Riverside Transport Lease Purchase

Okie dokie leaves the miles for the rest of us....
32% turn over and no trucks just bought over 180 trucks plus 30 more Volvos due in December huh crappy place for sure .....

 

Did you say volvos? Nuff said

 

what was the post? do you have a link?

 

I'm currently leasing at Riverside. Like any other company, it has its ups and downs. After all of the "bonuses," etc., you're getting approximately $1.02/mi. Trucks are warrantied for the duration of the lease. They limit you to Pilot/Flying J and Love's for fuel. If you want or need to go off network, only your assigned (M-F day-shift) dispatcher can open your Comdata card and they charge a $25 penalty. If you work hard, and are willing to accept last minute changes to cover loads (if another driver breaks down, etc.,) they do take care of you, like by allowing moderate sized, long term advances if you hit a rough patch, etc. The office and shop staff is, for the most part, very friendly, and tries to remember you by face, even if there has been no particular reason to learn your name (there are just certain departments that don't have reason to interact directly with the drivers very often, so they may not have had contact with you other than a passing "hello" walking by if you're in the office.) I've been here for a year and a half, and can't even remember if I've ever met the owner, but most drivers are on friendly terms with the Director of Operations. They have several good lanes and large contracts, so miles are decent. Like anywhere else in the industry, some weeks are better than others. I'm solo, and I've had almost 4,000 mile weeks and 1,600 mile weeks. The variable rate program (they have two lease programs) is good for first time buyers because it eases you into becoming a lease-purchase driver and mitigates the risk a bit. It's also a double-edged sword. Truck payments are based on mileage, so, as long as you watch your fuel spending and advances, you're almost guaranteed a paycheck, even on a bad week, and detention/layover/etc. doesn't apply to your truck payment. But, on a really high mileage week, your truck payment might be $1,200 with a corresponding hit to your settlement. The fixed-rate is pretty much the standard you see anywhere else. I'd rate them 3-1/2 stars out of 5. I think that about covers it. If I missed anything, my apologies lol

 

If you decide to try them at a later date, you get better loads/miles out of the Kansas City terminal. Most loads out of Owensboro are less than 600 miles each from Ragu (right across the street.) Lots of heavy loads, which hurts you on fuel costs. Full loads from Ragu and glass jars to Ragu (over 40K each) make the majority of the loads from that terminal. Kansas City has several lanes with much lighter loads...

 

Would you please go into a little more detail about the fuel spending? I've heard that on several posts, but not entirely sure what it means. You shouldn't fill up before a load?

 

No i

No it was comments on the ad that pops up

 

When you're paying for it yourself, filling up should be rare anyway, unless you're in Missouri, Oklahoma, or parts of Texas where it's still relatively cheap. Example: my current load goes from KC area to Chicago and Michigan. Filling up on the way through Missouri so I don't have to fuel in Illinois on this trip. You need to buy a little bit of fuel in every state you run in at some point during the year or they nail you on the annual fuel tax, but for the more expensive states, you want to keep it around the amount needed to cover your miles in that state. General rule of thumb in the rest of the country is 50-75 gal per fuel stop. Only buy what you need. New LP/OOs go broke trying to keep the tanks filled when they don't need that much fuel.

 

How is the Indiana terminal?

 

There is no Indiana terminal. If you're referring to the Indiana plates, many trucking companies rent a mailing address in a state other than where they are located to register there for tax incentives. The actual terminals are Kansas City KS, Owensboro KY, and our "sister company" TLI (Transco Lines) somewhere in Arkansas, with a brokerage office in Chattanooga.