Surprised at Prime Lease Purchase

I never said I was going to Prime. I was just looking into their lease program. I’m not convinced I can make more money there than I can under my own authority. It’s going to take a lot of convincing to make me give up my own authority and go lease on somewhere else. I was also looking at Schneider and maverick. But I haven’t decided on anything yet. I do make pretty good money under my own authority but it’s also a lot of work. I’m starting to get tired of always fighting with brokers for every penny. I’m also tired of the crap freight you find on the spot market load board. There’s a lot to be said about running on your own authority and there’s a lot to be said about being leased on somewhere. Hell even being leased on at Mercer was nice for a while. I was still making pretty good money at Mercer. Turns out they were skimming for me and I should’ve been making even more but my monthly deposits at Mercer we’re about the same as they are now under my own authority. But at Mercer I had some pretty good fuel discounts and I didn’t have to pay $1300 each month for liability insurance. And that can be said for any reputable large carrier. But just because Mercer turned out to be crap doesn’t mean every trucking company is crap. I’m willing to consider other options but I haven’t decided to pull the trigger on anything yet. You have to be willing to give away a lot of freedom when you lease on. But as a one truck owner operator I can honestly say that having your own authority or being leased on somewhere the money that you put in the bank each month is going to be about the same. So I’m willing to listen to anybody sales pitch but I don’t want to make another Mercer mistake that’s for #### sure.

 

Maybe somebody can set me straight. The amount they want per week is the same if you bought the truck with a bank loan. I know, because I checked. I have also been running under my own authority for the last 20 years and I could not afford a new truck on what I was making. Yet, Prime always has new trucks in their fleet. So obviously they are making a lot more off their contract loads than I am off the spot market. There is no other explanation. Yet independent owner ops like me buy new trucks all the time. Do they also stay on the road 365 per year and never go home? Prime hands over a lot of truck titles every year so obviously something is working.