Thinking about going lease purchase..any feedback appreciated

How about you train new drivers until one leaves you in a ditch somewhere or at a repair shop putting on another bumper or hood. Really though if you don't have a lot of expenses at home, and you want to pay for an overly priced truck so you can put your name on the door. Why not. I'm sure that light weight is not very comfortable. I have a 680 get's great fuel mileage. Mine has a Paccar motor in it though. Had a cummins in my Pete and it did pretty good on fuel mileage as well, but did have a few issue's with the eating up antifreeze. Only 25000 on my K whopper and no problems yet. Except for the fact it rides like a Cadillac and puts you to sleep

 

No. It's not. There's a lot of things a new driver doesn't know. A lot of tricks and such. 1 year is not enough to train. 5 years plus.

 

You can teach a student the basics, but hell, I've been out here 2 years and I still have moments where I'm like "How the #### did I manage to get myself into THIS?!?" And those moments are a lot more embarrassing with a student in the truck LOL.

Also, remember that you're not always going to get the happy-go-lucky guys with starry eyes. You're gonna get the real jerks too, and you'll end up in "he said/she said" situations where they're trying to pull something on you and/or the company. I refuse to train myself because its more trouble than its worth.

 

Yeah, like "Don't park in between two Swift trucks" ROTFL

 

General rule of thumb. Never lease a truck from the same carrier who controls the freight you will haul. You may quickly see you can be easily bankrupted!

If you want to be an owner operator, then go buy/finance your own truck. That way you are not likely to be a slave to the carrier holding the lease and freight.

Seriously, there is a reason why so many carriers offer lease purchase scams. You are basically a company driver who takes all the financial risk. Do not be in such a rush to jump off a financial cliff. As fast as you go bankrupt, the carrier you are lease purchasing from will have another warm body to fill the truck you just lost. There is so much information online about these lease purchase scams, so you really will have no one to blame when you become the latest statistic.

Some people manage to beat the system and make some money. Few and far between. You would have better odds going to Vegas and gambling your life savings and making a profit than doing a lease purchase scam.

 

So with your vast experience you could teach a student who can't double clutch and shift using only your voice while you are losing time and miles. You can clearly explain from outside the truck how to blindside into a dock that was designed for a pup trailer, and you could be patient and allow the student to complete the job without getting in the seat yourself. Or you could be his therapist and listen to all his problems once he gets off the phone with his brand new wife who had no idea that being a truck driver consisted of him being gone for 6 weeks. Or you can adapt and change the way you teach something to someone, because they don't get it the way you are teaching it. Sorry to be honest, but you need a lot more time before you start teaching people how to do this job. The fact that many of these companies put brand new drivers with other new drivers to "train" is not training. That's the company taking advantage of 2 CDL's in the truck and having a super cheap team! Don't mean to be so blunt but your still wet behind the ears, you have not seen everything this business can throw at you, and until you have at least 5 years, there is no way you should be training. That does not just go for you, I think that 5 years should be a minimum federal standard!

 

Check the Cardinal Logistics website and see if they have any openings near you. You can purchase a truck through them and haul their freight. It's not a lease purchase.

 

Ah, the Great Trucking Pyramid Scheme strikes again.

I think you should have asked this question in the Lease Forum....at least that way, your sunshine injection would have lasted a bit longer.

 

Good Luck.