swift and the lease purchase

AAAHHHH DUDE if you have read all 25 or so pages of this entertaining thread(Man SWIFTY threads crack me up) all I have to say,you have all the pertinent fodder & info to make an informed decision

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5QGkOGZubQ&feature=related[/ame]

But dont be surprised if you have a similar conversation with SWIFT (or any other Lease-Type operation,,,Economy is still in a downturn,and you want to go with (limited experiance mind you) take on a financial responsibility that you have limited experiance with

I for one would stick with the company gig through next year and see where the "Economic Winds" steer our economy(you always have a WALK-AWAY OPTION) if your not satisfied with SWIFT,no harm no fowl,if you like it there,you now have a year of yet more saved money and experiance

The 2 lawsuits(i read both online) seem to be needless

And if this is the "program" well all I would say is "shop around"
http://www.bubbajunk.com/articles/Swift_Lease_Purchase.htm

Other than that ,,Good Luck with your future endeavors

 

The bottom line is this: If you have to ask participants on a public Internet forum - drivers and non-drivers - for their opinion of leasing versus company to help you make a decision whether to stay company or lease, you aren't ready for leasing.

 

If a L/O can't take home time without going in the hole, he's not managing his business very well. Even at Prime, I could take time off when I wanted to. Granted, I didn't take much off over there. Over here at Swift, I could take more than a month off right now and not be in the hole when I get back. The payments would still be made. It's called managing business assets and planning ahead.

I am making enough now to have an investment account under my business name that I can dump almost $1K of fresh money into each month. This is in addition to the maintenance account, which is another business asset. The way things are going, it won't be long before Taiowa's assets overshadow its liabilities. I consider the entire lease to be a liability.

Most L/Os get that money in their pockets and start spending it on goodies they don't need. Like a fully equipped man cave they will only see for a few days once per month. Or, they have a spouse who likes "bling" and has no problem spending money.

The idea of a lease is to get out of living paycheck to paycheck. Since most people don't know how to do that, they wind up broke. I don't need a four bedroom house, three cars, a boat, ATV, mini movie theater and expensive vacations. I don't care to "keep up with the Jonses" or what other people think I should have. I live simply and comfortably on the road and off.

Denali's business model is right for a lease, but not for straight ownership. Me? I will make the "balloon payment" at the end of this lease and keep the truck. There are too many things I have done and want to do with it. However, should I decide I'm tired of this one and want something newer, it had better be of good condition or I will wind up with a 19,000 pound yard ornament. I will have to either trade it or sell it.

When I have the title in hand, this truck will have roughl 450K miles on it and be four years old. Just glancing through the Truck Paper ads for the same setup, same age and mileage (as this one will have at the end of the lease) I'm seeing a list price of between $57K and $96K with the average being around $70K. My buyout will be roughly $40K. It's not really a "balloon" payment. I detailed that in my blog.

Okay. So I can continue leasing this truck and know absolutely where all the miles came from, how it was maintained, whether it was abused and what its quirks are. I can make money while I lease it that, quite frankly, is more than I know how to spend and have a sizeable down payment toward financing that $40-oddK buyout.

Or, I can enter into a straight purchase contract with an outside financer on a truck that was probably run by company drivers, have no idea whether it was maintained, beat up, no idea how it will perform over the longer range and have no idea where and how the miles were put on it. We all know company drivers maintain the trucks as meticulously as lease or owner ops, right? Also, I will pay an extra $30K, not including interest, for this privelege.

Yeah, right. I'll get right on that.
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I was checking the prices of used T2000's.
Looks like around 45k-60k for 2007-2009 models.

So by taking that lease option one would be spending close to 90 grand more over the next 4 years.

It seems better to just save for a couple years and buy a truck outright.

 

Simple. I call it a choice.

 

I think a lot of drivers look at it like this:

I'm coming from a down economy, I've lost or about to lose everything. Here, I can sign my name no money down no credit check and get a brand new shiny full warranty fully insured truck and go to work for $0.47 cents a mile just like I have been doing for the last 6 months at $0.29 cents a mile. Plus I don't have to submit the truck to the Swift shop where there are signs all over the place reminding me that my personal stuff is up for grabs in the shops. Oh and I can take my pet cat, dog and my semi-tame baboon in the truck with me, fuel where and when and how much I want. Hometime? Take as much as I want and not have to wait for an ashtray to become available when I come back to work. I mean where else am I gonna have all these benefits and pay with just 6 months of trucking experience?

As far as turning a lease truck in and leasing another one after 4 years I think is a classic example of insanity. Chances are a 4 year driver could earn the same income as a company driver elsewhere, granted maybe they have the 'no baboon' policy-- but I think a wiser choice at that point would be to go to your local Kenworth store (or whichever is your preference) and inquire about renting a truck from them. You might get it for $150 bucks less per week plus if your 'customer' (Swift) and you want to part ways, you can take your truck with you.

You have to think of Swift as your customer, you are selling your skills, your time, your services to them and they are offering you jobs (freight) to do. It's like leasing a brick and mortar space to sell coffee and sandwiches. Only, your brick and mortar building has wheels. And you live in it. With your baboon....

 

Baboon? Sounds like you need to take that big mirror down from your sleeper wall, Scottie...

You make some good points.

But did you know that if things go south with Swift, you have the option to lease your IEL truck on with a different company? You have a limited amount of time to do this and IEL doesn't have to make it easy. But this is written into your contract.

The key is to recognize things are going sour and line up another company before Swift terminates your lease. Then, do not go to any Swift terminal. You won't be allowed back out the gate with the truck. Want details? Ask Mrs. Otter.

 

if you got the title cant you sublease to another driver the truck. he can make you payments why you lease a new truck. or just put a company driver in it

 

In a lease, you don't get the title, only the right to use the unit.

 

Maybe I read the lease agreement wrong.. Something like paying $135k on a truck worth $140k and then getting to buy it outright for an additional $40k Say What??!!! After you've driven the crap out of it !! Ya. Right. I'm gonna jump on that. NOT.