I'm in Springfield!

Sadly enough, he never came back to give the 3 month review. The 6 month review would be nice. Hope the bank didn't take his computer.

 

As of late December he is still at Prime. He pops up occasionaly on a Prime "focused" message board.

 

Trucking isn't just holding the steering wheel. It's one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, of course they're going to show trucking as it is not how you want to see it. If you think is making you want to hate it, then you're in the wrong job already.
You've got to be smart, alert, tactful, a diplomat.

 

I'm sorry chucky, but your 3rd sentence is unreadable. I've tried to make sense out of it but couldn't. Could you rephrase?

 

It is how you make it. If you want to pay a 159K for a Pete 387, then go ahead. I know this price cause a l/o told me it. Also, they are charging interest too. At Prime you have three options;

A) go company
B) go l/o
c) go o/o (englewoodcowboy has 4 or so trucks with them)

I know you for one you could buy a decent truck for half that and still make it. If you have the credit, you can get a decent loan with good payments. Dealers are doing everything they can to get rid of trucks. Ie; you can get a 41K truck for 34K providing if you have the credit.

 

Comparing the lease to buying by solely comparing what it costs to purchase a truck vs. what total of lease payments will be, is comparing apples and oranges.

Leasing is not buying. There is less risk so there is more expense.

Regardless of what business you are talking about, risk always rises with benefit.

First if you don't understand basic business planning you shouldn't lease or buy. You will fail either way.

Second if you don't have at least (comparatively speaking) a journeyman's level of understanding the business you are trying to start you are going to fail.

And finally under-capitalization is the #1 reason businesses fail. If you don't have at least 6 mos. operating expenses in The Bank you will likely fail as soon as something unexpected happens. (like you end up in the hospital and injured for months)

Let's say you buy that 5 y.o. rig for 45k that has 500k+ on it, and have a catastrophic engine failure. I hope you have the cash reserves to pay for a new engine. If not your income is gone and you have a truck payment. That's gonna hurt.

Same scenario with leasing, manufacturer is installing an engine at no cost to you. Prime is also going to lend you a truck while your's is being fixed so you can keep revenue going.

How much is that worth?

Many more examples can be made.

I'm not pushing for a lease as I will be a company driver for the foreseeable future.

But I'll tell you this. If you're not able to crunch the numbers beyond what a truck would cost to purchase vs. what the total lease payments would be, you are unlikely ready to do either.

 

One wouldn't be an o/o if they didn't have money for bad problems like this. A chance to prevent a situation is too get a good warranty on a truck. My advice to the first time truck buyer:

1. Save up till you can get with around 150K miles on it for a good warranty, repairs, etc. (usually there will be warranty left)
2. When purchasing, shop around till you find what you want
3. Do not purchase an ex fleet truck unless you drove it (lastkidpciked is a good example) and know its #### reliable
4. With this economy, make sure you have a good freight base or do not even buy

St.Simeon,

I need proof Prime would give you loner till your truck gets fixed and need proof that you will not have to pay for what you described. I know enough that a engine failure will cost you 25-40K depending on what engine you have. A rebuild for a detroit cost 10-12K on average and I'm guessing prime will make you pay that.

KH

 

If you want proof call success leasing and have them fax you a copy of their lease. Or talk to a current L/O.

I'm reading on another board about a prime driver who just gave his loaner back a little bit ago.

My understanding is your leased truck is under warranty. I can't imagine what kind of warranty doesn't pay for repairs. (especially drive line repairs)

Like I said I'm going company so I'm not all that interested in the finer details. I'm waiting until I reach journeyman level before getting more interested.

I've run my own business for the past 11 years. I'm much wiser now than when I first started.

All I'm trying to do is point out that from what I have been reading on this board a lot of math isn't being done. There is value to lots of things as well as risks. In business you have to risk/benefit analyze everything.

It's not enough to say lease payments are more expensive than purchasing. Really? Wow what a revelation.

Tell me one item of any kind that you can lease, that is the same cost or cheaper than purchasing. Anything at all. Office space, copiers, cars, whatever you like. Pick something and let me know. I have leased all 3 of the examples I gave and can tell you for sure to not bother looking them up, because they all cost more to lease. But there were benefits to leasing them.

Like with the lease cars I was able to write off 100% of payments and maintenance. Best I could do with purchase cars was mileage or depreciated costs. So on the surface it appeared to be costing me more (comparing purchase costs) to lease the car. But when looking at the tax benefits the leased car overall cost me less.

It's all in the risk benefit analysis. You need all of the facts in front of you to see what makes more sense for you.

 

im thinking about going on with prime as a company driver to get my cdl, but im planning on getting my permit and medical done before i go in so i can hopefully just get on the road. if i got my permit here in cali will they start my behind the wheel training

 

Im looking into Prime also, i dont have any experience besides pulling 40 ft goosenecks but as my uncle says thats nothing compared to what he does. anyways im looking into driver solutions with PAM and USA truck or looking into Prime, any tips or pointers i should do?? or any companies that will pay your way through training in the oklahoma region???