Going to train # c r england....advice??

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Good for you!!! Score yourself one bonus point!!

Simple. You think that just because more people say something and one person says opposite, you imediately go with the vast majority.

Again, how do you know those "claims are accurate? How do you know who exactly was at fault? You dont know, so dont act you are so intellegent in thinking you know the answer.
Another thing, looking at jobs is hardly the same thng as finding out if the girl you are interested in is a total slut before you take her out. I dont think England is gonna give you a STD......

Well, you asked. Apparently you were somewhat interested or you wouldnt have asked.
You're right, it is a lot more expensive than to buy one outright, but I am in no position to go to a dealer and by the truck of my choice. If things dont work out, I dont haveto figure out what to do with the truck, I just take it back, no questions asked.
So what if I cant take this lease truck to nother company. Why would you even think this would be an issue??
It can be done as a solo, you just have to drive and not lollygag around.

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hate to let you down o' high and mighty, but there was no pun intended what so ever.

Again, not the same thing, "BUD"!!!!!

Youre right again, they do. But that doesnt change the fact that you think your opinion is as good as fact when it isnt clearly because you are trying to make an opinion that is based on research other than actually doing it.

Oh, it is, is it??? How is that?
Again, if you work for these people, you shouldnt be placing the blame on no one but yourself. Its not always the "other peoples fault" like so many try to do. They always act like they were the perfect little angel and did nothing wrong.

Well, thers no disclaimer with what I or anybody says. Im just puttin it in plain English with my experiences.

 

I could, but yer right, all the payments we made, we will never see again. But gee, isnt that the same as leasing or renting a house??? Problem is, you and everybody else think I went into this totally without a clue and its not true....

Well, lets see......... I will be debt free and have close to 4 years experience of OTR driving for a start so can have a better chance at getting my foot in the door that pays better wages.

What do you think we're doin right now?? England ain't payin for this truck....the fuel it consumes(well, whatevers left over after we pay a buck 25).............the maintenence............the repairs, we are. We have to treat it as a business or we dont make any money.

First off, define "the way YOU want to". in a little more deffinitive terms....

We can do whatever we want, as long as the load gets to it's destination on time. We can fuel wherever we want, but we choose not to because we get a discount on fuel when we fuel where they say to fuel but we are by no means obligated to. We can take whatever roads or toll roads we choose but again, they pay us for what they think is the shortest route, so we go by what they say to an extent.

####, you're good.

But, the reason the truck is governed is because they have to pay for part of our fuel so although I dont quite agree with it, but I completly understand why the truck is governed, has a fifth-wheel that's "supposed" to not be moved and only has a 9-speed instead of a 13 or even a 10.

But the most important part of this quote, YOU'RE RIGHT!!!!! ITS NOT OUR TRUCK!!!! I NEVER SAID IT WAS OR EVEN IMPLIED IT!!!

Well my friend, I must be doing something right. If I wernt, I wouldnt be dragging this worthless conversation out so much with you people.

Again with the "one year" crap. I may not be as knowledgable as you are but this not my first day driving a truck AND making a living at it so enough with it. I try to listen to the "elders" but its hard to accept advice when people hammer on you like what normally happens when stuff like this comes up.

Again, thats because what you signed up for was long term. We on the pther hand, did not.

Gee, I would hope so. You've been driving for how long, like 37 years???? We've been driving for less than 2...... Atleast I understand why you make more than us.

Okay, you got me on that one for the most part..... But we are running a business for ourselves.

LOL.............

It doesnt take a genuis to figure that one out.

Again, thats YOUR truck. Of course it aint governed.....DUH!!!!!!!!!

I dont think you guys are a bunch of jerks(well some, maybe a little). Maybe if some of you were a little more "constructive" with your critisism and accept my points, I might be a little more apt to listen to yours.

 

............ Jim

 

Alright man, if we're gonna further this discussion, you need to learn to quote properly.

Allow me, if you will.

[ quote ] quoted text [ / quote ] makes this-----

no spaces between the [ and the ]

I really do not care. Its the least of my worries right at this point in time.

Of course i read what i type but apparently, you are not. I'm not saying they are wrong and I am right. In this case, Im saying that just because the "vast majority" agree on one thing, doesnt exactly make it right.

The claims I made about my statements that concern me are true and correct. I never implied that the negative statements from others werent, I just have a hard time believing that every one of those said comments are completley true and both sides of the stories are told.

Well, you sure came off like you did.

No daddy, why dont you explain???

I never said my numbers were privied information. I simply said there was no reason to go into it again because as with happened before, I gave my information and it was still questioned to its authenticity so again, I didnt see the need to disclose it because it wouldnt have proved anything.

How do you figure???

So, you mean to tell me that England focuses on people who they know will fail? I highly doubt that. They present an offer and its up to you to decide if you can live up to those terms. If you cant and you sign it anyway, then you have no one to blame but yourself if it goes bad. Theres no change in the paperwork they hand to someone who does make it work and those who dont make it work.

The reason a bank wont allow someone like that to pursue a big finance of that magnitude is because when you finance, its a whole different ballgame. The bank goes oout on a limb as well and a lot of times, they choose not to take that risk with someone who they feel wont be able to live up to it. In the case of leasing, if it doesnt work, you turn the truck back in and your done with it. You go on with your life.

At this point, no. If things keep going the way they are, I dont forsee anything going in such a direction that I would have to worry about.

And yes, I do know of someone who it didnt work out for and they returned the truck and were done with it just as I explained.

Again, you act like you're signing your life away when you sign a lease and its not like that. There are no ties left to be untied.

Make up my mind? Ummm, there was no change in it. I merely said that its better to team, but leasing solo is possible. Its just more difficult.

Apparently so, since you did a pretty good job at correcting me.....

That the best you could come up with? No fancy, five-dollar bigboy words came to mind??

Dense? No.

Again, you came off with the attitude that your opinion was fact simply on what you have heard.

There was no change of heart. That was clearly stated that if you went ahead and signed the contract when you knew you had second thoughts about it, then you have no one else to blame but yourself.

 

I'm stepping back on this one and taking a different tack.
First of all, as a credential, I am a retired business owner, now driving truck because I WANT to. I don't need the money. I'm doing it as a choice.
I sold my business in 2005, retired, toured the country in an RV with my wife, became bored and decided to do this.
In my former business of more than 30 years, I had more than 100 employees, gross receipts of more than 20 million annually and capital investments of more than 12 million in equipment.
I keep hearing people on this forum spout over and over that 'it isn't really your own business because you never own your equipment.'
I never 'owned' most of my equipment, certainly not the larger printing presses, either.
Equipment, performing assets are there for one reason only: to make you money.
My uncle, years ago, owned a dump truck and bulldozer. He worked those things to death, and when they were paid for, they were about useless. He use to say, "it doesn't matter what you pay for something, or if it wears out. Does it make you money?"
I replaced my presses every 5 years, at the end of their leases. Yes, I leased. The new ones were faster, more efficient and made me money.
When I sold out, I had more trouble disposing of my owned equipment than the leased equipment.
The basic principle is to make money.
Period!
If I can lease a truck for 3000 per month, and return enough to pay all my costs, construct a reserve and take home a profit I'm satisfied with, then that's fine.
What good does it do for me to pay ANY amount....lease or own, if I can't take home a profit I'm happy with?
Yes, you can be in your own business and lease. There are far too many other things to consider before deciding whether to lease or buy.
Consider your gross income source. Where does it come from, how stable is it and can you tap other sources if that one becomes unstable, or otherwise won't produce what you need to be successful.
Personally, I wouldn't consider leasing a primary piece of equipment from a source that will dictate my sole source of income unless there was a performance clause that protected me.
In this business, I would need the ability to pull other loads from other sources if my provider couldn't get me a load.
Just common sense.
If I pissed someone off (and I've certainly done that many times before!)inside my carrier, and they decide to withhold loads just to 'punish' me, where am I?
Up the proverbial creek!
I understand the way most leases in this industry work. They are one sided to the benefit of the trucking company.
The only thing I advise ANY person thinking of leasing their truck from their company is to make sure there is an OUT clause. One where you can walk away if necessary, without penalty, or at least a preset penalty that you can handle.
I know of one company, who's lease allows you to cancel anytime with only a 500 penalty.
If you have that, then you can at least walk away from a deal that may have been ok, but went bad...for whatever reason.
well, that's my two cents worth.

 

I don't think you went in to this without a clue....But the fact that anyone would sign up for such a lopsided bad deal knowing that it was a lopsided bad deal is beyond my comprehension.

Probably not....You might be debt free and have close to 4 years of OTR driving (If you make it that far) But you'll really have no better chance of getting a better paying job than you did going in with a brand new squeaky clean CDL.

Where you gonna get that job?

There are a lot of guys with a lot more experience and knowledge out there looking for "that job" and they're not finding it either.
More than likely you'll be out looking for a job with a screwed up DAC report because some vindictive 20 year old punk in CR's front office likes to put lies and half truths on there just to make life hard for "those scummy truck drivers that leave England"

Yes...You are paying for it and you are not making a decent return on your investment of time, energy or money and you are carrying a heavy liability in case something unfortunate occurs that you are probably completely unaware of.

Any speed I choose to run, Any load I choose to take, Any set up I choose for horespower, Tranny, Gear ratio, Exterior color, Interior options and color, Make and type of trailer, How my trailer is set up, I choose where I want to go and when, If the company that I'm running for pisses me off I just heat gun the sign off the door and take my truck and my trailer and go somewhwere else, If I wanna drop my trailer and bobtail to someplace interesting...I do. I don't have a Qualcomm sending some beancounter info on everything I do, If I want to install a new stereo or piece of equipment on my truck I don't have to worry that at the "end of my lease" I will have to pay for some crook to fix the damage that he might claim that I did installing it, If I want to park my truck and go on vacation for a month (which I sometimes do) I just park it and go because I'm not trying to keep up with a truck payment that's twice the going rate...And finally after the truck is paid for, I still have it! I still make money off of it without a payment!

No unrealistic balloon payment at the end just the title in my name.

No you can't...Just wait till you do something that they don't like!

To a huge extent!

I know.

I get great fuel mileage with an ungoverned truck and have the added benefit of being able to run the speed limit wherever I am...But I pay for my own fuel because I own a business! I don't just pay them for a company truck like you're doing.

And yet you say...You're in business for yourself.

Then it's not YOUR business! You own NOTHING! You have NO real decision making power, You have nothing more to show for it at the end than a company driver for a decent, honorable company would have and you run the very real risk of having CR England do what they're famous for and that is find a reason to terminate your lease, fire you and sue you for all monies related to the finish of your legal, finacial obligation to them per the lease that you signed.

You have so little experience that you don't even understand the extent of you lack of knowledge....And yet you will come on here and tell some poor schmuck that England is great and there are no problems when you haven't even been there long enough to know whether it's a decent company or not!

Finish your lease without any problems and then tell someone it's good...Right now you can't really say because you don't really know.
It's hard for you to take advice from elders because from what I've seen from your posts in the past....You're always right, No matter how wrong you are!

Once again your lack of knowledge of the subject matter glaringly shows it's face!

I signed on to nothing...I bought a truck and a trailer! I was obligated to no one but the bank to make the payments until it was paid for. I could park it in the yard and not turn a wheel and as long as I made my payment, the truck was mine...Now on the other hand I have even more freedom to do as I please because the truck/trailer are paid for and have been for a few years so I work as hard as I want to, Or not!

I have no obligation to anyone but myself and my family because I didn't sign on to anything...I started a business that has flourished and allows me the freedom to do what I want to, When I want to.

Really? Is that how it is?

I've been an O/O (a real O/O, not a fleece op) since I was 19 years old! I have made good money the whole time! (sometimes more, sometimes less) I NEVER believed that just because I had less experience that I should make less money! I never refused loads that I wasn't sure how to haul....I simply asked one of the old timers for some pointers and went and got the load.

When an old timer offered a suggestion about something, I listened because I respected the fact that they had been out here a long time and might know something that I didn't!

Every time ANYONE has ever offered you a suggestion about something...You turn it into a two week contest of wills, You dig your heels into the ground and steadfastly refuse to listen to ANY position but the one that you've chosen.(Like the Foglights thread, The nosing into parking spaces and speeding in parking lots thread to name just a couple)

So forgive us old timers for doubting you when you talk about how great the CR England Fleece is...I'm just gonna believe that it's another thing that you don't know about but have formed an opinion on and you will hold onto that opinion regardless the evedince to the contrary.

No...You're not!

Therein lies the problem...We will not have credibility with you until we accept YOUR points.

Constuctive criticism only works when there is a person on the other end that is willing to accept that he might not know it all...

 

Perfect explanation.
I could not have said it better myself. (I know I have tried lol)
Leasing a truck is not always a pad idea, but leasing from the company that gets you freight is not a good idea.
I think that many drivers sign these leases without ever looking at other options. Like leasing thru a dealer.
Why lease a new truck from a trucking company for allot more than payments on a new truck, when you can lease a good solid used truck for much much less money. Or buy for that matter.
Trucks these days are designed to go 1 million miles without an overhaul, if maintained. They are not worn out at 500k.
But I can buy an off lease high end truck for 35k. It will last for another 500k without much work.
So I pay 35k for the 500 thousand miles I will run it, and I can sell it at the end for 10-15. You pay 120,000 for your 500 thousand miles you run it.
Who has the better margin?

 

Best quote ever. Thanks for making our point.



............... Jim

 

No doubt....

 

Priceless....