Taiowa Lease Raw Numbers

guys in case some of you may think i am in some way being critical, know that in 1986 i became an "owner-op" thru a lease purchase with national freight of nj, 225 a week for the truck and 85 cents loaded and 75 empty i think but remember fuel was nowhere near a buck a gallon , i actually made money because of fuel. the very first truck i bought outright was in 1991 when i bought a 1976 international cabover transtar 2 with a 290 cummins and 13 speed , no power steering and no air conditioner for 1200 dollars ran that baby for 5 years and she finally died, i became well versed in repairs and never had a oos at a scale house , and believe me they checked tht old girl a lot. she died in monroe, mi and was left at the international dealer there for disposal. next truck an 88 freightliner cabover, then a 92 white , and 96 international. this 2006 kw t-600 is the newest truck i have ever had the pleasure of paying for.

but somehow in 30 years i managed to raise 5 kids , keep em fed, and a roof over their head and go to disney world once a year, and pay for some school to boot they range from 31 to 13.

just hang in there, get some time under your belt, and watch, learn and listen.

if you got the knack for it , the rest will happen.

fact is, if any of you can make it with most lease purchase options, you would good if you ever bought one straight out.

just to let some of you know , if any of you were to buy a truck thru highway sales at dart, you CAN move it to another company BEFORE its paid off. couple guys have done just that where redd and i are

 

If you plan on buying or leasing third party, I wouldn't lease it to Swift. At one time I thought about leasing to them, but the more I learn about Swift.... The less likely me leasing onto them will happen.

Swift requires all their O/O to be governed at 68 mph.... It's my truck & Swift has no authority to tell me what I can or can not do with it.

Swift O/O & L/O apparently from what I read on these forums pay cash pump price for fuel.... I think that is a rip off from a company of 13,000 trucks. My carrier only has about 2,000 trucks & we get 20 to 30 cents off cash pump price.

Swift O/O & L/O apparently from what I read on these forums gets charged from Swift for their quarterly IFTA taxes.... Sorry, but if I have to pay pump price... Then they could at least cover the IFTA taxes. Hell, not only does my carrier negotiate a discounted pump price, they also pay 100% of the IFTA taxes.

As for you buying a trucks.... Chunkinpumkin gave you good advise.... But as for a large maintnance fund at start up really isn't needed. Inspect the truck extremely well... Negotiate with the seller on terms that you want a full DOT inspection at a shop of your choosing & that the seller must correct any defects found if any in that DOT inspection. Then a dime to 15 cents per mile for maintnance should be good.

If you do buy a truck, don't allow the carriers who pay percentage scare you off. Some are scared to here the word percentage.... But honestly, it's the best way to get paid. If you don't understand percentage pay, then ask. Either here or the carrier. The carrier will probably be able to explain it better though.

Chunkinpumpkin & I are with the same carrier. He posted his numbers as $1.70 something per mile on ALL HUB MILES! Meaning every mile that truck moves. Mile numbers are in the mid $1.40 to $1.50 range for ALL MILES! But I had some extensive deadhead miles early in the year. One week I deadheaded 2300 miles cause I said #### it.... I'm going home!

 

Personal thanks to both Chunkin and Redd. Good talk guys.

Redd, if I lease to a company, I wanted to try and keep it someone close to my home. That's why I look at Swift, GTI, MAY etc, since they all have terminals in my area. That said of course money, miles and support are higher priorities. So as the time gets closer, I'll be researching the smaller companies. But this is all in the "thinking about it" stage while I start gathering cash. Unless one of my investments explodes, I'm 2-3 years out, by which time much can change.

 

Total bummer... and yup, when its not working its time for a change.

Not trying to argue one way or another here, but when you're leasing on a percentage basis chasing miles is a good way to go bankrupt. The best strategy is to maximize your gross revenue - and minimize costs. In other words you want to run the least number of miles for the most money.

 

and

You're welcome to look at all of my numbers since I have posted them online in spreadsheet format since June of 2008: spreadsheet

I lease a 2007 Volvo from Hill Bros out of Omaha, Nebraska and as you can see from the numbers, I'm almost to the end of the third of four years. The Settlement Data page contains all the relevant numbers from each weekly settlement, including deductions for things like registration, insurance, etc.

My numbers show $14,736.51 in net income over the same period you describe, after all truck expenses and before taxes. This is somewhat lower than the same periods in previous years due to taking a week off when the weather was particularly nasty and another week off with a particularly nasty virus.

Good luck,

Jim

 

I absolutely agree with you. Part of my running on the company side for as long as I did was to see who was making money, and who wasn't. In the process I established my track record for being on time (and they ARE anal about being on time,) and hid out from the economic unpleasantness in '08 and'09. I asked for a specific board with a really on-top-of-it FM, got it, and am running my back end off. Part of success at this outfit is teaming with the winning boards.

 

Just because a company has a terminal near your home doesn't mean that they will be the best to lease onto. You can lease onto just about any company that accepts O/O's & runs in that area. That is unless you need a terminal to park the truck while you go home.... That is the only reason why anyone will need a terminal. My truck get's parked in my driveway, but I do realize that not everyone has that same freedom.

If you break my carrier down, we actually have 3 different fleets with the same name & DOT number. We have the midwest fleet. They are only lisenced to run the midwest states. We have the Western fleet. They are only lisenced to run the 11 western states. Then we have the system fleet. This fleet is lisenced for all 48, Canada, Alaska, & Hawaii! I'm on that fleet because I like to be able to go here & go there or where ever. Plus the cost of lisencing isn't all that much more & I'm hoping that I can get one of those rare Hawaii loads.... No ####, we are lisenced in Hawaii!

HOLY ####!!!!

Somebody mark this on the calender.... ironpony & myself actually agree on something!



NOW MY QUESTION......

Is Prime forced dispatch with their L/O's? Cause I have thought about this nearly all day..... And forced dispatch with percentage pay don't match!