Grossing $5k Per Week

Depending on how long he is sitting getting loaded and unloaded it could very well require fudging. But the elog isn't the problem. The low rate is the problem. There is absolutely no reason to run under your own numbers and carry the additional costs and headaches it incurs and run for the rate that guys leased to a carrier get.

 

You also have a lot of wrong assumptions in your post. Im not a lease guy but rather company at Prime, but I still know some of the numbers.

First off, assuming he has the Cascadia its not getting 6,8mpg.. The worst I ever had was 7,7 for a week but usualy it was always 8.0 to 9.0 just depending how the loads were.

Next, Prime doesnt pay full price at the pumps. Thats an advantage of being a mega. The fuel price is usually in the sub $2/gal range. Granted they pay full price at the time of sale, but the diffrence is given back as fuel credits in your settlement.

 

How many months was your $1600 a month and how much did a truck cost then.. Was your loan for 36 months because that would mean you bought the truck for $57k.. Was this 1980? My guess is either you put a lot of money down or it was something like 60 months..

Primes lease or buy loan is 36/months so you are paying for a $150k truck in 2017 in 3 years.. You get a 2017 truck today at 1600 a month that loan is probably 7 years.. or you have to put $50k down,.

Also keep in mind his insurance is in that fixed weekly cost..

 

Based on the posts above, it seems like every lease guy is thriving out there, enjoying 8mpg and mega fuel discounts. Too bad it works out to be a bit different in real life

 

Most mega carriers don't pass fuel savings on to their operators. It's just another revenue stream for them. And it's not as if mega carriers are the only ones who get steep discounts like that. I'm leased to a small carrier and routinely see 30-40 cents off the cash pump price. There are no gimmicks like getting credit for the cheaper price later?? Really? Why? That sounds like some mega trucking company playing 3 card Monty or dog and pony show with operator settlements. The discount we get is immediately on the settlement that hits my bank account in less than 48 hours after delivering the load.

 

Anyone who commits to an $885 a week truck payment is nuts, figuratively speaking of course

 

How much was your first settlement?

 

If Prime's lease program is so great, why aren't you doing it? Just think how much more money you could make

 

I sincerely don't think that the bad part about fleece purchases is on the cost side. I strongly suspect that the cost side is even a little generous (esp on fuel) often. That's how they sell the program.

No you take it in the pants when you agree to haul their freight for a fixed cpm rate that is really ####### low. Even if they are giving you an additional .10-.25 cpm subsidy towards your costs their all in cost (if you view them as a broker, which they effectively are) per hub mile is very low. You aren't being paid much if anything to be a business owner in a lease purchase, and you have NONE of the upside if rates increase. You have no downside if they decrease because you're effectively the same as an O/O who averages 1.50 a mile.

If you're getting 1.15 per mile + FSC as a lease operator your all in cost to the company including cost subsidies will not be over 1.50. This means you are effectively trying to run your business with an expensive truck note (the better to force you to run hard) and an average revenue per mile of ~1.50 (this includes insurance, plates, etc etc). People's cost per mile as an O/O with lower cost equipment is often in the 1.30-1.50 range paying the driver .40 cpm. You've created a situation where starvation is pretty likely is all I'm saying. Yeah some people may tough it out, but there was definitely an easier way to make that money.

Now if someone is offering leases that come with good costs on insurance, fuel, tires, equipment + they let you go out and get your own freight... That would be the biggest source of new O/O's ever. It would also make significantly less money than most leasing operations do today.