Made my decision.... American Central Transport (ACT) it is

Well check out my thread on her called "Life at American Central Trasport" and you can read about it after 8 months. So far I have averaged $.577 in profit after expenses after .07 is already deducted for the maintenance fund and all fuel and truck payments and such is paid.

 

Just out of curiosity what area did you do a search of? Reason I ask is I have access to their BCO board. Most of those good paying loads are probably going to an area where there is no loads coming out of or very very low paying loads coming out.

 

I wish they would put more information on their website. There is much more involved that CPM.

Questions I feel should be answered on the website:

Walk away lease or not...
Any grace period on first payment...
Who pays for tags...
Who pays permits...
Who pays fuel tax...
Who pays tolls...
Size of fuel discounts, and where you get them...
Dry van or reefer, if reefer, who pays fuel...
Lumpers paid...
Paid practical or HHG, or other type of miles...
Paid for every mile dispatched, or have to give up a certain number before pay kicks in, especially if dispatched from home...
Do you have any choice in which truck you get...
Do you get to go over truck to find faults, then have them ALL fixed on their dime before leasing...
What kind of advances...
Do you ever get your maintenance fund back, and is it mandatory...
How much D/H compared to live load...
Average length of haul...
Do you have trouble getting home when you want...
Are you locked in as to where you can get the truck repaired...

Here's a biggie:
How are repairs handled. Are you responsible for all repairs, or do you pay a certain CPM, and all maintenance is covered, including tires...

Without knowing all the above, and then some, it is almost impossible to figure if you can make money on a lease or not.

 

Don't listen to all they nay sayers.....I do a lease through a different company and make great money ( between $1700/$2200 a week after all expenses) If I had listened to all the people that told me a lease was a bad move......not all leases are created equal, some are total BS, but others there is room to make good money. Good luck in your new endeavers.

 

That is a ton of questions but here goes.

Walk away lease? Close to it but not totally. If you leave you are responsible for the truck payment until it is leased out again.

Grace period on 1st payment? No truck payment the first week.

Tags and permits? The drivers pays for them which is about $35 a week.

Fuel tax? Driver pays.

Tolls? ACT pays.

Fuel discount? It depends. We pay a few cents over what it costs the truck stop for fuel at Pilot and a few Loves.

Dry van or reefer? Dry van.

Lumpers paid? Yes by ACT.

Practical or HHG? PC Miler short miles.

Paid miles? You are paid on all dispatched miles loaded or empty with fsc on all dispatched miles. You are not paid to deadhead home but you are paid from home to next dispatched load.

Choice of truck? They will give you a choice if they have more than one to choose from.

Go over truck? Yes you can and they will fix it at their expense then you have 2 trips to get anything else fixed on their dime.

Advances? Allowed 3 advances a week at up to $65 each. There is no cost for them if you get them when you fuel.

Maintenance fund back? Mandatory? it is mandatory and it depends on how old the truck is ranging from .07 to .09 per mile. You get what is left back after a few weeks from leaving.

Length of haul? 700 miles including empty miles.

Trouble getting home? I never have.

Truck repaired where? Their shop or any Kenworth or Peterbilt or T/A,Petro,Wingfoot and a few others.

You are responsible for repairs and tires out of your maintenance fund that the 600,000 mile warranty don't cover

 

I was wondering the same thing but have not been near my computer till this evening to be able to respond to his comments. I was always able to find great paying loads heading to the west or places like Montana, however in order to get back to good freight lanes I dang near had to pay the broker to pull the load.

 

Plus another thing is because of the holiday the loads are paying a real high rate right now because the driver will most likely be sitting on it over the long weekend. I have had access to their boards for about 6 months ago and honestly I am not all that impressed with their rates. I have pretty much figured that to make decent money there you need to run the shorter loads.

 

Polarbear, I did try to get help from Landstar, but due to my short time running for them, they did not feel that I was worth the risk. I can't say that I blame them, I'm sure that they have been burnt in the past.

I completely understand the concerns of the nay sayers, and how they might feel that this is a bad decision. I say that I understand them, but I am not saying that I agree with them tho. There are many paths out there to work towards truck ownership, some are great, some are good, and some are just plain wrong. I'm not saying that my choice is great, but I do hope that with the amount of research that I have done, that I am able to at least say that it was good. What might not work for some people, will work for others and for the ones that it has worked for, they have been very successful.

I do thank everyone for their comments or criticism, and I hope that they keep coming. Orientation starts on Monday, and I will keep everyone posted about my experiences. Take care all!!

 

I agree BK, I did run for them between April and July of this year, and the rates were right around $2.10 a mile with the fuel surcharge. Sounds good right? Wrong. Your pay is 65% of 98% of 100% of the line haul..... Confusing isn't it? Here's how that is figured out.... Subtract the fuel surcharge out of the $2.10, I believe that the average during this time was around .45cpm. So now the line haul is $1.65, and Landstar takes 2% off of the top of that, which brings the figure to $1.61. Now your pay is 65% of $1.61 which is $1.05. Add back in the fuel surcharge and you are being paid $1.50 a loaded mile. The key thing there is LOADED mile. ACT pays .98cpm plus fuel surcharge which I believe is right around .44 or .45cpm, so ACT pays $1.42-$1.43 a mile. All miles are paid with fuel surcharge by ACT, so this argument about the money per mile is a mute point.

Just my .02

 

Just arrived to the hotel this morning. I can say that I am really impressed so far. ACT puts you up in a really nice Holiday Inn. This place has got an indoor pool, hot tub, fitness center, business center, restaurant and a lounge. The breakfast that is provided, at no cost, is full buffet not the traditional continental breakfast. I would suggest that you become a member of Holiday Inn's Priority Club tho. They will give you a $5 off coupon for dinner for each night that you are here. Might not seem like much, but every lit bit adds up.

The only crappy thing about the experience has been the bus trip here, but that is not ACT's fault. We had a very large woman on the bus that has failed to bathe in quiet some time, so it made for a long smelly ride. When you hail a cab at the bus station to come to the hotel, make sure to ask for a receipt from the cabby. ACT will reimburse you the cost of the cab, which is $33 and some change.

Orientation starts tomorrow, so I'll let everyone know how things go. Looking forward to starting tomorrow!!