Leonard's Express gamble

The outfit in KC, that my boss has had his 3 trucks leased to for 3 years, has been starving us out for months. My boss finally drew the conclusion that we have to try somewhere else.

I'm just a driver for the truck owner but I'm willing to try to stick with him and make the move to another lease on outfit. He chose Leonard's Express out of New York. This industry has taught me to be sceptical so I know this move is just a calculated gamble. Could be great, or terrible, or anywhere in between.

Tomorrow morning, I go to get the truck I drive a Federal DOT inspection and then head over to a clinic for the drug test. Then we'll see what they tell us to do next.

When I joined this truck owner 1.5 years ago I thought it would work out well being leased to an all O/O outfit with only 50-60 trucks. But it sure didn't turn out that way, presumably because of the market downturn. Hoping that the much larger customer base at Leonard's Express gives us a more stable situation. I guess only time will tell.

 

Headquarters are in Farmington, NY on I-90. Supposed to be 400 or so power units. I'm not sure if that's just their company trucks or company and O/O trucks. I think they have a handful of locations and several agents spread out across the country.

 

A few of their eastern locations have warehouses from the research I've done. The Headquarters in NY has a trucking school on site so I assume they likely take on students.

 

Good question, and part of the reason I know this is a gamble. As a driver for the truck owner I have limited say in where he chooses to move. I wish he had the financial means to run under his own authority again like he was able to do years ago before cancer pretty well broke him. Part of the reason I chose to stick with him is his heart. It's not easy to take what life has thrown at him and try to rebuild again from scratch. He's done right by me the 1.5 years I've been associated with him and would like to see him succeed.