Prime's lease deal. The math gets done.

Great post!!!!!!!!!!! Rent a center....lmfao....

I no this,you no this but you can not tell drivers this...Its a no-brainer...

Prime will continue to screw,lie and manipulate people after your long gone..I new these facts years ago when prime hit the circuit.

I just could never figure how could someone really do this LEASE PURCHASE....

Well hell if that is what's out there,i have ocean front property in pennsylvania.wanna lease it from me...rolmfao

 

Problem is, it's NOT a "lease purchase". It's a Capital Lease. At the end of the lease, you have nothing. Well, you get a lease completion bonus, which could equal a few months income, but that's it. You don't own the equipment and it's not available for you to buy. It's taken out of the fleet and placed on the used truck lot which is owned by, you guessed it, Robert L. So, he's able to actually buy a piece of equipment at $X, lease it out for $X times 1.5 or 2, then sell it at fair market value, making about 200% on his investment. Not to mention, all the while, he's making 27% of the freight bill. Not a bad deal, not bad at all. For Mr. L.

 

Great business for ROBERT L....Buy em a drink...Smart man...lol

 

Like I just pointed out to another fellow inquiring about a Prime lease for teams in another thread, if you went to work for Burger King, would you want to lease the grill? But until gullible folks with visions of grandeur finally catch on and realize what a one sided sham this is,(which usually happens when they've been out for 5 months staight living in the truck and running their azzes off, but yet are about to go bankrupt) Mr. L and his ilk will continue to fleece them.And when they do go under, there's a whole new batch ready to jump into the deep end....

 

You may have done the math but all the arguments here are flawed. First, Prime is not a lease purchase it is a straight lease. Even their recruiting CD states that they are renting you a tool with which to d your business. As for "if you work for Burger King would you want to lease the grill?" If you want to "work for" Prime then be a company driver. If you go into the lease then you are like the owner of Burger King who is leasing the franchise.

Most people do not understand the business model that Prime offers to drivers. So let me try to explain it to you. Let's say you want to open a CB shop in your home town. You would have to find a building to rent or lease in which to set up shop. You could buy a building but then all the maintenance costs are yours. You decide it would be better to let someone else cover those so you decide to lease. You contact the building owner and they lease you the building for $3,500.00 per month and you sign a two year lease. At the end of the two years you have paid the landlord $84,000.00 for the opportunity to use his/her building to make money from yur CB business. At the end of your lease the owner decides to sell the building and makes a huge profit on it. Do you have any claim to any of that profit? Absolutely not because you were just renting from him/her.

Prime rents its drivers a truck from which they conduct their business of trucking. The driver pays that monthly amount and Robert L has every right to sell the truck at the end and give the driver nothing. Why? Because he is a mean-spirited person? Absolutely no. He has rented you a business tool, just like the office space and yet retained full ownership rights.

As for not being able to buy the truck, a driver can buy the truck by obtaining financing if the truck has reached a certain number of weeks in Mr. L agreement with the dealership/manufacturer.

So, again, to make it clear to everyone reading this thread. Robert L is not ripping people off. He is leasing trucks from the manufacturer/dealership. He in turn leases those to individuals who wish to run their own trucking business without the headache of ownership (he will even provide a loaner truck if the leased truck is going to be down for an extended period-not going to happen if you are buying a truck). Does he make money off these leases. Of course, he is a businessman and has a right to make a profit (he even works to get freight for these drivers so they can make money too-and those who are business savvy do make money there). At the end of the agreement with a driver, he gives them a completion bonus and the opportunity to lease a newer truck. He then takes the old truck and sells it. Does he make a profit on the sale? Of course and he has every right to ashe is in business to make money. I really have a hard time understanding people who drive trucks to make a living (read, profit) yet complain when the people they work for or sign on with want to make a profit as well. And keep this in mind, if Robert L or Jerry M or any other trucking company owner is not making money they will do what over 2700 owners did last year, they will close the business, put all those drivers out of work andthen how will the drivers make money?

 

Good analogy, except for that part about not having any maintenance costs by leasing. All maintenance and repairs to a truck you lease from Prime are borne by the Lessor, not Prime. Breakdown? Yeah, Prime will advance you the cost of repair, but will take it back weekly. Need tires? Same, same. JB runs over your fender and drives off? Cost for repairs comes out of your pocket at the end of the lease, or when you get it repaired.

 

But in any of those situations, Prime will loan you another truck to keep rolling. If you own or are buying a truck and any of those events occur, you are parked until the truck can roll again. Much less risk in the lease situation than through ownership.

 

Prime also charges you so much a mile for pulling their loads... They have figured out a way to get in your pocket no matter what you do. Comparing a lease to owning out right is not what you make it sound like. After you factor in all the unseen charges with them it would be money ahead to pay the repairs on your own truck.

 

Amazing that I have talked to so many Prime drivers who are netting in excess of $1,200 a week even with the company's had in the pocket. You are a business person there and the things they charge are business expenses. And they work very hard to help each driver become a success. Those who fail didn't run smart. Many who claim they don't get a paycheck it is because they have taken too many advances. And if you have a major collision where the truck will be down for a month or so (which is not unheard of) I would rather have a loaner truck and be rolling than sitting at home with my truck paymentsgoing past due on that truck I am buying. I think someone once said about trucking, "If the wheels aren't rolling the dollars aren't coming."