Schneider Lease-Purchase..

Check out the big brain on Brad.

 

I would like to add one small thing that I rarely if ever hear OR read here in the trucking industry when it comes to becoming an IC.

This is just a post to get some of you to start thinking a little differently about things.

My belief is that most, a very high percentage of drivers, who decide they want to make the jump from company driver to IC still do so on the premise of it being a "job" making more money.

This thought process is VERY incorrect in my opinion.

My opinion is that if you are not becoming an IC to form and create a growing and expanding business, you will most likely become of these negative statistics. The trucking industry is NOT a job but a complete lifestyle that you must "want" to live if you expect to be successful. "Successful" defined as making more then the best paid company drivers while working less.

First, starting a business, any business, is risky. The trucking industry is worse because even the largest of carriers run on a very tight profit margin. The naysayers can argue this but the truth and facts don't lie.

Second, almost all first time businesses run on a deficit for the first 6 months to the first 2 years depending on the industry they are in and how they are managed. Yes, a deficit meaning they are losing money.

Now let's talk about you new "job" you want to start. Becoming the average IC.

You will lease or purchase a truck. Hopefully you have years of experience in the industry or you are a fast learner. They know that unlike a company driver they are responsible for all bills, leases, maintenance, fuel and operating expenses for their truck.

They figure the "risk" is worth the extra money, (on "choice" or choice like programs) more control over the freight they pull and home time and they feel like they are now business owners.

The biggest problem I see in this thinking is that they are starting a business with the thought that this brand new business is going to pay all their personal bills as well as all their business needs.

For this to happen you are going to have to have a few things going on. Either work extremely hard and basically live in your truck; have very little in way of debt and/or personal expenses; have a very loving companion with a pretty good job to help offset the expenses or you yourself have another source of income.

Most ICs look at their settlement after expenses and taxes as their "paycheck".

These ICs are most likely to become failed owner ops, ones that are extremely disgruntled or people that leave the industry all together.

Now let's talk about your new "business".

First all the above statements about the industry hold true. The difference is in the owners mindset.

The owner understands that his business is going to need funding. Those funds can come from revenue, credit or personal funding but their business must remain funded no matter how big the deficit gets.

He also knows that if their business isn't growing and expanding, it is dying. The growth may come in the form of adding on employees, becoming more productive and efficient, adding trucks, operating in more freight lanes, willingness to obtain permits or licenses to be legally able to haul higher paying freight...... The list goes on but you get the point.

When you start a business you as the owner must be willing to make sacrifices for the good of your business. This ultimately means that your settlement after operating expenses and taxes DOES NOT BECOME your paycheck but becomes revenue that you return to your business. This means that weekly you will be making much less then any company driver but you are in the process of creating a lucrative business. You must expand to work less and expand to make more.

Adding trucks, leased or purchased, adding employees both drivers as well as office personnel, and adding your own blood, sweat and tears will allow for working less and making more.

Business models vary, incomes vary, people's attitudes and opinions vary but one thing remains the same. The trucking industry is not for the faint of heart nor is it a very forgiving industry.

Now with all this said, a couple of you may remember a post I posted a few month ago to all the L/P naysayers stating that when I returned back from vacation outside the country that I not only was going to lease, but I was going to show them how it was going to be done with nothing more then my last company paycheck.

Sept 6th is my orientation date. Besides the down payment for my T680 (I didn't want a freightliner) and the fact that I have chosen to incorporate ($408 but you can obtain an EIN as a sole proprietor for free) for other reasons then the industry standard; I will be starting my "new" business with nothing more then my last company paycheck.

I just want to prove it can be done and be done well. Ill start a new thread once the paperwork is signed.

In case anyone is wondering why I incorporated? I'm upping the stakes and eventually taking it internationally. Overseas, not Canada or Mexico

 

Much like YOU left for greener pastures which turned out to be not so green and came back to Schneider????...

I'll give you some advice, working for Schneider is just like hitting the easy button over and over...I work 3-5 days a week, bring home anywhere from $1500 to $2700 gross, and take off as long as I want...

That pasture is pretty green for me, I'm good right now....

Roll on....

 

Excellent post....

As far as what you said about me, spot on...

I have decided for now to stay in trucking, I am purchasing the truck I am currently leasing...

I decided against purchasing the local business, too much financial risk at this time...

I interviewed for two local jobs and was offered both, but the pay cut was too great. I was offered less than half of what I make currently as an IC. So for my area driving a truck on Choice is my best financial option.... Right now...

Roll on.... For now....

 

Nah that was my mistake...I can admit when I was wrong.. When I left I should've went to do flat at a flatbed company not Van...I would've never came back.. Because seeing the flatbed rates at Mercer compared to the van rates here is almost 2x more per load.. So it's definitely greener pastures you just have to come out of your comfort zone which some of us including myself have a problem with...

 

I don’t gross $70K. I don’t get my health care through the company resources. I take care of that myself. Most of the companies around here run East to West coast and run teams. The solo drivers are regional or local and don’t make enough money. I am looking at a local company to be home daily, but I am not liking what I see.


I appreciate the information. Thank you.

 

My net trucking income last year was 84k.

I ran my tail off true.

Hometime is my #1 motivation but I still earn.

And I look good doing it. Well my truck does.

 

Maybe I just don’t understand the business well enough, I’m not sure, but I would imagine these companies would want the IC to succeed. The better the IC does, the better the major company does.


So, do they (and if not maybe they should) provide additional training during orientation? Make sure these folks know exactly what they should be doing and how to get it done properly. The bottom line for everyone in business is profit and success. Give the IC everything he or she could use to be a success. If that happened, more people would want to be part of the program and the main company would boom, take over the industry as its leader, and make bank.


I would much rather sit an extra week in orientation learning how to be a real success at it than to not have that week, learn from costly mistakes, and possible have my business fail.

 

A lot of companies would rather keep re-leasing the same truck to the never ending line of suckers. If the driver actually payed off the truck, they would lose that additional revenue.

A few days is all it takes to get the next dupe in the seat after the first one goes home bankrupt.

 

While I agree with your comment go to also take into consideration a lot of these fools who get into these lease programs couldn't manage a personal bank account so therefore there's no way they'd be able to manage a business and a vast majority of them do not look at it as running a business... That is why they fail and yes you could definitely put blame on both sides of the fence on this issue cuz there's definitely enough to go around