Our experience with Success Leasing

Thats all anybody needs to do to figure out what to say when asked to lease a truck. (from ANY company, not just Prime)

You pay for it but will never own it, being the bottom line.

 

I have a friend of mine who is in that lease program with Prime. He pulls a refer trailer. We talk weekly and he tells me that he is doing real well with Prime. He runs as a solo driver and he WILL go up the East Coast even though he doesnt like it...BUT he goes...he doesnt turn down loads and has only been late for delivery 1 time in 3 years..does this have any bearing on the situation...I AM NOT SURE...Is he telling me the truth about it..I see no reason why he would lie to me...
BTW he is single no kids and basicaly his truck is his home..he has a cascadia...didnt spring for the High Dollar Petes.

 

billsgirl

Back in the 90's I worked for another company. A few friends and I were watching Prime very closely. Because they had some pretty trucks out there. Anyhow, we watched 1 truck be lease out to 17 different teams of drivers. One after another loosing their shirts on it. I talked to these teams and they were running hard, watching their speed, fueling & tolls, doing any maintenance or repairs themselves, eating out of their truck, watching their money. And all of a sudden the miles just dropped. I wish your "bill" all the luck in the world with this and hope this ain't whats going on. But it cured me of thinking about it.

 

Leasing has some advantages... part of that lease payment is insurance on the tractor - so it's not like an apples-to-apples comparison with a sale. There is an ACE-II lease where you end up owning the tractor after the three year period as well. The lease payments are 100% deductible on your taxes as a business expense, but you can't do that if you're buying a machine.

It does mean you're driving a vehicle that will always be under warranty.

You do have to have a plan. Drivers who jump in unprepared, and figure that the weekly settlement check is the same thing as a "paycheck" will loose their shirts.

There are no guarantees in terms of loads - and miles don't count - it's gross revenue to the truck that counts on a lease with Prime.

I also know plenty of drivers who are doing well with Prime leases - the teams are doing well, solos are struggling.

 

I know PRIME INC has the walk away lease. Can you and bill switch over to company side of things instead of leasing.

 

I have never worked for Prime, and don't know anyone personally who does. That being said, I have read on here in the past where several L/Os that thought they were getting shoddy loads out of Pittston, and eventually got changed to Springfiels, and things seemed to improve.

It has been a while since I read this, and I am pretty sure of the story. It's worth a shot. No one can live on negative paychecks.

 

That Pittston is the old TRL terminal right? My friend has told me some stories about that place. and none of them good...he is on his second lease right now and said his dispatcher is one the best ones there...sorry I dont have his name..however my friend said that he is on a certian driver board that usualy runs teams but he runs solo. May be you can change to springfield dispatch...it might work out better for you.

 

Switching to Springfield certainly wasn't an option last year - but they were trying to make Pittston work at the time. Most of the old TRL dispatchers are gone now.

My recommendation is still for Bill to get his heiny through the ACE-II course, and have management analyze a months worth of his operating statements. He's got 15 months? That's nothing. Has Bill ever managed a business before? That's why he needs the ACE-II course.