My Swift Adventures as a SUCCESSFUL L/O

i used to be a mechanic for swift and this is honestly where I saw most Leasers lose their business. It was truly sad how many drivers would come in and barely even have enough money for a oil change and 90 day. Then I would do the inspection and find major safety issues and the driver wouldn't have the cash to do the repairs. Like the op said, .15-20 cpm needs to be going into maintenance until you have at least 10-15 grand in the maintenance fund.
The guys I saw that were successful with the lease and bought the trucks afterwards all had plenty of cash for repairs and didn't wait to fix the small stuff.

 

Well our accountants must have different perspectives. It seems its applying the same principle as health insurance as pretax money/fee, but its not. It is actually income, you allow someone else to hold, like a savings account. When you use it towards an expense, it then becomes a write off. But still, its your money for you to take and use in anyway you see fit to.

At least, that is the way it is viewed and applied with the accounting firm ATBS that Swift prefers its drivers to use.

I actually did think the same way as your post stated. That's why I asked and found out how the system here does work. It may not be the same way with you, but over here, that is how it goes.

 

It's usually in the high 6's if I am heavy and in mountains, the 7's if I am light with no head winds and hills.

there are so many variables to consider. Weight, hills, headwinds, how you shift, and even sometimes the quality of the fuel you buy can all make a difference.

you'll find out, good luck to you.

P.s. to answer your question, I am at an 8 mpg on this trip, because I am light.

Its a wonderful life!

 

One thing I do not like about people new to trucking getting into a lease ,or becoming an o/o is that most of them do not have a good basic idea of how a diesel truck works. The first thing I ask someone who is thinking about buying a truck is "how many spark plugs in the average diesel engine? & how many gallons of hydaulic fluid does the avetage brake system on tractor trailer take?" If you cant answer this, for gods sake dont go signing a piece of paper obligating yourself for tens of thousands of $$$!

 

It is not a pretax flex spending account, it is not taken out as an "expense" it is simply a deduction from your net. This why we have complete control and access to our funds anytime we want for any reason we want. ... any withdrawals from your maintenance account for maintenance purposes are tax deductible, with corraborating documentation.

Flex accounts are defined by the IRS. Since you and your accountant arrived at this conclusion, I assume you can point us to the appropiate IRS regulation that defines a flex spending account for business puposes.

 

If you want to take advantage of any of the national discounts it has to go through Swift On Road. If you don't have money in your account Swift will take the money out of your settlement until the bill is paid off ... this where a lot of O/Os get in trouble, no account, no saved cash and they have to pay off $3000 in tires, so no pay day until that happens.

 

Well since we are on the subject of money, lets not forget about our $2500 performance bond that we pay into, can't touch and could easily lose if we screw up. haha

 

Do we get that bavk when we finish the lease?

 

The bond is held in an interest bearing escrow account ... I believe you get it back when ever you should leave the company.

I completed my lease in October and bought a truck through IEL. My bond rolled to my new lease contract wiht Swift.

 

Before somebody gets into the lease, how do you find out how many miles you have to run to make a profit, what should you shoot for and what are the benefits of not being a company driver, my husband has ran into people that have said it is the best but others say hellz no! would sombody be so kind as to help me find out what to expect before and after weekly expenses?