Who has completed a lease purchase and fully owns truck with title?

I very much appreciate all who tell their personal experiences about leasing. It is extremely helpful.

 

I've been driving for close to twenty years. I've heard over and over how once a lease/purchase driver nears completion of the contract, the company reduces his miles to force him to fail. I don't believe that for a second. To the average driver, the purchase price of a truck is a great deal of money. But to the carrier, the cost is minor as they don't buy trucks, they buy fleets and the unit cost is greatly reduced. Companies value good dependable drivers and a driver nearing completion of his contract is just that. I have to say though that there are some scandalous companies out there, so research the company first. The Henderson Trucking posts seem to be pretty positive and among them is a post from a driver who is on his third lease truck with them.

A great majority of lease/purchase drivers do fail, but their failure is due to a lack as a business man. To think you become an owner/operator simply by signing on the dotted line is a prescription for failure. Running a truck is no different than running a dry cleaner, an appliance store, or a restaurant. You need to do your homework first. Jarhead235 made a go of it. I'd be after him to find out how he did it, what mistakes did he make, how did he learn the business of truck ownership.

Many drivers run afoul of the IRS in no time. No longer are your state and federal taxes deducted or are you one of those drivers that lay up in the sleeper during loading, waiting for the lumper to bang on the truck to let you know its loaded. A company driver gets a tongue lashing for shortages discovered at the receiver---an owner operator gets a hefty deduction on his next settlement check for the cost of the shortage. And don't get sick! Those truck and insurance payments need to be paid regardless. And those are just a few of the many pitfalls awaiting you. If you're a driver six months out of truck school, you'd be well advised to stay away from leases. This website is an excellent places to start.

What's that saying? "Fools rush in where wise men fear to tread." Good luck!

 

I survived one.
First I leased a truck the company no longer wanted. The newer trucks all had maintenance funds that were cleaning the clocks of anybody that would lease them.

I then had the company shop replace the turbo, air compressor and fuel pump, because the fuel pump needed it and the other two I had a bad feeling about.

I then ran my butt off but was real picky about the rates I would take. I spent more than one weekend sitting in some dump till better rates were available the next Monday. Dispatch learned very quickly not to say “to the truck” when quoting a rate. I would ask the gross then calculate my own dead head and load mileages. If I absolutely had to run cheap I won’t take anything that was any longer then it took to get back into a freight lane. I'm also am picky about weight.

If I needed a certain day off I would stay within 500 miles of home, even if that meant setting at the thermal wanting for short runs.

I ran for fuel mileage. 55- 60 MPH, slow speed buildup, gradual hill climbs and rolling down the other side without fuel. After I built up over $5000.00 I started getting my brakes rebuilt and replacing dry rotted air bags etc. The A/C went out 6 months after I had leased the truck. I ran without till last September when the heat finally made me stop in Joplin MO and get it fixed.

You can survive but you have to put every effort in to keeping the truck running and legal.

 

I'm in a lp now myself. Truck will be paid for in 6 more mo. 05 t2000. Runs good been pretty dependable but will have about 860000 on it when paid. I work for END out of zspfld mo. Not going to get rich here truck payments ate 315 wk .easy to do. Easy people to work for. No real complaints. Just do your job you will be fine. When the truck is paid for , gives you something to trade up with. You can probably make more money somewh. Personnally I'm ready to get back into open deck hauling aere else but if u like bumping docks not a bad place to work

 

I am curious on those who quit the program before the purchase was final, is it okay to turn the truck in to any company terminal? Swift is saying the truck has to be returned to the Phoenix terminal when it is just miles from a terminal in Texas at the moment.

 

i would say turn in a l/p truck where they tell you.it's not a co. truck.it would probably save you alot of headaches in the long run.

 

i was the first person to complete transport america's l/p plan.when they started it,it was a great plan.10 cents a mile for the truck payment with a 8000 mile a month min.very easy to do.even with taking a month off around 9/11,i completed the 24 month purchase 3 months early.i sold the truck as soon as i got the title.i left t/a because of conflicts with dispatchers.some years later,i called them up to see about doing another l/p,but they changed the payments to monthly.i guess the plan was to good for the driver and they needed to change it.

 

I l/p a trk thru kllm and paid it off last oct. It was a good program last cpl of years when they were leasing columbias, but now that everybody is leasing those cascadias and there's no more guaranteed maintence, they're dropping like flies. Anybody that has and had good sense left when they gave em their final payment of $1.

 

Any one have experience with Sammons lease purchase ?

 

I actually have a friend who just completed a lease purchase and now owns his truck. But I do agree with what some of the guys have said, I'd stay away from the bigger companies, they will nickle and dime you to death, and there's usually a huge balloon payment at the end, with which they use to entice you into just going ahead a leasing a newer truck.