A question for drivers in a lease purchase?

Sounds like you've done research and you have a conscious.. So do you need somebody to tell you "Yea go do it!" Or what?

Listen buddy, I'm gonna put it to you straight, now more than ever is the time in your life when you can take risks. If you can take them when you can fall and get back up, then do so. If not, then dont take them. When you get older, that's when you got to be more rational and paranoid. It's up to you man...all you. Whether you profit or go broke...its all YOU!

 

You claim to want an unbiased discussion. .. but you've framed it as prove to me a lease is worth it, while hanging all the usual anti lease rhetoric on it.

You have a company/employee mindset. To be successful at leasing you have to have a business mindset. If you don't have it, don't try to understand it.

 

With an economy like this,

I'd pass up a lease deal.

 

Really? How could one pass up .92cpm...???

 

That's an asinine statement. There is no mindset the you could conjure that could make operating a truck at .90 cpm profitable.

 

I could include a spreadsheet with all the facts and figures you just requested, but to be honest I think you've already done your homework (good on you BTW; you're already miles ahead of 99.9% of people who go into a lease anywhere).

Your conundrum doesn't appear to be a question of money. You're smarter than the average bear and if it were an automatic loser you would not even be considering it. It seems to me you are looking for a reason to justify taking on the risks and costs associated with leasing versus what appears to be a sweet deal with whatever company you're at now.

So:

When you lease a truck through a company lease purchase program, you are not an owner operator. They will call you an independent or owner operator but you are actually tied to that company. You generally cannot take your football and go play in somebody else's yard (there are exceptions but I talking about the norm, here). They'll tell you you have right of refusal if you don't like a load but it generally doesn't make sense to turn down loads unless they really lose money (and even then you might need to take a hit to get out of a consumer market and into a production market where the profitable freight is). Your mindset should be that you are in fact a company driver who had been given more pay and a little more freedom in exchange for taking on the financial responsibilities of running that truck. In general you WILL NOT, NOT, NOT, I SAY AGAIN YOU WILL NOT MAKE MORE MONEY than you are currently making as a company driver. You will have more obligations and less freedom to take time off (they will tell you you can take off when you want but the truck payment is still due).

So why do it?

1) Tax advantages. As a small business owner you still get many more tax breaks than a company driver. Your fuel, insurance, tools, even truck payment are deductible. You have to file self employment taxes quarterly but a good accountant can help you set up a plan so it doesn't hurt, and you'll likely get a lot of that back at year's end.

2) A decent lease purchase plan ends with you owning the truck. I have several friends who have gotten their titles to their trucks by completing lease purchases (one at Dart, one at Prime, two at John Christner). They each went through a different plan, they all hated it sometimes, and they all stuck with it and saw it through. Each of them had a goal of truck ownership and saw the program for what it is--a path to ownership. It is difficult, it is aggravating, it is an uphill battle, but it is paying your dues and for some the end result is worth the heartache. There are some who trade out every two years because they don't want to own the truck--they figured out the system in their company and just want a new truck every two years (I have another friend at Dart who does that). It all depends on what your end game is. Stirling Moss once said you can have anything you want in life if you're willing to give up what you must to get it. For my friends with their titles, it was worth giving up the money/security/freedom for a few years to own their trucks (all but the Prime driver are still with their companies--the Prime driver retired last Thanksgiving after a few years without a payment).

As I said before, you already have an idea the numbers and they don't look great compared to company. But if you're looking to own a truck, you have to look beyond the numbers to whether the end goal is worth the cost. Without a clearly defined goal, you'll just end up like 99% of all lease drivers and turn your truck back in. I kind of think you should be focused on finding the lease program/company you can live with since they're all slightly different.

I was leasing from Risinger Brothers before health concerns forced me back to a corporate environment (insurance--yet another consideration). I was averaging around $1200/wk before taxes pretty consistently. I NEVER turned down a load, and stayed out 4 weeks at a time, and only went home 2-3 days. While they were not very nice to me when I left, in fairness I have to say they are a good company overall, regardless of my personal feelings about them.

I would be interested in seeing your progress on your journey--try to keep us all posted on what you decide to do. There are many here who will appoint themselves your personal Shepherd and flame you for not obeying them, but in the end you're the one (and your family) who must live with your decision.

Good luck!

 

Good luck in whatever decision you decide Mr. Hollywood. Only you know what's best for you.

 

I agree completely with Captain Zoom. I would go on further to say that after you've ran your numbers, and if it takes 2000-2500 or more miles a week to pay your bills as well as everything to do with the truck than don't do it. You know as well as I do how much the miles can fluctuate in this business. The only exception would be if you landed yourself a dedicated account where the paid miles are the same always.