Need some advice, feel like I got screwed

Hey Ross-Makes me sick when workers get screwed. I hope you fair well. I have been stiffed twice even hauling private for my family. But thats another tread. No matter what I sign; car, house truck-trailer insurance, contracts for product I go a lawyer and have them look at any doc., and give me a summary on things that can hurt, and question them. But reading your thread, when you sign a lease, its most of the time final. Hope everything works out. Mike

 

Sounds to me like you signed a contract without reading it. Now your trolling the internet and mad because you don't want to hold yourself accountable to the terms in the contract YOU signed....

sigh.... Most lease op horror stories seem to come from user error. Did you look over the truck? Do a proper pre trip? I'm pretty dirty and greasy from a simple pre trip usually. If you see me with a clean shirt I either changed shirts after my pre trip, or I didn't do one. I might have thumped the tires.

 

It strikes me that the OP still has not figured out the real problem .
I am sure when he does he will change the title of this thread to " I screwed myself now what should I do ?

I know you don't want to hear this and being broke and in debt because you screwed up hurts.
The cold hard fact is there is nothing you can afford to do about this .
The only one that will get anything out of this mess is a lawyer.
The best thing to is admit you screwed the pooch on this one and suck it up and move on .

It is stories like yours that are the reason that you hear people say don't lease a truck .
The sad thing is that right now there is another poor sap having the same problems with the same truck going to be in the boat you are in .

You can do one of two things you can move on a wiser man because of the mess you got yourself into OR you can be just another whining poor me truck driver .
I hope you learned and moved on because we have more than enough whining poor me job hating people out here already .

Good luck and I feel your pain.
Your future is in front of you not behind you .

 

OP. Sorry to say it sounds like your excitement, to "own" a truck, gave you deer in the headlight vision. The screwing you got was self inflicted.

The money you will lose from this experience is a cheap OJT degree. Learn you lesson and move on. The cost for lawyers to fight will just add to you loss. They have the contracts wrote so you, the person leasing, can't win.

I don't know if lemon law pertains to trucks or leases.
Good luck.

 

Just curious, what does your credit look like? (before becoming a pretend o/o)

Guess it's always easier to point the finger in the other direction.

 

Ross,
What is learned through great difficulty is generally not easily forgotten. I think to be a trucker, you have got to love trucks, and truck driving. Do you really feel at home when you hit a nice Petro or J after you've run hard? Are you comfortable, and happy being dead tired, just getting something good to eat, a shower, and then sleeping like a big dog. If your getting into trucking hoping to just make some huge amount of money, your going to be disappointed.
All trucks break. Brand new ones, will have something come loose, and that can be even more of hassle because it has to be warrantied. OR do you just say the heck with it, part with a hundo, and get moving again? Is it worth losing $250 to save the $100?
You have some very good advice here, from what I read. You can spend thousands on lawyer trying get your money which will net you what? Not to mention the time and the grief, the wear on your body and mind from being upset.
The poster said save up like $30 to $50K then maybe see about your own truck. I'm 5 years into driving, and that's where I'm at with the $30K number. Put an offer on a 12' Cascadia that will leave me $20K in reserve, and I have a $25K credit card, I asked for a 2 year 200,000 mile warranty on the drive train be included, because stuff happens. This truck has an immaculate maintenance record, I searched through more than you can imagine. I picked it because Freightliners are the chevy 350 of trucking, because once again, stuff happens, when it happens, you want the truck that's the easiest to get parts for, and that can be serviced anywhere. Now this is 5 years of no accidents, or tickets. Even with 2 years in, I was dog meat, and didn't get a good job until I got the one I have now, and that was with almost 3 years in. Also I can probably swing this truck, make the payments, and still keep my current job, until I'm most certain I can go for it. This is still a huge risk, cause stuff happens. But this is a position of strength.

Your in a position of desperation it sounds like.

Be a company driver for awhile. Make your mistakes on there equipment. Learn the highways & freight lanes on their dime, they can afford it. There's what I call freight savvy, and its learned, you can't read about it in a book.

There are some good L/P out there, but they are also for people with years of experience. There is a kid where I work that got in because he grew up with the truck bosses son. He's not a good worker by any stretch, and already has 2 accidents. He sailed under a lucky star. Your going to do it like I did if this is what you really want, your going to earn it.

Think about it. Where would you rather be, at the J with a couple corn dogs & a cup of high powered coffee, or at a nice restaurant? See I'm happy at the J. I can eat chili right from the can cold. What about you?

JB Hunt is a great company for company drivers. They will treat you as well anyone. I don't know what part of the country you live in, but they would be my first choice. A guy still calls me when a position opens for a regional driver ( team ) where I'm at. Out for 5 home for day & half, $1000 week, as a company driver. No equipment risk, but I promise you, sure as the sun will rise, the equipment will break, and you will sit for a day or 2, even with a shaker, and you may get $40 or $50 layover pay, but that is the life we choose.

JB also has a very affordable L/P, but its in a very limited area, or I would go there, even at this stage of my career. You really will own the truck at the end, and for you it will be an older Columbia, that won't be real pretty, but will make you money. I'm on the west coast, and if you don't have a DEF tractor, soon you won't even be allowed into CA. Also if you do another L/P get a white one, that leaves you open to all companies. Keep your driving record squared away. Your going to learn more harsh lessons, but that's why its called learning. What is easily learned, is easily forgotten, what is hard learned, is hard to forget. Only one man ever came to this planet knowing, and we nailed him to a cross, so the rest of us could learn.

 

Great post Dave in az

 

I want to be an O/O, I just need a company that provides me with a truck and pays for it when it breaks, then gives me a weekly paycheck.

 

You sound like my youngest brother in law except he wants to alter the truck in his own way , pick his own loads , negotiate his own rates , go where he wants to and sit with his buddies at various truck stops regardless of his schedule