ACT...looking good!

Did you not like the lease program? Just curious before I take the plunge.

 

It's like everyone says, you are a glorified company driver that at the end of the lease, if you are one of the lucky ones, you will own it. Keep in mind too that you will have a $10 -15000 balloon payment due in full when you make your last payment. I didn't like the fact that in order for me to make any sort of decent money, I had to be gone from the wife and kids for 4 - 6 weeks. I live west of Fort Worth by 25 miles and very rarely got a load to take me thru the house. It came to a head with my wife, and my wife won. No regrets about walking away, I just wish it wouldn't have cost me close to $3000 to learn that lesson. Before a few people chime in, I only drove 60 mph, and never turned down loads or was late for a delivery or pick up. It may work for you, it just didn't for me. I was not going to loose my wife and kids to a job in which I was a glorified company driver. Just sayin'.

 

As I've said before for some of us it works for some it doesn't. No reason to be afraid to say it didn't work for you. But like he said you can walk away anytime but I wouldn't expect to get the extra back. That's why I don't put extra into it just in case.

 

You got what it takes to succeed I believe and as for me I'm 46 married and my wife will be with me a lot of the time. One boy who is 19, so being away is not as big a deal as it used to be.

 

Kujo, there is not any extra money that I put up in an account, this is the money from my maintenance account and from my $1000 escrow account. As you know, the money that goes into the maint. account is based on the paid miles. I did not put any extra into this account, and as for the escrow account, that is money that is automatically taken out at $75 a week for 13 weeks. This is the money that I have lost. All that I was stating is that it is not just a "walk away" lease, there is a penalty associated with not completing the lease. I personally wanted to make sure that it is known to others that might be considering a lease deal with ACT. Again, I will say that you can make money with ACT, I never once was in the red, but there were times that I had very low checks. My lowest was $171 for the week and I had many $500 checks. For me, I felt as if I were a company driver just making their payments for them and making less then the company drivers with A LOT less home time then them as well.

Just my .02

 

Nice... lucky drivers. Guess they take care of the drivers...

 

Oh I understood completely. I figured they would nickel and dime that maintenance account until it was dead. I'm no fool and anyone that assumes you would get to keep it is crazy. I mean take today for example there are about a dozen trucks sitting there ready to go some company some older leases that were turned back in. I will guarantee those havre been sitting there long enough to empty that fund. But as I said it works for me and I have never tried to sugar coat the fact not all will make it.

 

I don't work for ACT... but looking at it.

Didn't you do any research about leasing and the company before you signed?? Just amazing that people sign and then, well I didn't know that...

I've been doing research and talking to drivers for the past two months now. I usually drive 3.5-6 weeks, come home for two days at the most (can't take more, I get restless and head back to the truck).

You're right, its not for everyone but why not do the research first before you complain about losing $$$ somehow...

 

More choice, the better

 

Let me first wish you good luck, I really wish you nothing but success. Now for your question as to if I did my research. I did my research, and like you I took a couple of months looking into different companies and the lease purchase plans that they offer. I will agree that ACT's plan is tantalizing, and ownership of the truck in the end is attainable with hard work and dedication.

As I have stated in my many posts, go ahead look back at them. There are many. You can make money at ACT, and I did. When I signed on to ACT, I was under the impression from the many drivers that I spoke with that going home or at least thru the house was an easy thing. I discovered the hard way, almost at the sake of my marriage that this were not the case. I was also suckered into believing that the numbers that drivers were throwing around as pay was the norm.

I can honestly say that none of the guys that I went thru orientation with are still employed or leased on with ACT. I guess we were all foolish and didn't "research" our decision before we came to ACT. Maybe it's this, we all wised up and realized that in many cases we would make more money going back to being a company driver without all of the headaches. Heck, some of the guys that were in my class were company drivers, and must have realized that the money to be made driving a truck is in miles and not miles per gallon.

Another thing is this, I was not expecting to get any of my maintenance account or escrow back. I never assumed that I would. What I was trying to get across is that the lease is not a "walk away" lease, you are still liable for the payments that are due while the truck sits there. I was trying to make ensure that any new recruits don't think that it is "walk away".

In closing, I am not sure if this is rumor or not, I have spoken to many drivers who signed onto ACT after I completed orientation, and have been told that all drivers are forced to go to e-logs. Good luck making money while running e-logs. The numbers that a current lease driver talks about are because he drives his truck at 53 -55 mph but logs it at 63 mph. That is how the miles add up for him and he has a lot of recruits which equals big money at .04 cpm per recruit, but he can do it because he's on paper logs. ACT has poor planners and you will find that you sit for hours to get another load, all while your clock is running.

I am not wanting to sit here and bash ACT or any of the drivers that they have running for them. Most of the people that work there are very good people. Somethings work for some, but not others. Just something to think about.

Just my .02