taking advice from people who have FAILED in the trucking buisness?

i would venture a guess of 85% true independants fail....only due to lack of funding

87.5% of lease purchases

58% of truck owners who lease to someone else

and finally....100% of those that NEVER try


hey im just guessin!!!

 

We quit because I could'nt get an hones driver for a perfect job. We ran Baltimore to Seattle. Aluminum both ways and rarely over 30,000 lb loads. We had a Pete with the extended hood, Chrome and lots of lights, a covered wagon with lots of lights and chrome. It had a 500 HP Cat and ran 91 MPH if you wanted to. We had a driver disappear for 2 days at a time, ruined wheels and tires, would'nt stop and wash the truck, would'nt call dispatch and all they wanted was a position report every day BN/9&5. I paid him as much as most other people make and he would get $40/stop and have 20 stops in the Seattle area and they culd all come off in a day.

 

I forgot, I have had 2 back surgeries and can't drive or I'd still have a truck but I'm like others who listen to what people say and decide for themselves. Gee, my Dad tried to teach me things that failed so I didn't do them. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I'm just getting madder.

 

hey passin.....you need a driver?/????

just becuase you got out doesnt mean ya failed, if it did,this would be true,
after 30 years of trucking, you finally retire, would you be a long in the tooth failure.???

now if you get yer truck repo'd then yeah, but not in the for instance i put above

 

we lost our trucks in large part due to incompetant drivers. We made the decision to downsize ack down to one truck before they repoe'd them all. My pops went to the finance co and they figured out the best way to get out of them and we ended up keeping the oldest one because it was nearly paid for. If he hadn't gotten sick in the end things would have been different. Hiring drivers sucks. they steal, they tear stuff up and they are just all around incompetant in most cases. when you find a good one you take care of him and keep him forever he's worth his weight in gold to a small operator. big co couldn't care less though

 

I just interviewed a former OO yesterday. He said that after two years, lots of sweat, time, and headaches he was only making about 5k more than when he was working for "Big Brown." Said the extra 5k simply wasn't worth it.

 

A little back story; After working at JB Hunt from 1992 thru 1998 I was involved in a rear end collision during a chain reaction accident on the Eastern shore of Md during a foggy morning in June. The accident investigators concluded it was not my fault. I was traveling well below the posted speed limit which saved my butt. I was summarily dismissed. It did not matter that I had multiple safe driving awards, had been a driver trainer for several years (was even trainer of the quarter a couple of times), had been a "GOLD DRIVER," was one of the highest earning drivers in the company at that time (over 60 grand a year 2 years running) and had even worked in the safety department in the East Brunswick NJ terminal when 1 of the safety guys went on vacation. None of it made any difference to the lawyers on retainer In Lowell Ar though. It was decided I was a potential liability and corporate management gave me the axe.

After the shock of being terminated I started calling literally dozens of carriers. I was considered "unhirable" by each company I called due to the accident (even though I had not been cited). After about 2 weeks of phone calls I finally found a company called TSL (Trans-States Lines) based out of Fort Smith Ar that was willing to give me a shot.

The company had recently lost a major account, half its driver force quit in a matter of months and the company was under new management. The new management group were attempting to turn the company around for the owner after several years of losses.

I signed on right away before they changed their mind. 3 weeks after my accident I was on a bus to Fort Smith Ar.

The company was in a pitiful state but I stuck it out for a year. I was ready to move on due to poor paychecks in general but felt obligated to hang in there because they had given me a chance to get back into a truck and continue making money after my accident. 45 Grand for a company driver wasn't the 60+ grand I was used to making at JB Hunt but better than nothing. I mentioned to management I wanted more miles and more money overall. They told me the only way to make more was to become a lease operator for them.

I was encouraged by management to sign up for their new "lease purchase" program. I was told I was one of the best drivers they had and they were sure I could make much more money as a lease operator than I made as a company driver. I think they told each driver the same thing in an attempt to get more drivers into the program. They succeeded and got about 12 of us to go for it.

The details were as follows; I would pay the company 400.00 per week for a "full service lease." This meant they would cover plates, permits, liability insurance, and all maintenance on the truck. I would pay for the fuel, Bobtail insurance, truck payment, qualcomm, and trip pak. I would be allowed to continue with the medical insurance at a "group discounted price" and the bobtail insurance was arranged on my behalf and deducted from my settlement. I would recieve .83 cpm plus an .08 cpm fuel surcharge for both loaded and empty miles. At the end of 1 year I was to return the lease truck and they would allow me to pick out a brand new truck of my choosing and specifications. They would use the truck I leased as a downpayment and co-sign for the new truck at a local dealership.

I ran my butt off. I worked up a spec sheet for a brand new International Prosleeper and put my year in. The truck made about 120 grand for the year and expenses were a little over half that amount. Plus I had all the taxes to pay (I didn't know that at the time), They took care of road use, fuel taxes, and even 2290 but took it out of my settlements along with a 2,000.00 escrow account, and "management fees."

At the end of the year I stopped in at Fort Smith Ar to turn in my truck and request my new 1. I was informed that the company had been recently purchased by the management group and no longer had the credit or resources of the former owner to fulfill that deal.

Many lease ops walked after that. I was stubborn though and stayed on. They re-wrote a new contract cutting my payments in half (200.00 per week) on the truck and putting any and all maintenace and breakdowns on me through a .08 cpm maintenance account. I could still use their shop and get discounts on the repairs if I chose. The new contract stated that the lease truck I was in would belong to me after an additional 18 months of service to the company. I figured what the heck, its been a good truck and I already have a year into it so whats another 1.5 years?

During December of 2000 my eldest daughter fell deathly ill (meningitis) and was hospitalized while I was in Lebanon Tennessee waiting for a Dell computer load to go to New Jersey. I contacted TSL management and informed them I had to forget about the load and drive home asap. The management directed me to the closest airport (Nashville) and I caught a flight home at their expense (borrowed from my escrow account I later found out).

After I arrived at Hershey Medical in Pa I found her to be in a coma and unresponsive. The doctors informed me that she was brain dead and there was nothing more they could do for her. My wife and I gave the order to remove life support and let her go.

After taking a month off from work I returned to Tn on a plane and recovered my truck. I proceeded to work for another month while I tried to "catch up" on all my expenses. The company had raided my escrow account and maintenace fund to continue making my weekly payments for the truck, fees, and insurance. I didn't really care anyway at that point.

I received a phone call from A Burlington Motor Carrier rep informing me that they had just purchased TSL and all its assets and wanted to take my truck and give me a better one with yet another "new contract."

I had seen Burlington Motor Carrier trucks and even been to a couple of their yards in my travels and was not impressed. I decided I had enough of getting screwed and taken advantage of through this lease program BS so I agreed to turn my truck in at once and relinquish the keys.

I decided I should just go back to driving a company truck as I wasn't smart enough to run my own business and avoid being taken advantage of by these truck companies. I contacted Shaffer National based out of New Kingstown Pa and they agreed to hire me and even rented me a car from Fort Smith Ar to Harrisburg Pa.

I consider my venture into lease purchase a valuable learning experience. I got taken advantage of not once but twice because I did not take the time to learn the business end of trucking. I was and still am a good driver. Being a good driver however is NOT enough to be a successful owner op. I have taken the last 8 years to learn and improve. I listen to successful owner ops and ones that failed. I have crunched the numbers more times than I care to count and what I have discovered is I am better off as a company driver with all the benefits rather than a lease op (wannabe o/o).

So yes I too failed.

 

98.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Couldn't help myself!

 

you are not going to make alot more money owning a truck. I laugh when I hear that. it's a life choice not a money choice. I can book my load and mess up and miss my chance to get home and it's my fault, no biggie. Now if I'm a co driver and my dispatcher does that to me then it's GAME ON! lol people buy trucks to have a bit of control in there lives. Truck companies are bad about making you feel like a peeon. In the last two weeks I have heard twice that I'm just a company driver so I have to do whatever they say. do I need t explain the reaction that got?

 

MM and Passinthru, This problem of finding people who take care of your stuff is, unfortunately, no tjust in trucking. I ran into it a LOT in construction too. I have never understood the mentality of "its just a work truck" or "its not my truck". What the ****?! I was always in disbelief when I heard this. As the guy paying for all my own stuff I thought it would be GREEEAAAAT to have some one else foot the bill. And if I ever got a Company vehicle I made #### sure to take care of it so I would be able to get another one! That's not the only reason i'm now a company driver, much to learn.