Truck stuck in shop 4 weeks. Driver also stuck.

Who Dat!

 

Lease-Purchase is all of the responsibility of buying the truck with all of the limits of being a company driver. There is a reason almost all of the L-P offers emphasize "no-money down, no credit check, and walk-away" it's because nobody but a person with pretty poor financial decision-making is going to take one of those deals. The L-P driver is RESPONSIBLE for the costs whether the truck is hauling freight or not. It's a great thing for the company, and foolish for the L-P is most cases.

 

There are plenty of lease and lease purchase drivers that are financially responsible and financially successful.

I will say the failure rate is many times higher than the success rate, but the same can be said for small business. It's also been said, on this forum infact, most 1st year drivers wash out. Even the ones that make it into 2nd, 3rd or 4th years as company drivers tend to jump around from company to company. I have personally read dozens of threads about company drivers starving and needing to change companies.

It's not just a lease purchase problem, it's an industry problem. There are companies that pay drivers .30cpm. There are companies that pay .55cpm. There are leases that pay .89cpm and there are leases that pay 2.50 per mile. It's all about finding the best deal for you.

 

My wife was a banker for years. No, they don't offer loans on old trucks because regardless how much you think a 30 year old shiny pete is worth the bank will pass on it. Banks don't want a yard full of broken down old trucks, money losing proposition. Provide a licensed appraisal and B lender might cut a check at 25% interest.

 

Lease purchase aside, he leased a truck and doesn't even have $3,000 to cover emergency expenses? Sounds like he was doomed to fail from the start. If these companies weren't so shady, requiring proof of a minimal amount of operating capital would be a requirement. But this isn't all on the company. Mr. Wannabe owner operator is partly to blame here as well.

 

Lease purchase,the way I see it is a scam,not only do the companies want to make money off of drivers,but they're so greedy they need to make money off of the trucks.They buy the trucks in bulk at premium prices and by the time the driver's pay for them(does anyone actually own a truck that they lease purchased?)they are paying a lot more than they're worth.Another thing I'm curious about,does any Company lease purchase quality trucks,Peterbilt,KW,or are they always Volvo or Frieghtshaker(no offense,one of the nicest trucks I've ever driven was a Classic).I can recall,way back,NFI was doing the LP thing,a driver I spoke to,claimed as he was getting close to owning his LP, his loads dried up and of course NFI took back the truck(I think they were running Ford Cabo's).Now all this could be hearsay and just plain BS,but the main point I'm trying to make is let the Buyer(or leaser)beware.If I was going to enter into an agreement with any Trucking Company,I would do a lot of research and take that contract to a lawyer.

 

Yea they'd rather have a yard full of repossessed new trucks with 500k miles needing an overhaul and all new emissions garbage, doesnt make sense to me and never will.

 

Tscott...you hit the nail on the head. These lease purchase arrangements are "always" lopsided in favor of the company. Think about this for a minute. What is the incentive for a company to offer a lease purchase? The incentive is to earn more money on that truck....not to enable the driver to earn more money. I would encourage anyone considering a lease purchase to listen to Kevin Rutherford on this topic....he has a wealth of knowledge on the matter.