Lease, new or used ?

As @redoctober83 said, whether it’s new or used it should probably still be under factory warranty until the end of the lease. As long as the documented maintenance history looks good it’s all up to you and whether the difference in payment makes a difference to you or not.

My advice would be to pay very close attention to the numbers and the business side of things once you’ve completed your CDL training. During the first phase your CDL Instructor probably won’t talk about it at all because as a PSD (Prime Student Driver) your focus should be 100% on learning how to drive and passing your CDL exam. Once in your second phase of training though your Driver Trainer should be helping you understand a bit of the business as well as continuing your driving education.

Please don’t make a blind decision based on generic potential income numbers. You’re already doing the right thing by asking questions here, so I’m sure you’ll continue to do that when the time comes for you to go solo. There is no right or wrong path, it’s just a matter of what works for you.

 

Prime leasing is a bad deal, it like $1,100 a week ! That's $57,200 a year, unless they are giving the truck for free at end of lease it will be a very expensive truck.

It's also a Walk Away Lease. So you can walk away anytime for any reason. So can they. You could be on last payment and they choose to cancel the lease. Their goes all your payments and truck. Because you never the owner of the truck you just leasing the truck from Prime. They can cut your miles and put you out of business. They don't lose anything because they can just lease your truck to another new driver and he will make the payments

 

Conventional wisdom says not to leave a truck from the carrier. Yes there are plenty of lease purchases that work out ok, but even those are flawed. But putting a driver who has no revenue miles in a lease purchase is criminal!

If you want to be an owner/operator, it is best to fix your credit and save your money.

 

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those that save money and pay attention to their credit scores, and the ones that say where do I sign?

 

The guys that post these threads with "Bobtail Member" status have to be trolling.

There is no person in their right mind who would make a decision to sign a lease op agreement with a company like Prime and they haven't even obtained their CDL yet, let alone haul one load.

Or, are there guys who would do that? Seriously?

 

It really depends on what used trucks are available at the time you're ready enter the agreement. There could be a low mileage truck that would save you a few hundred dollars on your payment. You have to shop, just like with anything. I'm aware Prime is still able to get people to sign on to their leases, but I'm telling you, they have a terrible reputation among drivers. You'll still be forced dispatched, and you'll still have no say over your home time. To me, those are the only two reasons to lease a truck. There are better situations as a company driver for your first year or two as, a driver. You have to learn how to manage your time, to maximize your miles. A thousand mile week as a company driver means a small check. A thousand miles as a L/O means you're now behind on your truck payment. It's ultimately your choice, but think hard on it.

 

It’s just basic marketing strategies from the mega carriers. They advertise $ for company drivers and $$ for lease operators, and someone with an ambitious attitude towards their career jumps on the extra money advertised for lease ops. When you have zero knowledge about how the business side of this industry works it really doesn’t sound like a bad deal. Same driving, more money. No brainer, right? Besides, when you sign on to work with a company as any type of driver wouldn’t you expect to have a dispatcher that has your best interests in mind?

It happens all the time. Some succeed, some fail, some barely survive treading water until they can get out. It’s all about your level of risk aversion and how much research you do into real numbers vs. marketing.

 

Oh yeah, I know it happens all the time. I've been watching it happen since I got into this industry 9 years ago as a later in my vocational life entrant.

I have a personal high level & tolerance for risk taking in business. I ran my own business (unrelated to trucking) for 30 years prior to getting into trucking. However, I didn't even consider becoming a L/O and now an O/O until I had 5 years of experience under my belt.

That's just me...

There's a lot of guys, especially newbies, who come to this forum and read doing their research. I hope they take seriously some of the input from the more seasoned fellows & gals who know what they're talking about over some freaking recruiter who uses high pressure sales & deceptive tactics to get folks to sign on to these programs like Prime has.

How these recruiters can sleep at night, is beyond me.