Running with JCT

I'm starting a fresh JCT thread to chronicle my experiences. Be forewarned; this thread might occasionally talk about the benefits of the lease-puchase option I don't want this to become another place to argue about it though. If you failed at l/p somewhere else, complain about it over there. If you're a "real" owner-operator who won't get out of bed for less than $2.50/mile, power to ya! I've seen you post on other threads about why l/p doesn't work and so has everyone else so stay over there and we'll know where to find you. Lease-purchase isn't right for everybody. Lease-purchase doesn't work for everybody. . . even at JCT! I'm just going to try and show you how it has worked for me.

I started driving with JCT in 2011 and it's been a profitable, fun, and frustrating experience! I left a company driver position after 3 1/2 years making a whole $.34/mile. And that is, I think, the perfect demographic for a potential l/p driver: someone with a couple of years of experience looking to make a move up in their driving career. I wasn't sure that I wanted to become an owner-operator, but I wanted to get some experience with little or no risk. Some people have said that l/p drivers are "glorified company drivers". . . like that's a bad thing! When I decided to take a few months off last year to explore the local job market (Las Vegas, home of the $13/hr job pulling doubles and hazmat ) I terminated my lease and turned in my truck. Just like a company driver. No credit ding no hassles. After a few weeks, JCT deposited the balance of my maintenance account, about $4,000, into my bank. The only charges were for an oil change and a detail job. They treated me fair on the job AND after I gave notice, so when I decided to go back OTR, they were an easy choice.

So everything's all hunky-dory, right? Well, no! There is no perfect company. For instance, I was very critical of JCT's lease when I first saw it. They were charging what I thought was an exorbitant interest rate. That's the deal with these "no credit check" companies, everyone pays the same high rate. Since then they have dropped the interest rate to 10% and offer a lease with a mileage plan. My lease on a 2012 Cascadia is $120/week plus $.18/mile. On a 3000 mile week that's $660 - about what I was paying before but with much more going to the principal.

Ok, enough introduction, on to some trips!

This morning I delivered a load of cheese in Dover, FL. Somehow I managed a very user-friendly delivery appointment time of 10:00 am and was empty and available by 11:00. This load was the heaviest that I've had in some time scaling out at 78,900! I lugged it out of Lemoore, CA after a 211 mile deadhead from Carson for a total of 2806 paid miles. (DH miles are paid at the same rate as loaded.) I managed to make 6.9 mpg. Before I made it back to the Tampa T/A, I had a preplan going to Phoenix. With fingers crossed, hoping for a long deadhead, I looked at the shipper address: Dunedin. It's another heavy load of orange juice and it's only 38 miles away! It's 2096 miles paid so it will bring up my ~1500 mile/trip average. Picks up in the morning and delivers Sunday at 03:00, ugh. At least Phoenix is on Pacific time now. I'll be there sometime Friday depending on how long Minute Maid takes to load. Then again, we do a lot of drop/hooks in Florida, I haven't been to this shipper before though. We have a drop yard in Phoenix but I'm thinking that I'm gonna be stuck delivering this myself because of the weekend. Looks like Saturday's a poker day at Gila River!

 

There's a P&L calculator on the JCT website http://johnchristner.com/?r=drivercareers&drv=whyjct that lets you play around with the numbers to get an estimate of expenses and income. Their numbers are right on with mine except that my physical damage insurance is about $30 less than what they have. The truck payment is the big variable. Pretty much everything else, tolls, prepass, lumpers, plates, and road taxes for example, are paid by JCT.

 

Driving thru Tampa this morning I spotted a food truck parked on the causeway. The sign on the side said, "Cuban Sandwiches - Live Bait". Yum!

 

I wish there was some parking! I love Cuban sandwiches! Instead, I got another heavy load. Scaled at 79,120#. Managed 7.3 mpg to Cottondale today.

 

Good run today, 621 miles and four state lines crossed. Tomorrow's plan is 645 miles and zero state lines. . . can you guess which state I'm in? Good fuel day too with these 79k lbs, 7.9 mpg. The cruise control is going intermittent. That seems to be a "feature" of these Cascadias as I've had the same problem before. I'm thinking clutch switch, but nothing I've tried resurrects it until it's #### good and ready. I've cycled the clutch and dragged the brake, but it seems to only work for the first half of the day.

Still running 7.7 mpg for the week with 39% cruise control, lol. Looking at getting an alignment at Arizona Laser Alignment in Phoenix and having them explore an interesting "clunk" sound from the right steer. JCT might offer me a swap though since I'm running over 24 hours early. I've heard some drivers complain about swaps but I love them. They're nothing more than a drop and hook. . . one less live unload that I have to deal with!

Got my quarterly safety bonus this week. At two cents per mile I got $717.06. So the calculator says that I drove 35,853 paid miles for the second quarter. If you're wondering if JCT has miles, there ya go!

Tomorrow's payday. My settlement email today shows me getting paid on two trips for 2635 miles; a little under average. But those short miles reduced my lease payment to $595.02. That's $120 fixed plus $475.02 ($.18 X 2635 plus some unexplained 70-odd cents) from the previous fixed payment of $663. Final answer is $715. A quick look at my fuel log app shows that I averaged about 7.1 mpg that week but on the settlement I got charged for about 65 extra gallons - as if I only got 6.0 mpg. It happens because I don't fuel for my paycheck, I fuel for best profit. So some weeks I start low on fuel and finish with a 190 gallon fill-up. . . it all works out in the end. Next week I'll get paid on the 2806 mile Florida trip so still not spectacular miles but maybe that fuel will even out. Stay tuned, lol.

I'm enjoying this great start for fuel mileage this week, but tomorrow is all uphill and I don't remember EVER getting a tailwind in Texas. . . OOPS, I gave away this answer in the first paragraph! I will happily settle for 7.0 mpg tomorrow but would be surprised to get better than 6.5. This OJ is heavy! BTW, for you fuel mileage geeks, when the cruise works I set it at 65 or the speed limit. Since I set up my Scangauge D and can see my instant mpg's, I experimented with running 62 and 60 and even 57 in California. The increase in mileage isn't enough on this truck to offset the fewer miles I could run if I slowed it down. I still run slow though if there's a monster wind, but "drifting" over the rolling hills off cruise and watching that turbo boost is the most effective way to improve mileage, IMO, YMMV. In this Cascadia, 65 mph is a tad under 1400 rpm which, as I understand it, is near the DD15's max torque. So if there's an engine sweet spot, that must be it. My best mileage ever was with a 21k lb load of tomatoes from Wilcox, AZ to Schenectady, NY. 8.9 mpg! We often get Wilcox out of Phoenix so I've got my fingers crossed, lol.

 

Yes. Approximately 65 gallons of fuel paid for this week but not used yet. At $3.80/gal that's $247 in additional profit for a total $962 for the week. That's still only $.365/mile I know, but it's for a below average mileage week too. My biggest gripe with JCT is the $.90/mile pay rate. It's been at this level for YEARS and is overdue for a bump!