/O but if I can pick my own loads off a board, self dispatch and the math pencils out to satisfy me, I would do it.

 

You can claim it if you itemize on a schedule A vs taking the standard deduction. I believe you use form 2106. Also, if your company is already paying per diem, don't forget to take that into account and claiming only the unpaid portion if any.

 

Yes, you can claim it as long as your company isn't including per diem as part of your mileage pay rate. Keep meticulous records of your logs showing the days away from home. The per diem rate just went up to $63 a day in October. You can write off 80% of that amount on your taxes as a work related expense.