I need some advice on where to turn

Very few L/O's survive financially to complete the lease . The few that do are told the truck they "own" is too old to contract .

 

If you set aside .07 a mile into a maintnence fund that will be enough to cover oil changes, tires and slowly build enough over the time of the warranty on a new truck to cover an in-frame or other major repair..

When I was 0/0 I did .10 cpm..for either maint or equipment replacement/down payment at five years when the warranty ran out..or when the truck was worn out.whichever happened first...

Owner ops have to have both short term and long term plans..there is never such a thing as setting to much aside for expenses..If you don't use it it just becomes "bonus" at the end of the year to you as the driver..or at the end of whatver you are setting it aside for..

Some could get by on .05 cpm a mile towards a maint fund..but i saw that as short sight on their part...Got to plan for the future...

If you don't use the excess thats great but you have to have the self discipline to always set it aside..if you drive around 90k a year...at .10 cpm..thats 9 grand..out of that you'll use between 3 and 5 grand..tires and oil changes, bulbs, minor repairs..(new truck)

If you buy a used truck..up it a little..if you drive that truck for five years and keep that buffer and you have good luck and don't have to do a major repair on the truck you have a nice down payment in combo with your truck trade in towards new equipment..

the more you can pay up front..the less your payments are..the easier you can run..the less wear and tear on the equipment..the less maint you have to do to it..wash, rinse, repeat always

I'd get my settlement..figure out total miles for that two weeks..pay the fuel bill, then before anything else take out the maintnance fund portion...then any other expenses...whatever was left, ten percent went into the company/truck account, the rest I paid to me..the company/truck account was for things like lumpers etc if they weren't already covered..and eventually also included upgrades (apu) and enhancements (chrome and lights..the rides gotta look good LOL)

Petey

 

What did you not like about Diesel Technology?

 

See..this is where they goof up...that paid off lease truck becomes collateral in a trade in for a newer or..if they did the books right with a good solid plan..a new truck

A lot of people that do leases go into them with the mindset of a company driver..its not..its a full blown small business with the Lease operator at the helm..not the company....

I pulled for JCT..leased on my truck..as you know or don't know JCT is all L/O or O/O..there is no company drivers there..period and they always had and as I hear it now..still have more freight than trucks.

They own a chunk of Euro Fresh in AZ too..they invested there to lock into the loads..its all theirs..they broker some out when there are too many for their own fleet to cover at the time sometimes..but they handle it..

The guys that didn't complete the lease were usually the ones that not two weeks after signin would come back to the yard with all the chrome light bars etc on the trucks (with permission of course from jCT) they were blowing their money on it outright. and forgetting about mama at home and then suddenly in binds..

The ones that completed had sat down and created a full blown business plan and figured out the Minimum number of miles they had to run to not only make the bills at home, but have enough for maintenance, their fuel, and all the payments for permits, plates etc..JCT would help with those by breaking them down over time..the smart ones were the ones that as soon as they could (90 days) had an apu put o their trucks..it increased their monthly payment 50 bucks or so for a year but it would pay for itself every month..instead of putting the minimum aside for maintenance they were putting double..JCT required maintenance funds for L/O or O/O at .05 a mile to make sure their loads got where they needed to be..I did .10..I doubled it because I could.

I knew at the time that if I ran 2800 miles a week (not hard to do at all) that the business side was covered as well as at home was covered..completely..including health insurance etc..

Was JCT able to meet that..Well..I've got my 05 books out here..and there was NEVER a week below 3300 miles for a full 7 days of running..highest 4382 miles in one week..full 7 days of running..and that was the week before christmas in 05 and I was home christmas eve/christmas day the week after.

Thats the other part of it..Back then they were running paper logs..I'd get with my dispatcher and say..you know..I'm goin home for a couple of days this next week..I'll need an EXTRA load this week to make up for those to days of no miles and it would get done..I'd usually run a week of drop and hooks between yards...sepulpa to fontana and back and yeah..I was running a bit outlaw more often than not on that run..cali turn arounds are great LOL

Could I do the same with them now on e log? I could with no doubt finish a lease with em and if my first year back goes well I'll be back there doin just that..they are that good of a company to pull for

Could I pull it off with a starter company Lease program..I can say that no..its probably not possible...

JCT's lease (and I've seen the contracts and read em and as to why I'll get to that in a minute) is geared for those drivers who want a truck of their own but not the cash to buy one..the tools for success are there and readily available to the drivers who want to succeed..including an accounting firm they can hire for peanuts back then to help with the books..tire accounts and so on..

The reason I saw the contracts was I had considered leasing one of their trucks as well as my own and hiring a driver..they do allow that and have people that do it and do well..I ran the numbers on it..it was doable..then I got hurt and had enough to worry about on my own. This is why I preach..DON'T LEASE IN TE FIRST YEAR!!!..JCT won't touch you without a clean dac and minimum 1 year of driving experience...even as an O/O

As far as older trucks go..keep good maintenance records..and do the maintenance when its supposed to be done on time and take that with you to the dealer when you trade in the truck...it goes a long way towards being able to negotiate trade in price..kep it clean and keep the interior in the best shape possible....don't cut it up or tear it up adding cb's and kickers etc..those can be dded/installed without hacking an interior..its just like trading in a car..the better condition its in..the more money its worth

There was one guy there on his third truck and third lease..had been drivin for jct for 11 years..he'd pay one off..take it t pete or freightliner and sell it to em..sign a new lease and go again..30 grand in retirement fund or more a pop..the third time John Christner took him to the dealership of his choice and said..spec your truck...He did..John wrote a check..when it came in the guy leased it and away he went..I imagine he finished that one too..

Petey

 

I'm just a rookie myself, but from what I've read and from what little experience I've had.
I think it's best to pay for your own school and then go work for a DECENT mega hauler. Most will reimburse your school.
Forget O/O for at least a few years. Many of these companies have lease programs you can participate in later if you want. Schneider has a good one from what I hear.

I paid my own way, now I work for Schneider. They are paying me back $3500 for my school at a rate of $150/month. Schneider seems to be one of the better mega carriers that takes rookies. My experience with them has been great so far.

I've read these other companys are at least decent...and take rookies.

Roehl Transport
May Trucking
Knight/Squire Transportation
Centeral Refrigerated
TWT ( West Coast )
Swift is hit and miss, depending on your local management.

That's what I've found from my research, mind ya....I have no personal experience so don't just take my word for it.

 

Thank you sir. Yes, it is possible to do L/P.... but ONLY once you have the experience to know what you're doing.

New guys and Wannabe's; this is where most of the failures happen. Being a Lease Op or O/O is a business with all that entails. It's no different than opening a corner store, a bar, etc. You gotta understand basics like bookkeeping, etc,etc. Now, I said understand, not be a pro at it. Hire you a good accountant, etc but know enough to understand what he's telling you.


And puhleeeease, don't rely on what you read off the back of a trailer.