Swift leasing, what’s to come?

Discussion in 'Swift' started by Bigbrad1105, Apr 7, 2019.

  1. snowwy

    snowwy Road Train Member

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    They won't randomly terminate. The common scenario seems to be they starve you out.
     
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  3. SteveH85396

    SteveH85396 Road Train Member

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    I've heard stories but have never actually seen it happen.
    Again, Swift is making money on the loads I haul, WHY would they let me sit?
     
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  4. Antinomian

    Antinomian Road Train Member

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    They aren't going to let you sit. Other carriers may have planners with that kind of latitude but Swift does not. Their planners are measured by how fast they move freight and how long they let trucks sit. And the planner you get depends on where you last unloaded. You aren't at the mercy of a single planner.

    The are two dangers to look out for with a Swift lease. The first is that the program is designed to channel you into the mentor program. They make a lot more off of teams than they do from solo drivers. That's why they take students. And that's why they lease trucks. Swift charges you way more than the truck is worth. They charge high insurance premiums, which you have to buy through them. They don't share the fuel discount with you. They pay a set rate per mile, and you have to book your loads through them. It's only a matter of time before most lease purchasers end up under water and have to take students in order to get out of the hole. The program is designed to put you in that position.

    The second danger you have to worry about is that they really can terminate your lease on a whim. Got a ticket? Turn in your truck. Made a Youtube video we don't like? Turn in your truck. Your financial plans are never secure with a Swift lease. Would a bank take your livelihood away just because you committed a traffic violation? There was a Youtube couple who made a video in which the driver crossed a solid white line at a freeway on-ramp. Swift cancelled their lease and gave them the boot. Sure, it's a violation and you shouldn't do it, but would a bank put you out on the street for it?

    Think about it. What's the absolute best you can hope for with a Swift lease? You pay on the truck for five years, then you have a fifty thousand dollar balloon note. But that's not just any five year old truck. That's a truck that has had five years of student drivers lugging the motor, grinding the gears, and slamming over curbs and potholes. And do you really think you're going to have the 50K anyway? No problem. Swift will take that old truck back and you can start all over again from scratch with a new truck and a new lease.
     
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  5. MysticHZ

    MysticHZ Road Train Member

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    From someone who completed 2 leases, including buy out ... Solo. You have a lot of misinformation.

    One, if you know how to run your business, a solo driver can clear $50k to $60k a year running 40-42 weeks. If you have have to train to keep from going broke, you're clueless ... And there's a lot of clueless l/O's.

    Insurance rates at Swift are dirt cheap ... Including disability less than $100 a week.

    Unless it's a major screw up Swift isn't going to terminate your lease on a single incident. Now if your a serial screw up, yeah.

    As far as price, Swift's cost are pretty much in line with what you could get for an equivalent lease for a new truck from Paccar or Navistar.

    And Swift doesn't get those trucks back at the end of the lease ... Thier leases are pass through and the trucks go back to dealer ... Who then auctions them to used dealers ... Arrow, Lone Mountain ... etc.
     
    dwells40 Thanks this.
  6. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

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    And that is the main disadvantage most people have when they lease a truck.
    They have no idea of how to run a business.

    Swift, and probably any company, will not teach those skills to all the newbies that get stars in their eyes for their 'own' truck.
    They just give the selling points, but never stress the actual knowledge that is required to make it work.
    If they did, there would be far fewer lease drivers out there and far more success stories.

    I am smart enough to do it, but I am not ambitious enough to want to do it.
    There are far more that are ambitious enough, but lack in other areas that make it nearly impossible for them to succeed.
    Company lease programs thrive on the latter.
     
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  7. CK73

    CK73 Medium Load Member

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    Thanks for posting about the Swift lease program. It seems true that we are more likely to see a leasee with a student in the truck and everybody just assumes it is on account of them losing their butt out of desperation.

    My assumption is that like you l/o's mentor for the same reason they lease.. It's a way to make the same or more money and more important.. Take more time off to travel or be with family.
    Flexibility and the control to actually have a life beyond a 34 doesn't sound bad at all and for some the risk is worth it I suppose.
    A means to an end for the most part plus turbo charging net profits for early retirement. Fully training a student should gross about $2500 before the 30k mile bonuses. It's probably even higher for an L/O.

    10 weeks off a year? Hard to imagine..
     
  8. TROOPER to TRUCKER

    TROOPER to TRUCKER Anything Is Possible

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    If you are new to trucking learn the ins and outs while driving for a company.
     
  9. Cat sdp

    Cat sdp . .

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    Who’s IEL.....?

    Swift’s leasing co......
     
  10. MysticHZ

    MysticHZ Road Train Member

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    One of them ...
     
  11. Antinomian

    Antinomian Road Train Member

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    Right. It's because they all buy their first new truck, then immediately think hey I should put a never ending sequence of rookie drivers in it. It's not like there's anything compelling them to do that.

    I worked for Swift for four years. Every single LP I met who had a new truck also had students. When I talked to anyone who had been in the program for two or three years they never had anything good to say about it. The only guys who seemed to be making the numbers work were the ones who bought older used trucks, but those guys were almost never rookies.
     
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