Buying a truck.. Who should I lease on-to?

Hey Krooser, why do you think i wont get accepted, you dont know anything about me, as for you other negative post, what is the point? there are some ignorant people on here, trucking is pretty simple, have enough money to cover hard times, be reliable, work hard, dont take freight you cant afford to run with, dont keep all your eggs in one basket, network to make new contacts, its not fricking brain surgery, its peoples own attitude that leads to failure, and your attitude sucks Krooser, for anyone here, dont listen to these negative people, have a go at it, with dedication, planning and common sense you will do well.

 

Lansdstar is well known for being very picky in who they take on, and very hard to get signed onto. Plus, they have a requirement of at least one year OTR, which you don't have. I wish you the best of luck, but I doubt that they will take you right now.

As someone who ran their own business in the past, I totally get what you are trying to do. I never worked so hard in my life as when I worked for myself, and did it for close to no money, but never did anything as rewarding. There is something about being able to make your own decisions, and being the one responsible for your future that just can't be filled working for someone else.

You seem to have the belief that you can make it and the willingness to take the risk it involves. That is the biggest hurdle to overcome, and those who lack it are guaranteed to fail. But, if you can grow a pair and try something others are scared to do, you are heading in the right direction.

I'm currently a company driver, but I have my sights set on owning my own truck. I work to learn what I need to and so that my mistakes are paid for by someone else until I have the experience to do things on my own. I have a set plan of steps I need to follow, some of which involve working for other people, but it's always with the final goal in mind. Might be a better course of action for you, but then I really have no right to say what I think you should do with your life.

I wish you the best of luck. You're putting yourself in a position where you can easily fail bigger and faster than the rest of us, but that's also the same spot that could allow you to succeed just as fast.

 

Your lack of experience is the first reason... if you have been paying attention you would figure out that this is the worst economic time in the last 75 years... and now YOU are going to jump into this very tuff business and make it work when thousands of experienced O/O's are having a tough time even when they have a paid for truck and years of experience?

Landstar, like other decent carriers, can now pick and choose who they hire... and rookies have terrible safety records and screw up a lot. Who would YOU hire... a guy with 2,000,000 miles under his belt or some newbie who just got out of school or a company driver with no O/O experience?

My post was NOT negative... it was realistic... read what those of us who have lots of seat time are saying... heed our warnings... this is NOT a deal where you can simply buy a truck and get rich.

Do you think there are tens of thousands of repo's trucks sitting around because business is GOOD?

Go ahead and buy your 'dream' truck... when things go south in mamby-pamby land don't come crying to me...

 

The reason i made the comment, is because i have plenty of experience, maybe you should have asked how much experience i had before you made such a comment, that being said i believe a person with lets say 1 years recent OTR trucking under his or her belt, and some business savvy, would have as much chance at succeeding as you or me with over 20 years, i have been accepted for LS, and today i am picking up my truck, i do not expect to get rich, but i will succeed and i will do well, failure is not an option, LS is not the only option, there may be thousands of trucks sitting around, that is not all due to failure, and the ones that are, well there are many reasons why people fail, i would just like to see a more positive attitude where it is due, but always welcome constructive criticism, and before someone comments on my profile, 7 years trucking here in the USA, 1 year in Iraq, 15 years in Europe, and i am always learning, now got to deal with the stealership, got my eyes on a 2005 freightshaker, 508k miles with a detroit and a 2005 International 9400i same mileage, cat-13, im thinking detroit, have a great week......Rich

im thinking some wires have got crossed here between me and the O/P hence our discussion on Experience.....

 

You have 2 different people asking and answering in 1 thread.

The OP -original poster has 6 months experience.

Brycey1 has alot of experience........

 

follow your dream. but remember the road is FULL of pot holes!!

 

Maby I shoud buy a truck also. I got a extra $300,000 in the bank doing nothing!

 

Just picked up mt truck today, 2005 freightliner century, heritage package, 455hp detroit, 10 speed, 508k miles, gonna get it home in the morning, fit it out, inverter, fridge, cb, xm, spare bulbs, fuses, belts, tools, fluids etc, next week start work, got a good deal on the non trucking liability/physical damage $130 a month, truck payment $1200 for 36 months, includes insurance for 3 years, freightliner select and select extra warranty, new year new job, fingers crossed.........................

 

Congrats on the new truck and being accepted at LS. What type of trailer you going to pull? Guess you will go to orientation at the St Augustine homeless shelter, ask lots of questions, they cover a lot of stuff. Good luck

I can help you if needed, but the main thing to remember is you can say no to freight and you need to. Set your load alerts at a high rate per mile, don't get excited and book several loads in advance(unless they are good) the good stuff is not on the board long, act fast, and learn to think about dollars per week, not miles per week. that advice will make sense after you get started.

Do I know what I am talking about? I was working there before there was a LS.

 

Good post from someone who pays attention and understands trucking. You gave it your best shot Krooser and there are those who will ignore your words at their peril.

This sentence is too true --

but unfortunately it will fall on the deaf ears of those who are already committed to owning their own large car. The OP wanted approval for a decision he had already made and wasn't interested in realism. We've all been there, done that in our lives but maybe not when it came to buying a truck.

I think we'll wait a long time for the answer to your question --

I think that the OP is at the point on the trucking learning curve when many things that he doesn't understand seem difficult or "retarded." I don't mean that as an insult and even though trucking isn't rocket science, the learning curve is steep for the first year. It gets even steeper when we are running our own business. In a year or less, things that seemed "retarded" will make sense and those frustrating tough loads will be taken in stride.

I do wish him best of luck.

Regarding Landstar; I was leased on to them when the OP was in kindergarten. They bought the company I was leased to and soon afterward, I found a thick package in my mailbox. The package contained my brand new "grandfathered" lease with a cover letter that explained that anything that was lined out did not apply to me. They asked that I sign and return a copy of the new lease. Note that my original lease was printed on the front and back of a single sheet of paper, paid me 75% of the load and I was pleased with it.

I was immediately struck by the length of the contract and the number of things that applied to the LSTR O/Os and (fortunately) not to me. The lined out 73% figure and trailer rent (?) was particularly interesting but several other little gimmicky things hinted that it was time to shop for another company. I attached a cover letter to their package indicating that I wouldn't sign, said that I'd stick to my original lease and that I understood that they could cancel it at any time. I didn't hear back from them but I left a couple of months later with no regrets. I stayed with the next company for 11 pretty good years.

I realize that there are people who love LSTR and those who hate them, and that things change over time. I felt neither love nor hate but personally I prefer a more straightforward and less gimmick laden contract.

Almost forgot -- don't lease on to LSTR, buy their stock. Here is a pretty good write up on a reputable site about why it is a good investment. Why is it a better investment than other companies?

That is nice news for LSTR but not so good for wannabe O/Os...