My lease adventure

So after three years I finally decided to bite the bullet and go O/O. So here is a little bit about my journey to get here. I started my trucking adventure with some goals in mind. First I knew I would not want to stay out for weeks at a time long term so I set a goal to be home at least twice a month. My next goal was to find out what type of cargo hauling I enjoyed. My final goal was to either find a local job or go O/O. I knew that going O/O right out the gate was not a good idea so I concentrated on my first goal instead.

I started out as a reefer driver for Swift. This only lasted a few months because I didn't like being treated like a number nor did I like being out for 5 - 8 weeks away from home. After all I like many other drivers have a family at home. So I made sure to get everything set up to be able to move on from Swift and started taking the necessary steps to make it happen. I really enjoyed driving all 48 and seeing the sites but home was calling.

After a couple months of putting feelers out I found a company out of Salt Lake City. It was a reefer outfit that was only about 120 trucks so it was a small to mid size company. I got to meet everyone before I even put in an application and I liked what I saw. When I got hired I was told the usual bs about mileage "you will average 10,000 miles a month" yeah I never saw anywhere near that. I was only averaging around $1,300 a month and just could not live off that. So I made several attempts to get more miles and all failed. I even went as far as suggesting a route that was one of our main lanes and would put me at the 10K mark. Needless to say they just ignored it so I started looking for a better fit. After 8 months of working for this outfit I was offered a job with a company in the state I live in.

Ahh Hermiston Oregon the land of ice and snow lol. So this company was a reefer outfit also and only 30 trucks. As usual I was given the speech of 10K, yeah BS again. I naturally just let it go in one ear and out the other. I was more concerned with getting home more frequently. With this job I was out 14 - 16 days and home 2.5 I enjoyed this cycle a lot. This company offered me decent pay at .39 cpm and had a really good extra pay package. Even though I was only averaging around 8k miles a month I was making the best money I made yet. I was averaging $1,700 every two weeks and was happy with that. The people at this company were very friendly and it was a very relaxed atmosphere. I learned a lot working for this company.

By the time I started working for them I was already over a year in the industry and had accomplished my first goal. So now it was time to look into the next goal. I was enjoying running reefer so I started keeping track of my trucks costs so I can see what it takes to run these beasts. The company offered 69% for O/O but did not have a lease program. I was able to save money fairly easily so there was an option to save up and buy a truck. So after several months of saving and watching the numbers I figured out that I did not want to start out my O/O venture with having my own truck and I was also getting worn out on reefer. So I made a change and went to curtianside flatbed.

Man I got lucky with this one. I worked for a contractor of a company based 75 miles from my home, but even better the contractor kept his trucks where I lived. So now I was through home several times a week and on weekends. Of course this resulted in a decrease in pay, but that was ok. I knew I wanted to work here because it accomplished two of my goals, being home more and learning a new type of freight hauling. So I put in a year with this outfit and soaked in everything they were willing to teach me. I learned how to haul flatbed freight and even learned how to do basic repairs and maintenance on my truck. But after buying a house and a new car I was just scraping by so I started talking to the other lease drivers that worked here. I found out it was a good program and after talking to around 20 lease drivers seeing and confirming what they are making I put my name on the company's list.

Here we are now into the lease side of things. No this is not a lease purchase it is just a lease after all I am still not really interested in purchasing a truck just yet. I want to try this out and see if it is a good fit for me first. So after about a month I got a call they had a truck available. I accepted it and had to meet the driver at the repair shop near where I live to get the keys. Yes it was going into the shop lol. My company told me if I see anything wrong with the truck to tell the repair shop and they will get it fixed. Needless to say there were some things that needed to be done because the previous driver didn't take care of this truck. It was a few cosmetic things and a few basic maintenance thins. After a few days in the shop I got the truck and hit the road. I was told that if I find anything else to let them know and they will take care of it. Well I found some minor things and they took care of them. I didn't mind the time off because I was due for a vacation anyway lol.

So my plan with this thread is to give you my numbers and just document some of the things that happen out here on the road. I know there are going to be some trolls on this thread and let me just say this " write what you want I don't care, but I have better things to do so you will just be ignored by me." So far I have had an interesting experience. I have had to weather some bad time and enjoyed some good times. I have had to take some loads I barley made anything on and taken some load that I did great on. All in all I look at the big picture when it comes to the numbers. I can't complain because I was able to stay in the black over the last month. So I just got my first paycheck as a lease driver and I will put the numbers below. Due to when I started and the downtime I only had 5 loads.

Gross earnings = $ 6,683.02
Total expenses = $ 3,025.86
Net pay of = $ 3,657.17
Home Expenses = $ 1600
Taxes @12% = $ 440

Actual net pay = $ 1617.17

This was definitely not an ideal pay period but you have to take the good with the bad. As long as I am in the black that is all I care about. It may not be much money left over but it is more then I made as a company driver even after taking out my home expenses. We shall see what the next pay period brings, but until then stay safe out there fellow drivers and keep them wheels on the pavement and between the lines.

 

What I meant was naysayers that always say leasing can't be done it's impossible you know all that junk. I will always welcome advice and information from other people's experiences no matter what it is good or bad

 

I get paid twice a month and 79 percent

 

8 or 9 days and around 4000 ish miles.

 

Does your 1200 a week include home expenses? My number includes home expences. The main reason for the low number is due to downtime and short month. Had I ran normally I would have gotten a couple extra loads.