Thinking about leasing from Prime or Schneider

I'm well aware of how steep the cost is as I leased 5 years with Prime and based on what's going on now, I would look elsewhere. There's a mass exodus going on at Prime for a reason.

 

You will have high expenses running equipment specd the way Schneider wants it. You will earn a low percentage (65%) of the cheapest freight (van). Schneider can make money by volume. You as a lease operator have no volume.
-Only 1 power unit. It is set up for Schneider to succeed. There is a reason there are not many guys that have been a lease operator for 10 years with them. There is a reason you can sign up with no money down or real experience (6 mo is a joke). Read about all the guys that posted on how great the choice program is. See how many are still there. Those that claim it was great, years later are not there anymore. Consider starting as a company driver and learn the industry and market before moving forward ( if desired). In this forum you can get great advise for starter companies, later a great experienced driver company, and ideas how to start off on a good foot as a o/o or start a trucking company. There are a lot of examples here how folks decided to ignore the hardships of the economy or lease programs offered by carriers. They usually begin with crate, enthusiasm, and enjoyment and end in disappointment. If you can learn from other people’s mistakes….

 

Either that, or we made our nut and retired.

 

Probably a lot more ended up like Freightwhipper or whatever his user name was than those who ended up like you. I’m personal friends with a guy who got a truck through SFI back in 2007. He still has that Peterbilt and is driving it today. He got out and got away from there long before the Choice program even existed. In general you don’t want your banker also controlling your freight.

 

Good point. Company can manipulate your income/expenses. Not a secure position. If the company is owned by a “trusted” family member or friend, it may be different.

 

Banker never controlled my freight, I controlled my freight.
It's a popular misconception from the uninformed. What ya'll don't realize or understand is that Schneider Finance and freight operations are two completely operations; neither has any idea what the other is doing, and they don't care. Each does their job and roll on.
As long as Schneider Finance gets their money, they're fine. As long as Schneider operations gets their freight moved, they're fine.
The only one that controls your freight is YOU. And if you can't get your arse out of bed, it's YOU, not them.

 

You're an outlier.

Of the original posters in the SNI Chatroom, only you, Sadwar , and RickyBobby made it more than 3 years. There are two trucks of long time ICs that have been sitting in the GB yard since April without moving. I'd like to think they've retired, but even at 1/2 scrap prices it doesn't make sense to abandon a truck. Outside those two, it's been years since I've known any ICs running out of GB. Even on the company side there are few long term drivers. Most of the guys I'm friendly with are waiting for Medicare to kick in or to hit the 3 million mark before 'retiring'.

 

So Schneider didn’t control what went into the Choice board and what didn’t? What would’ve happened to your truck if you couldn’t pay your bills? It wouldn’t go back to SFI to get leased again to someone else to run off the Choice board? Does SFI let anyone walk in off the street, get a truck from them, and go do whatever they want with it as long as the payment is made?

 

So you can lease with Schneider get the truck, cancel choice an hour later, and lease on with their competitor later that afternoon. - Or do you haul only what they offer at their determined rate. Does Schneider brokerage take a cut before the 65/35 cut out before turning it over to the board. Do you get to see Schneider’s contract with their customer to see you are getting the true amount? It is all a fake amount, the percentage. How many guys went from Schneider choice to owning a fleet? You will make enough to survive. On the other hand plenty of guys went from being a o/o from a decent company to owning a fleet. Success is hard at 65% of a fake rate.

 

1. Yes. Once again, Schneider Finance and Schneider National are separate entities of the same company. If you are pulling for Landstar or ABF or whomever, they will happily lease you a truck.
2. I don't know. Nor do you know when you book off of anyone else.
3. Yes. You are welcome to go to Green Bay and look at any BOL or rate con at any time.
4. I don't know how many drivers went from running a single truck to running a fleet. I do recall a driver in Dallas that was running 10+ day cabs for them. But I don't know if he got his trucks through SFI.
5. I went from owing a house payment and 2 car payments to being completely debt free in 8+ years. So, yeah, it can work at 65%.

Look, in my mind it's all about the individual. I ran, but not silly hard. I could count on 1 hand the number of 34's I did on the road....mostly because I knew how to manage my time.
I have told the story before of me and my roommate at IC orientation in Green Bay. We both got our trucks and the next day, he was going to BT to somewhere in the Carolinas for a family reunion and to show off his new truck, and I was going to Minnesota to get a load and get going.
My bet is that he wasn't successful and I know that I was.
Again, and in closing, most of the time success or failure in the trucking industry is much like life itself. It depends largely on the individual.