Lease operator?

From what I have learned the money is the down side. Everything to do with that truck costs money and if you don't have the revenue flowing you are stuck. I have talked to alot of guys who have done the O/O, L/O thing out of the box and their number 1 regret is not spending enough time as a C/O.
I dream of owning my own truck but, I will learn from the mistakes of others and spend at least 1 year as a C/O, preferably 2, then find a mentor to help me establish, THEN I'll ready to take the risk. Also buy a good used truck first and run it a couple years before going new, if you crash and burn (in a business sort of way) a $50k loan is easier to recover from than $150k.
As far as what truck... whatever suits the job for the right price. I will probably be looking at freight shakers or internationals. I have driven pete 379s (didn't much care for them) and kw T2000 & W900 (loved the T2000 but so much $$) and of course the International eagle (not bad for the $ comfy enough). I was once told it all boiled down to purchase price, creature comforts and style, "cause they're all pieces of #### when they break and they are all designed to do that.

 

i have never understood the "be a company driver first" advice

i started as a lease-purchase operator, made money, and then bought my own truck

i tried driving as a company driver (.35/mi) and them dictating everything and i lasted only 6 months,

i wonder how many company drivers ever save enough money to buy a truck? maybe a few, but compare that to lease purchase operators who also made enough money and also were not burdened with the "company driver" mentality that typically ruins the motivation and responsibility to "run a business"

every "company driver" i have met who ever made the switch, first had to overcome the company driver mentality, it was his worst enemy

 

It is simple; you are likely one of the few people who have a real talent for succeeding in this industry, instinct maybe? But those like me and the majority of the O/O's that I've talked to have either started as L/O's or O/O's or spent little time in a C/O position. This is their advice. That is not to say that you won't be successful because you obviously put the lie to that. I think the idea is to work and watch and listen and learn. Next time you sit at a truck stop turn on the CB and listen, I have learned a lot listening to other drivers and O/O's talking about rates, fuel mileage, even how to make contacts and how to keep the truck moving. I personally don't like the whole L/O thing so I plan on going O/O with my own authority, (when I am ready). As far as the C/O mentality thing, I have always conducted myself as though I am a business and my employer is my client, so my biggest hurdle will be to understand how to deal with the red tape (DOT/IRS), but my wife is a business major, so I'll have a readymade manager to protect my interests.

 

i wouldnt buy a new anything, not truck, car, motorcycle

too much money, too little return, but good on tax write offs

a good used truck, whether 1995 or 2003 (pre egr) and run it till the wheels fall off

 

what benefits? thats entirely up to you

some look at the ownership of a truck as nothing but headaches, i love it
some look at lease payments, purchase payments, insurance, registrations, etc as hardships, i look at it as the cost of doing business

some look at getting paid when the brokers pay, or waiting 15 or 30 days as a hardship, i look at it as the cost of freedom

i have no one complaining about my mpg, where i fuel, when i sleep, when i drive, how fast i drive. whenever i hear someone tell me about how much "hometime their company allows" it makes me cringe

grown men letting others tell them when they can go home is repulsive but some seem to like it, i even hear there are owner operators that love elogs

so the benefits are what you see in the larger picture, i cannot tell you what benefits you will see

 

but i do agree that these lease purchase programs are nothing but deception, but when i was a lease-purchase operator, we were able to run as much as we wanted. things may be much different now

the ATA is killing this industry, all in the name of corporate profits

 

again, owning your own truck and leasing onto a company has benefits

the other guy is looking for your loads, deals with DOT issues, and he takes a percentage of the load

all you do is drive, your truck, your plates, your IFTA, everything but your authority, but you are also losing on some of the profit (revenue)

having your own authority is more freedom and responsibility, you can pull any freight anywhere in the country, you negotiate, your DOT issues, you maximize income and autonomy, but you also have to wait 30 days or so to get paid, its a business

what i have found is most drivers who "used to have their own authority" were able to manage when it was run run run, but now since it is more of a business, they lost out in the transition and now they are company drivers, with elogs, making .35/mile and grumpy