KLLM Lease Purchase

For every successful lease operator, there were probably 5 failures or more. First drive as a company hand to see if you even like the lifestyle. Ding up their truck and transmission for a while til you get your skills on. As you go through your time truckin', do your homework, see how many miles you get consistently, ask and talk to as many truckers about their operation as you can. Bottom line, I think this route to be an owner operator is easy to get into, but a hard way to push that big rock up the hill. Someone else said, save up $20k and get a truck from some other source rather than the company you pull for. That's harder to attain, but would be easier in the long run because you have the option to take the truck to any carrier if you were unhappy for some reason.

 

I am probably one of the few that started driving as an Owner Operator/Lease purchase... I bought used which kept my payments lower & the loan term a lot shorter....Some try to bite off more than they can chew & buy the big brand new fancy chrome rig & end up being a slave to the truck....I said I want to own the truck not the truck owning me...I went into Mayflower transit finance dept with $7,400 that I saved up from what I earned & worked #### hard for & said heres the payoff now go get me the title...I went & took that tractor & hauled auto parts & only ran about 1,400 miles a week I didnt have to bust my #### anymore because I didnt have that 1.241.00 a month payment anymore....If you cant save for a rainy day (breakdowns,tires ect) & for your FHUT,federal & state income taxes ect ect then dont try the owner operator route youll go belly up..

 

Lease purchase was dreamed up by trucking companies that were struggling to get short term financing during the credit freeze of 2008. It serves two primary purposes. 1. It moves business risk from the company balance sheet onto that of the lessor. 2. It slows down the driver turn over rate, thus reducing expenses to hire new drivers.
While lease purchase plans are sold as great business opportunities, none of these companies have closed down their recruiting departments because drivers are beating the door down for a chance at these magnificent financial ventures.
If you want to own a truck, learn the business as a company driver, save your money, then buy your truck from a dealer or individual. That is the only way you can hope to have much say in how your business is operated. The lease purchase guarantees that the company will always profit. There is no such guarantee that you will.

 

This is the only part of your post that is inaccurate. Lease Purchase programs have been around for at least 20 years that I am aware of.

Everything else in your post sounds plausible and may account for the increase in Lease Purchase programs we have seen in the past 10 years.

 

I think going to a local dealer outside of a company is netter. Having a brand new truck isn't needed. You could save at least $15,000 to put on a fairly-priced $30,000 truck. Start from there.

 

Look at Truckpaper.com. Company leases will end your career and leave you in debt.

 

Does KLLM hire student drivers?

 

Yes they do.

I am a company driver for KLLM. I hear good and bad stories about the lease program. The guys making money ask, "where do you hear the bad stories? From the guys sitting in the lounge only willing to take the most top dollar loads."

I also hear lots of complaints about the jackson dispatch. I am regional out of portage indiana and I love all the dispatchers there. (and not just in case they read this... Hehehehehee) Very happy sounding when they take your call. Very accommodating to personal life as well.

As far as going into a lease on day one? Heck, I didn't even buy a CB for a while when I started! Not until I learned a little from research and listening to comments from other drivers, etc...

Mikeeee

 

I'm new to otr but I've done local driving for 10 years the best info I've heard about a lease program is this don't do it you will be paying the company to drive their truck