loop hole with leasing or leasing to own a rig

Just to be clear it is perfectly fine to throw crap at Swift. Even the monkeys at the zoo throw it.

 

Well of course! They make themselves such an easy target!!

 

If you go over your hours on your logs you can rest assured that any carrier will notify you. Most carriers will go over logging during orientation. When you go out with a trainer, they should also go over how to properly log. If you don't understand, then keep asking someone until you do understand. Logbook fines are stiff. Some can go over $3,000. Your primary focus at this point should be on learning how to safely do your job. Don't worry about buying a truck until you know more about this business. Get with a carrier and start saving money from each paycheck. Before you know it you will have enough for a good down payment or if you are committed enough, you could save enough to pay cash for a decent truck in a year or two.

 

You can drive 11 hours before having to take a 10 hour break. You also cannot go over a total of 14 hours combined of driving and on duty not driving. Technically, you could drive 14 hours in a 24 hour period without taking any time for fueling or pre trip inspections, etc., I don't know many people who would want to drive that many hours in a day consistantly. You can't really drive 14 hours in a 24 hour period due to having to at least do a pre trip and show on duty not driving for that task. But, it is possible.

 

I used to be just like you. But I didn't have the same idea of owning my own truck right out of the gate.

When I was a company driver I thought I had a great job. My boss would just keep piling on the work and I broke HOS rules on a daily basis. For about 10 months I was VERY lucky to not even get an inspection. I drove an average of at least 4000 miles a week, every week. This is on the short east coast stuff too. Got to the point I would hit the dock, fall asleep. They'd wake me up I would re-do log book, go pickup next load and return to base. Drop and hook and go again. Wore me right into the ground. Now I realize that it only amounts to a few thousand per year at the end of the year. My best year I made 64,500 roughly. I eventually got caught running like this when I was basicly falling asleep behind the wheel and got fines of $850. The next year I ran it the way it should be run and still made about $60 grand. Kind of figured running that hard, you will make the same money in 20 years as 25 say but it will shorten your life because it is so hard on your body.

Now that I run on my own I don't do ANYTHING illegal. When I am looking at loads I already have in my mind how it is going to look on my logbook before the load is even picked up. If they want it delivered in a time frame that is simply impossible I tell them they need to find a team truck. If I take that load and get stopped at the scale, now I have to tell them I couldn't get the job done. There goes ever getting another load from them again. I am even overcoming my fear of the Elog now that I am able to do this.

My advice to you would be to save up at least 25-30k cash in the bank, after your truck purchase. You will need this money to pay for fuel, insurance, repairs, while waiting to be paid for your work. The less debt you start out with in the beginning, the better. If you get to a point where you NEED to use credit cards to get by it will most likely break you. Best of luck.

 

There is always something new to learn and experience. If you ever think that you know it all or have nothing left to learn, it is time to find another career. It is a little different being out on the road than driving on a farm. You will need to learn how to manage your time and pace yourself. I would not try to max out my driving time each day, especially starting out. You will accomplish more by pacing yourself and keeping the drivers door closed than trying to push yourself to the max every day. I rarely even drive 10 hours per day any more. There are a few times every now and then when I will bump close to my 11 hours, but not very often. If you learn to plan your trips you won't usually need to drive that long.