Lease purchase

What's cold? It's reality. Lease purchase programs are generally a bad idea for the driver. Great for the companies though.

 

I can see why this is in the "bad" forum.....

 

You don't need to do one yet or ever if you don't have some business sense,IMHO you are too inexperienced and statistics say you will fail at it within 90 days,get some time under your belt,I say 2-4 years then look into it,I made that mistake after a year of driving and failed at it,I waited 15 years and took a crack at it again and have been successful at it ever since, I am not trying to berate you,just trying to save you a lot of stress and heartache

 

I have to agree with Tenn I see Trucker on this one. putting a 3 or even 6months experience driver into a lease purchase would only benefit the company you are leasing from. I have over 15 years of experience and I am still finding it difficult to locate a good "Deal". I have never leased/purchased a truck before but due to my credit I am highly considering it now. I agree also with the length of time. U should wait until u have at least 1 full year of experience as an OTR driver. I specify OTR because u typically wont learn as much as u need to know if you are running local or dedicated.

There are way more DO NOT EVER LEASE forums here on T/R but take that info all with a grain of salt. If you have excellent business sense and feel you are really ready then look at your credit score and see if you can get financed from a bank if not then stay away until your credit is better.

Just my 2 cents.

 

It's a shame that all you really hear is how you shouldn't do it. And although I'm NOT 100% against LP. The truth of the matter is that 95% of them are designed to make the company $$$ and don't have your interest in mind.

Now I won't tell you not to do it (but I should). I will ask you to make sure you do your due diligence. I would suggest that you avoid any of these mega carrier LP plans. And I will wish you the best but hope you reconsider. If you do a lease don't think you are going to make $ at $1 a mile. Really do some research.

 

Run a co. truck for a year or two, keep track of every expense of that truck on a ledger , find out how much the insurance is, tags, fuel taxes, any costs associated with repairs and maintenance. Keep track of what each load paid the truck. Keep records like it was your truck. Youll know in time if leasing or buying your own truck would be profitable. More than likely youll discover that being a company driver will pay you just as well without the headaches.

 

You have to remember, THIS IS A BUSINESS, not a higher paying driving job. You need a good down payment, and at least 4-6 months of expenses saved, before considering a L/P. If you have poor credit, no money saved, little experience as a company driver, etc, you shouldn't even be considering it.

 

There's no such thing as a good fleece purchase program. Read the zillion threads warning you.
You've been warned.

 

Don't do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is form of modern slavery. You are attached to that company and will go to hell if they go there. If company is brilliant they will attract decent owner operators anyway and they don't have to offer lease purchase. Those company offer lease purchase who are in trouble or are not doing so well. They might even close business next day and run to Russia.

 

I wouldn't say that. There are lots of people who post here who make a L/P work for them.