Prime's lease deal. The math gets done.

As they say, late is late, be it a minute or an hour.

Actually it's not BS. The shippers are demanding something in return for maintaining the level of fuel surcharge that Prime is receiving. In order to do that, Prime has to show savings in their overhead costs. Just as for any truck owner, the largest controllable cost in trucking is the fuel bill. Biz101.

Used truck salesmen and used car salesmen are "kissin' cousins." Show me a low mileage car with a really low price tag, and I'll show you a hidden mechanical nightmare waiting to happen. Trucks are no different.

By the time you lump together all the extra costs of buying a new truck, depreciation and operating it for a three-year period, then the numbers are very comparable when you consider the tax advantages of leasing. You're within a few thousand dollars with the extra on the lease side, including the buyout payment. Both would be three-years old, with comparable miles. At least that's one analysis I've seen from a knowledgeable person. Haven't dealt with a CPA on it, so that certainly isn't the bottom line.

Well, duh! Of course there's going to be some advantage to Prime buying a vehicle, over the individual. Prime buys a block of trucks under a given contract, and gets a price break. Something neither you nor I would merit as an individual. Remember, this is America, and we all get to make money here, even Prime Inc. aka Robert Lowe.

See? You've changed your tune now. In the last post, the "Prime Truck" was a beat-up piece of crap. One can only assume you spoke from experience, meaning the one you drove. Now it's "in better shape than it was in." Oh, yeah, except for the engine. What did you do to it?

That was "mnc" and he was having a bad day. We actually get along really well, and both of us respect each other as individuals and professionals. Which is more than I can say for the way you act over here.

You just figuring this out? You can always tell a good company, because they have a great big jar of Vaseline. The bad one's just have a splintery ol' two by four.

I know.

 

The cliche is,"If the wheels ain't turnin,I ain't earnin".

 

Isnt the whole lease thing about giving you the opportunity and experience to run you own bsiness(truck) I mean is all that extra money prime is getting would that be money you would be spend tooperate your business(truck) if there is a company out there that is leasing trucks for blue book value and paying all exspenses for you and will let you HAVE the truck at the end of the lease can i have their #

 

Yeah! What you said!!! I want their number too!!!

IMO, this isn't a business that just allows you to jump into a truck and become a millionaire overnight. There's a lot of guys out there who think this is the size of it, and crawl away with "their tail between their legs" after it whomps them upside the head with the ol' ego stick.

It's a big step from company driver to lease operator. That step relieves a big chuck of responsibility from you before you make the even bigger step to owner operator. If you can't run a business as a lease operator, how do you expect to do it with the whole load on your shoulders?

I know plenty of lease ops at Prime who are doing well. Most of the guys who come on here whining about how "Prime screwed them," really just did it to themselves, doing things that the successful guys would never dream of doing.

 

Thank you for your words of wisdom. There's nothing wrong with your company making a profit! Leasing provides some of us the oppertunity to be in business for ourselves at a time when we could'nt afford it any other way. If its done smart, we too can make a good profit also. We need to focus on the good and positve, and stop complaining. There are a lot of folks in a lot worst situations then most of us that have a good job with a Good company!
Thats my two cents worth.

 

With cheap frieght rates, very low freight volumes, and all the costs borne by the L/O, how on Earth are you supposed pay a mortgage and keep food in the wife/kids/and your mouths??? I was a very succuessful O/O, but I sold my truck and got out of the game for a few years. I jumped back into the fray with Prime's L/O deal and got #### on royally! It's basic math dumbo! My old monthly Peterbilt payment was what I paid PER WEEK for a half-### used Freightliner at Prime!!! I was in the hole before I started... but of course no one there wanted to admit that. And... of course some guys do well with the L/O program... You're going to get that no matter where you go! These are the illiterate guys that think NOTHING of working 24/7 for peanuts in the hopes that 'it will get better in the future.' These sorry slobs bring home peanuts to their families as well know that can can do no better anywhere else being from places like Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, West Viginia, etc. When they clear $500 in any given week, they're tickled pink!!!! If I wasn't bringing home at least $1000/week, it was time to shut it down - for good. For the hours I put in, if I wasn't making at least a grand a week, I was better off putting in the same amount of time at McDonalds.... at least they pay overtime and offer benefits! Add it up dumbo... if you spend 2 weeks out on the road which comes to 336 hours (yes, you ate, slept, worked, relaxed, babysat and LIVED in that 4x8 prison). Even at minimum wage you would come out waaaaaaaay ahead than the crappy truck jobs offered to the never-ending supply of crappy companies like Prime, Werner, Covenant, Schneider, US Express, PAM, etc.

Sean

 

Some of these fleacers are nutters who absolutely won't give up on the fleece. They have true faith in the fleece and nothing short of divine intervention will change them + a trucker is always right.

Indicator of a fleecer:
3-4 people in a 1-2-3 yr old Freightshaker with a 3 month driver training. More dire are the 1-2yr old trainers.

Fleecer (CRE usually) passing everyone hoping by being faster he can get enough miles to stay ahead of the fleece.

Trucks are usually fairly rough since the fleece takes most of their time and energy. In fact TMCs like to park next to them because it makes a TMC wax job even look better.

 

Finally, a man with common sense posting on this board... or are you an experienced, already fleeced individual who had to learn the hard way???? (Like me... you see, I too was dopey enough not to believe what was written all over the place on these boards, so I too was fleeced by Prime!)

God bless you!
Sean

 

Fleaces are a bizarre irrational addiction for truckers. An older experienced trucker will look at that fleace contract and say -you got to be kidding me. While all the younger guys and ex-company drivers will sign the dotted line with pure joy, fleacing their life away.

=Addictions are irrational. For truckers that fleece is like crack. No use trying to explain the irrational. Look at all those people that smoke $7-8-9 a pack cigs now --> addiction.

 

The MAGIC WORDS that hook the majority of people who get into a (F ) LEASE deal is 500 HP with NO MONEY DOWN and NO CREDIT CHECK.

Not always the companies fault for FAILURES heard of 1 guy who stated he was promised $4,000.00 / week in revenue , but he never realized he had to pay TRUCK / FUEL out of the $ , thats like being offered a $50/hour job then because they take off deductions how brain dead can he be..