Prime inc lease owner ops

I'd say that depends on how you run your business. For someone new to Prime, I'd expect that they would do better as a company driver until the learning curve levels out. At least that's what I've gathered from my own research and the information that's been posted here by those who have 'been there, done that'.

 

...and that's what I tell the newbs all the time. If they think they're headed into a lease, they'd better run company for a couple of years before they jump in the deep end. 75% of the failures occur in the first year - that tells you something.

BTW... if my settlement looks even close to as little as I was making on the company side, I've had a piss-poor week.

 

I'll bet PRIME takes that out of your settlement for you. Just like everything else like maintenance fund etc. Treat you like a child and not a binnizzman.

 

Wanna put some money on that?

What maintenance fund? Sorry to disappoint you, but that's entirely up to the individual - how much if anything to set aside. The do have a tire escrow account that they withhold 1.5 cpm to fund... that's not really enough to cover the bill though.

 

look here buddy, Im 22 years old, i had no chance to build credit or do anything other than get my leg f'ed up fighting for your d@%n freedom before i got into trucking. before you throw judgment on a persons past you need to think about who your going to judge, not throw out a "blanket statement" about them. i had no credit either, now i do. in 1999 you could buy a house without credit or even a job so big whoop on your truck but today that's not the case. i choose to lease because i saw how it worked while in cdl training. i trained on a truck that was bought and paid for through prime as well. and with this lease deal if you nothing it really doesn't matter because if it doesn't work out, you can actually walk away with no problems. finance a truck and fail, have fun trying to get outta dept for the next 15 years while you flip burgers. its great you succeeded with your business, a lot of people started in the 90s and are still doing well, but it doesn't work out that easy now, at least not for people who don't have the income to save for it. i do now, i care less about anybody else.

 

Little defensive by chance?
Your history of being military has absolutely no bearing on this, so I will leave that one alone myself.
Your leg, although unfortunate, also has no bearing on the subject.
You being only 22 and attempting to run a trucking business however, does. By the heat in your reply, and the subjects you chose to talk about, makes it unfortunately obvious to those with experience that you are not ready to be an owner operator.
Sorry, the truth, and proven fact, is that you are already set up to fail. A maximum of 1 yr experience, which I doubt you have yet, is no where near enough to own a truck on their scam arrangement. Yes I looked into it for a buddy of mine years ago, it was a total rip off back then, and it still is.
Only way to get credit is to build credit, and the sad thing is, there is no patience anymore in the younger generation. They want it now, regardless of the consequences down the road. The Prime lease is a scam, like 99% of the lease deals out there. After a few years you may grasp that, if you care to open your eyes to it and view it as a business.
All the best though, and maybe try to not get so defensive in the future? All it does is make the "been there and done it" group of us ignore what you say.

Martin

 

Hello everyone I have a few quick and hopefully simple questions to ask. But first yes I know this thread has been dead for a while, but I don't feel like creating a new one. I started at prime in August. I am about half way through tnt. I have met a friend who suggested we go team lease. My question is two parts. If we went team company for a couple months, then team lease would we be ready? And secondly, does prime allow split team lease? Since this would amount to about half the risk, we were thinking about doing it for a year. I realize that success leasing is very greedy as most in compsny leases are. But with half the monthly payment and almost double the loads it might make sense? Keep in mind we are no simpletons and plan to research every last part of the business end before we jump in. I hope for some good advice on this. Anything will be greatly appreciated. I will respond in a timely manner to any counter questions

 

Emphatically no. Most lease failures occur in the first year of the lease due to lack of experience in trucking, no business experience, and most importantly zero cash to keep the business operating. You folks should plan on driving on the company side for a couple of years to gain the experience and cash necessary to be successful. Read the lease thread...

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...rime/182163-leasing-at-prime.html#post2670387

Yes, but you'll have to form a partnership under a LLC to be legal with the IRS.

Exactly how are you going to do that, since the leases on a new truck are for THREE years? You guys don't have the experience to be taking out a used truck on a short-term lease. Memorizing a pretrip procedure isn't even close enough to the necessary knowledge of diesel mechanics to be thinking about inspecting and analyzing the state of a used truck.

Excuse me? You're not even out of TnT, and you KNOW this? That statement alone tells me you're not ready for this. You enter a contract with Success, and are bound by the terms of the contract. "Greed" has nothing to do with it. Since you've never read the lease (that's obvious) you have no basis in fact to be making a statement like that.

Absolutely none. Tell me, is the level of freight constant during the course of a year? The entire payment comes out of the settlement before you see a penny, as does fuel, maintenance, tire escrow, mileage escrow... whether you get loads or not. And since you have no clue about freight, exactly how do you expect to make an educated guess on any of this?

The deck is stacked against you from the git-go. Industry-wide, 90% of new lease operators fail to complete their leases, and it's more like 75% at Prime... that number is from Success. Most of that occurs in the first year. There is only one way to ensure your success, and it starts with LEARNING how this business works... routing, lanes, operating the truck efficiently enough so that the fuel bill doesn't eat you alive, knowing enough about diesel mechanics and large CMVs so that you can adequately determine your maintenance requirements, knowing something about tire wear, not to mention the basics of accounting and business management takes time. You should both have a minimum of $3,000 in the bank dedicated to maintaining your end of the business.

My recommendation of a couple of years on the company side is purely through the experience of starting a few businesses. You've absolutely got to understand the business before you jump in the deep end. And there is a lot more to it than grinding gears, jamming the throttle to the floorboards, and roaring down the highway.

My advice to you would be to finish training, and take out a team company truck. Run a shadow business, and see if the two of you can generate enough revenue to pay the bills, AND feed yourselves. Not to mention, make sure there is enough compatibility between the two of you that you won't be at each other's throats for most of the day. In a company truck, you can say "Adios" with little consequence. In a lease truck, you are financially married to the truck and each other.

If and when you're ready to start a new business as a partnership, all it takes is one Qualcom message to get you a load routed to your home terminal to ink that lease. BTW... when you get your truck assignment from leasing, ask for an example copy of the lease. Read it until you understand it!

 

First of all, I'd like to thank you for your swift response.

While I may be swimming up stream here, this fish has fins. Although I question your stance that I am ignorant until proven capable, it is undoubtedly due to my equivocal and succinct post. I can assure you my metal hoofed friend that we would not jump into such a decision without being as ready as can be.

Your line of logic that stated I am a trainee therefore I don't know, is somewhat offending and not relevant to my specific situation. Although I have just registered today, I have been reading these, and many other forums for well over half a year. Ive read thousands of posts to date regarding the trucking industry. I'm the type to take in as much information as possible. The only new information I gathered from your post was that we need to LLC before a split lease. I know you're coming from a protective stance and do not want to see a couple of noobies get in over their heads. For that I thank you, I'm sure that post will help many people in the future.

Regarding your comment about "And there is a lot more to it than grinding gears, jamming the throttle to the floorboards, and roaring down the highway." Two days before my tnt I got a trifecta on my cdl, 100% on my backing, day 1 of tnt I taught myself how to float gears. 3 weeks before this I have never driven a manual vehicle or anything bigger than a small SUV. Since day 2 I have been finding more efficient driving techniques. My trainer doesn't like me driving slow (about 58 but I always get over 7.5mpg. Even loaded 78,000 going through some hills. I am a quick learner and far from just a steering wheel holder.

I mentioned we will be going company team for at least a couple of months to make most of our mistakes in that phase. I'm a strong believer in where there is a will, there's a way. I understand that everything from the shocks to air/air ratio to tread type affect fuel consumption. The number one cost of doing business. Speaking of business I have no illusions of treating it like a job, it will be strictly business, not an ATM, and it will be run as such. We both understand entirely the importance of this key fact. We will have $4,000 - $8,000 saved up between the two of us before we sign the lease papers. On top of that will be a permanent weekly emergency fund contribution. So even when freight slows down, or we encounter catastrophic engine failure, we will have enough to tide us over. Your advice about running a shadow business is very good. We have already began doing this by studying the habits and spendatures of our trainers. We have already figured out the optimal speed in which to run these specific types of trucks to maximize efficiency. We have ballpark projected income and expenses mapped out. We have sought advice from numerous l/o's regarding this. Even with a very conservative estimation we stand to make a fair bit more money going this route. Even after breakdowns, insurance, tires, fuel, slow weeks, permits and passes, inefficient driving due to experience level, and home time once a month or two are taken into account. There are many things I could mention that would let you better understand I am not blindly swinging a bat trying to hit a piñata, but that is a moot point. I know there is still much to learn, that is why I am here.

I have to question your judgement on saying that split team lease does not make sense. As far as I can tell, the only reason you say that is because we are inexperienced. Ok, let me rephrase that question. Given that our experience is limited. Would we be better off to solo lease or to split team lease?

My current dispatcher is one of the best (confirmed from several sources) dispatchers at prime. He only does lease, and as long as we don't get any service failures, there is no reason we wouldn't have ample freight. Even when the market slows down.

i thank you profusely for your time, effort, and concern for our financial well being. If i come off as arrogant or foolhardy, it is not due to willful ignorance. I humbly ask that if you choose to elaborate further on any of these issues that it be from a more level ground. Have a wonderful day and be safe out there.

 

I will reiterate, the deck is stacked against you, and the failure rate is very stiff. Get some serious experience first, find out if you even can deal with trucking as a lifestyle (many can't) before you decide to jump. Optimally you want a couple of years so that you have a good idea of how to go about it... very few inexperienced drivers are successful at leases right out of the training gate. This is one of the toughest businesses to crack that there is. And yes, the place to make your mistakes is on the company side.