Going back to OTR with Schneider Lease Purchase!

I just went over my 14 yesterday. Forgot to log out of the truck when I took it to the Carlisle shop for it's first service..

2 whole minutes of drive time with -0:21 on my 14. Maybe I can expect a quick phone call this week about that

 

That's what a driver in my orientation class told me. Our trucks are consecutively numbered and we happened to run into each other at Carlisle yesterday

 

So right now I'm seeing the most debilitating part of this lease is business expenses. I've gotta bring in just under $2400/week just to break even. That compromises my ability to get home and to stay home for more than a couple days. It's still technically the holiday season and I'm hoping things do get better as we get closer into February. But it's harder to find loads crossing the Rockies than I thought. I'm in Columbus right now, heading to Texas then back up to northern Michigan by the end of the week. Gonna be a crap week, maybe $3100 ending on the 6th.

Felt curious so I searched for loads getting close to home, using the maximum 500mi search radius. Found one from Illinois to Reno NV, and I'd presumably try to find one from there back to Salt Lake, or find one going close to Modesto and back to Salt Lake. Problem is the excessive deadhead miles makes it a $1.03 load. After taxes id probably clear $5-700 and that doesn't help my bills.

It's almost like everytime I choose to come home I sacrifice 1 settlement. And if I come home on a settlement that can't pay the truck then I sacrifice 2. Almost kinda wish I could move temporarily to Texas or something at least until the lease is up. Right now seems all the good freight is between the Midwest and Northeast but because I'm trying to move in the opposite direction I find scraps.

In addition I don't have the funds to buy tire chains, and even if I found a good load going home, the weather in Wyoming and northern Utah often turns sour. I remember last year driving rocky mountain sets across I-80 in high winds, black ice and, as Major Grant in Die Hard 2 said, "enough #&@?$! snow to last a lifetime".

I'll probably just end up staying out until early February, cause I've planned some time off then to visit family in California. I've still got some financials to stabilize and staying out of the West keeps me out of chain territory. Maybe once my wife rides along on the truck with me near the end of 2020 I won't feel such a need to return home.

On the bright side at least my coming settlement will look nice!

 

I would have purchased chains on day 1 if I had the money, but consider my situation at the point I was hired on:

I had been terminated from my last job and had gone without pay for 3 weeks. I maxed out all of my available credit just to account for living expenses. I had bought a house 6 months prior and the mortgage played a big part in my credit card usage. My wife and I also bought her a new car a few days before my termination, and that didn't help anything at all.

I recognize I came into this like an idiot, but I feared I wouldn't make enough as a company driver anywhere to cover the bills I've racked up. I knew going the lease purchase route wasn't going to get me out of it quickly or easily but I may have underestimated the difficulty of balancing business and hometime.