Leasing at Prime

My RPM is limited at 1650rpms. I like this, as it keeps trainees from blowing my engine.

 

question for the l/o have you guys ever got a tractor relocation fee at prime

 

Yeah Id the dh is pretty decent like over 300mi and you are possibly the closest truck to the load or whatever the situation may be I think that's something ice never heard mentioned....probably bc it doesn't happen often

 

Great stuff IP! Have read your thread all the way through & parts of it more than once. Trying to make a comeback after a leasing experience with Stevens a few years ago (which went well by the way due to an approach similar, though not as organized and committed as yours appears to be). Very important to treat your operation as a business & understand all of the elements that affect your viability - and especially your relationship(s) within the company. If you make their life easy (and more profitable as you point out) they LOVE!! you and will give back their best whether in the form of solving a problem you are experiencing or in the loads you receive.

 

Joe, Leasing a truck is a "business" decision and most who fail for get this. So your profits and losses are yours and can be directly effected by how your company treats its L/o's. I did my research and found so far prime has a great relationship between the l/o's and the company folks.

 

Ironpony how much to buy?

 

First of all, let me say thank you for keeping up such a useful and informative thread. I've been considering moving to Prime to lease a truck because Maverick doesn't offer the option for its refrigerated division.

I spent a couple hours last night reading all of the posts in this thread so far. Wow, what a wealth of information! I still have a laundry list of questions, but there is one big one hanging over my mind before I get to those. Now, my question is based on some conclusions I have drawn from what I have read in this thread, and I'm definitely confused about something. So starting off, I'll tell you what my conclusions are, and if any of those are wrong, then my question is invalid. But if they are right, I'd like to hear from the guys in the know about what they think.

From what I've read, if I move to Prime, I will have to do a straight lease first, and then after that is complete I will have the option to do a lease purchase if I have $13,000 down.

Let me say now that I mean no disrespect by asking this, I'm basing this question off of the info I've read so far, and it is not intended to be insulting in any way, and is a 100% serious question.

In a straight lease, what I'm gathering is that you pay a lease payment on a truck for 3 years, after which they switch you into a new truck and strata new lease, while getting rid of the old one.

What I would like to know is, what is the benefit in doing this? As a company driver, I'm making between $700 and $900 per week net, after taxes and benefits and such. If I read and interpreted the numbers correctly, I can expect to net around $1,100 or so doing a straight lease, and that's before taxes. So after taxes, I can expect to net about the same as I am now, but I will be responsible for the maintenance, repairs, and fuel for the truck. But at the end of the lease in 3 years, I won't actually own anything. I'm having trouble figuring out why I should do this.

As far as I can tell, at an average of $800 per week truck payment, I will have paid in a bit over $120,000 over 3 years, and will not own anything at the end of it. And after that 3 years, I start that whole process over again. And in the process of doing this, I'll have to take a significant personal pay cut in order to put enough money back into my business to ensure that even a small unexpected expense doesn't shut me down.

I can definitely understand taking a small pay cut if I were buying a truck, because I am making an investment and after the truck is paid for, my net profit will increase substantially. But if I'm not investing that $800 into buying a truck, what am I paying for? I'm assuming all the risk while paying the company for the truck, and at the end I don't own anything. I've got to be missing something somewhere, and I was hoping you guys could show me the light, as they say.

If I were purchasing a truck, I would likely take a 50% pay cut for the first month or two to grow my operating capital. Being a single guy with no family, no bills, no house, and no vehicle, the only thing I pay for every month is my cell phone, so I can live very cheaply if I put effort into it.

I'm just looking for some clarification, because from where I am sitting, it appears that I would be making a bad decision by getting into a straight lease. From my view, I would be investing $120,000 over 3 years in order to take home about what I make now as a company driver, and then I have to put money away for extra costs, and in the end it would all be for nothing.

Any help would be appreciated... I know I'm probably missing a big piece to the puzzle, and probably look like an idiot for asking this, but that is why this forum is here... For guys like me who miss things