Get paid .92cpm or a percentage?

I am sitting here looking at the puter wondering if I should take the time to type what I am thinking. I guess I'm going to.
I read this thread cause its always up in the latest post section. I always wondered why someone would do the lease/purchase deal. Still not sure. I am guessing it has to do with more freedom. from what I gather as a co. driver you are not allowed to pick your own route and have no say when your going to get home. It also gives you the pride in saying yes that is "my" truck over there. All that is ok I guess. But then you say if you dont stay out most weekends and work you cant make it.
I guess I am to much of a home body. The co. I pulled with before my currant co. I only got home about 3 nights a week and every weeekend. That was not enough but I am a family man got 3 kids and a wife that I enjoy being with. I still do not understand why anyone would want to live in a truck all the time. When I was single I wanted all my weekends off. I thought maybe it was because folks did not know there was a better way. I dont think thats the case I think its because its easier than going through the trouble of getting your own finacing. Its alot easier to sign on the dotted line.
You orginaly ask the question is cpm or percentage better. Did you know there is another option out there? The last co. I pulled for I got 100% of the rate and 100% of the fsc I had to pay 400 a week to use there trailer and for them to take care of the paper work. Sit down and figure that out. We hauled multistop cardboard loads out into Oh. that paid $2 a mile and 50 a stop. Then we would drop and hook in Cinci. and head back with a load of beer that paid about a buck and half a mile. They only took 400 a week off that. Thats what I mean about better a way. I make more with the co. I'm with now! But I am just bragging
Sorry if this is disjointed I am home tending to the kids. Its hard to think and deal with a noisy boy.
Anyway I do hope you can make it I dont like to see any one fail at there dream. Swift does not want you to fail either. Good luck

 

Sure did kill this thread. Best keep to myself next time.

 

I understand the appeal of getting into a truck with no money down and no credit check. It can be especially appealing to an inexperienced driver. But to me, it doesn't make sense to pay 4 times the outlay each month to lease or rent a truck when I could by one for 1/4 of the monthly payment of one of these leases. It also never made any sense to go with one of these carriers for less than I could make working for a different type of carrier, such as one that paid percentage. Dick, it is good that you have a couple of years experience. I would say that does give you something of advantage over those who have no experience.

 

You don't have to spend $100,000 to buy a truck. In fact, you can buy a good truck for less than $20,000. And don't tell me that you can't get a decent truck for that amount of money. I have bought several under that amount. The last one I paid less than $21,000 and it had a $18,000 over haul on the engine with less than 100,000 miles. I bought it at the wholesale price. When I purchase that truck some similarly equipped were selling from about $15-29,000. If you have 10-20% as a down payment you should have a small monthly payment. If you check the truck out there is no reason to expect less performance than with a newer more expensive truck. There is a glut of good used trucks on the market. I have owned a number of trucks over the years and have never even come close to paying $100,000 for any of them.

There are more lenders than Lone Mountain. Check with some of the major banks. If you have a 700+ credit score then you should not have much difficulty finding financing. If your credit score is that high then your credit union does have a track record that they can check. Paccar, Navistar and Chrysler Credit all finance trucks that are a different brand than what they sell. There are quite a few other lenders who do truck financing. Perhaps the reason Lone Mountain wasn't interested is due to the high dollar amount you were seeking. Or perhaps they thought you had too much debt. I have no idea why they turned you down, but there are other lenders. You could check with some of the used truck dealers that are not affiliated with major manufacturers. Many of them have alternative financing sources. I don't understand why anyone would want to start out with a $100,000 debt to buy a truck. Start with something you can afford and then you can work your way up to the truck you really want and not have the debt. If you finance $100,000 for a truck you will likely have a monthly payment of over $2,000. And if you can pay 10-20% down then you could afford to pay cash for a good used truck. No lender will front 100% of the cost of a truck, especially to someone who has never owned a truck.

A truck is ONLY a tool that we use to earn money. It doesn't have to impress anyone, nor does it have to reflect our personality. It is merely a tool. A good used truck can make you as much or more money than a shiny new truck. If you think that you only want to have a truck with a warranty, you may want to rethink your position. Having a warranty is no guarantee that a breakdown will be covered. You will still have the big payments whether you are running or not. You could have a wrecker bill and that will usually not be covered. You will lose income if you break down and that is also not covered under a warranty. If you spend a little money having a dyno and oil analysis, check maintenance records, there is no reason to think that an older, well maintained truck will give you less reliability than a newer truck with a warranty. It will also take much of the pressure off to run cheap freight in order to pay the bills.

 

Credit scores

Some folks dint understand the rating so I will give you a brief run down
You have 3 from the three

Equafax , Trans Union , Experian

The rating system goes from
450 ( lowest ) to 850 ( highest )
So 450-850

If your three scores look like this here is how it works they use your MID score also called your
MEDIAN score

If your scores are
645,600,545
Your MID score is 545 and not a good rating

Each bureau rates you 1 score so if your mid score of 545 let's say is experian then you can dispute this by contacting the bureau directly .

I recommend you get a 3 bureau report at least 2 times a year to see how things are reporting so you can stay on top of this

There are also credit management agencies out there that can help you get it right also for a fee

If your mid score is at least a 610 you can get a truck from

Freightliner ( select)
Arrow truck sales

With a 590 you can get
Lone Mountain ( which goes more off your experience )

But all will require money down

2-5k depending on unit

 

A 700 score is great

But only if it's your MID Score

You must see all 3 scores to get your lendable score

Now with saying that ....

Some companies that extend credit only want 1 score and only use 1 bureau which is normally Experian , so it's VERY important all three of your scores are the best they can be because If they only pull 1 bureau it may not be your true dipiction of credit cause it could be wrong or MIS REPORTED

So be sure to check these things regularly

 

Plenty of kids go to college and rack up over $100,000 in debt and still end up flipping burgers. I understand your (and others') trepidation and good advice. The risk these guys (L/O's) take is not unlike that struggle traditional O/O's had to go through (possible financial ruin) gambling on an economical tool to get where they really wanted to be.

I talked to a manager at Arrow, he said with my poor credit I would have to come up with at least 30% down payment. Thankgod it can't go lower than 450 lol.
Semper Fi

 

Besides that down payment, you're going to need enough operational reserve to keep running - even with good inspections, an appearantly solid truck, c.r.a.p. can happen.

So... with more than the minimum down payment, enough money to deal with a breakdown, and... enough to keep you running for 90 days in case of a bad patch - thats quite a bit of scratch to have laid back.