Crazy question but worth a shot.

rescue349 i don't think people are really trying to be that hard on you, but as far as start up cost for a new business trucking if relativity cheap to get into compared to most business's and buying the equepment is the easy part. this is why banks are reluctant to loan money to first time o/o's even with good credit. with bad credit and not much available funds the only thing your likely to get is ripped off by a program that is designed for you to fail chew you up and spit you out broker than you started with while they capitalize off you in the process.

 

Trucking is a very hard industry, it shows that you have 2 years experiance by your avatar, although that is enough to be a good driver and a great asset to many companies it is on the light side to become a succesful owner operator. If your credit is not in the best of situations than it is probobly likely that you do not have access to the capital you need to be succesful. Things can be very expensive and you have to have a way to pay for it such as a healthy saveings, 2nd mortgage,line of credit, credit cards, ect. If you are in a positon that you can only buy a truck that someone will put you in with poor credit and little money down than chances are it will be an older truck that can need repairs, In this instance do you have a way to pay for things such as a blown steer tire on the side of the road (600-1000), turbo lets go( up to 2000), brake canaster lets go (300-400), you are at a tight reciever and you get a little to far off the driveway and get stuck in the mud and need a wrecker( 500-1000), injector lets go( 1000-2500) or worse, a full in frame can be 12-16000 real quick, and so on. IMO judgeing from the information I have available to me here I would suggest that you stay a company driver for a while longer and go into buisness when you are in a better position. There are many ways that people express their opinions and you may feel that some of them are harsh but if you read through the responses here you will get the same general concensus from experienced drivers and owners, It is not the right time. Also please note that although 102,500.00 is a bit excessive and a bit commical in this thread it is not uncommon to way overpay for a truck in a lease purchase agreement. I wish you the best of luck in what ever decision you make.

 

I called a finance company a couple of months ago that works with a small heavy truck dealer somewhere close by. They told me my credit was fine, but I did not have ENOUGH credit.

Probably because I've never really financed anything in my life, I just pay cash for my stuff and I never go into debt.

I guess that is how I will end up buying a truck, is with cash. Which is good, because I'm too cheap to want to have to pay interest on a loan or lease anyways.

But to stay on topic, remember that having good credit isn't an automatic qualifier for many places, especially the ones that won't charge you an arm and a leg in interest.

 

Weather you lease a truck from a company or buy one from a dealer, have some money in saving first!!, you best bet would be to try and get one from a dealer, in todays economy, you might be able to, Back some years ago, when I bought my 1st truck, the bank wanted some money down, I asked the sales man if he would just put the purchase price a little higher, and show I put that much down, so you get want we agreed upon, and the back thinks I put money down, and he agreed, this was some years back, don't know if they can or will do this now, but cant hurt to ask