Starting a new lease. Details to follow:

I am starting a new thread here. This will be from about two weeks after deciding to go this route.

After seeing all the negative information out there, I decided to reveal reality to all those considering. Let's get a few things out of the way here:

1.) I've been a driver for about ten years. However, I grew up on a pretty big farm in Illinois, so I had driven just about everything with wheels, and a few things with tracks, too.

2.) When my family decided it was time to sell the farm (grandparents passed on and I could not afford to buy it), I knew I needed a job. In small town IL, there are not tons of opportunities to make money. So, I decided to get a CDL. I did not need the CDL for farming. AG exemption and all. So, I got the CDL pretty easily.

3.) I first drove for a small company out of Wisconsin, Veriha. They were OK. Decent miles, average money, normal hometime. The one thing I will say about Veriha, they wanted me to just have a 34 on the weekends. I told them that I would be taking two entire days (48 hours). After I took the load late twice, but the rest of my weeks was all on time, they understood that I meant I was taking my 48 at home and they adjusted.

4.) Of course, after that, I took many shiny baubles for my next jobs after leaving Veriha. I worked for FedEx Ground, MCL, MTI, IUVO, K&B, and McLeod. So, switching several times, from various sized companies, to family owned to Independent, I have some experience.

5.) Next I drove for LAMA. That is a lease, but no purchase option at the end. So, even though I was a 1099 employee, I could only drive their loads with their trailers, their equipment, but I was NOT an employee.

So, now I am going to lease a truck from Lone Mountain. They have no balloon payment. After 42 months, I will own the rig. I will be hauling a reefer and I will be driving mostly the midwest.

I got my DOT# and my MC#. I now have my insurance and I have my plates (as soon as I get my truck). From my independent work, I know a few brokers and I have paid loadboards.

So, I will post more details when I get them.

 

First things first. When I filed for the USDOT#, that day, and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next, and still more days after, my phone and my email just EXPLODED with calls and emails.

NONE of these are legit. NONE are required. It is all something you can do for yourself. The only good to come from all these emails and phone calls were that I got lots of phone numbers from insurance companies, so I got quotes from all of them. That is how I found the best rate I could find.

The BOC-3 IS required. But, that is either an annual or a one time fee. It is quick and it is easy.