Good thing i never considered JB Hunt....

[Fredog]

this months landline magazine article says.. our research shows that these deals usually benefit no one but the motor carrier and should be avoided
http://www.landlinemag.com/Archives/...t-to-avoid.htm

[GMAN]

OK, you made your point, don't go to work fer CR England, or Prime, or all the rest of the crooks out there, but honestly, are they all bad when it comes to lease'n a truck, cause ya sure see alot of guys and gals do'n it. Just my observations anyway.

I would not necessarily discourage you from being a company driver for these carriers. However, both push the fleece programs pretty hard. Most of these carriers can make these lease purchases sound pretty good. They will always use the higher numbers and the best scenario when trying to get a new driver to sign on the dotted line. Just because a lot of people do these doesn't necessarily mean that they are a good deal or making money. When I look at any business opportunity I look at the worst scenario. Lease payments are usually fixed per week as are other deductions. Most of these carriers pay mileage. I would want to know the average miles run for their fleet as well as the high and low. It is the low figure that I would want to concentrate on. I would want an itemized statement for all deductions before signing a contract. Most require an escrow account. Some will return it when you leave or cancel your lease. Others will likely never allow you to get your money out. I would also want to talk with several of their lease operators who have completed their lease. By the way, Prime used to not allow you to ever own their truck. Upon completion you can lease another truck or become a company driver. You won't own the truck. There are others who offer the same deal. I would not want to make payments on a truck that I would never own.


As far as Swift over JB, still don't see the difference. A truck is a truck is a truck. One shipper is no different than any other. One DC is no different than the other. And recruiters have a job to do, bottom line. Same as driver managers or fleet managers or what ever they call themselves. Some may want to have lunch with ya when your in town and some could care less who you are and what you want. Some people go out of their way to be ass-holes and for some, it just comes natural.

I have never worked for either of these carriers. I have spoken with many drivers from both carriers. Like any other carrier, I have heard both good and bad about each of them. I think you can earn a decent living with either of them as long as you stay away from their lease programs.

I don't post here much, maybe it's cause I enjoy read'n more than I like talk'n. Yesterday was one of those "RARE" days when I was tired of talk'n to myself. I'll keep come'n to CAD and read'n all the "Informative Information", but I most likely won't post much, not because I don't have anything to say, it's just that I really do like to talk to myself!

(lift,n the bunk and store'n the soap box for today)

Merry Christmas Everybody!

If you want answers to your questions you need to ask. You will get answers but they may not be what you want or expect. You never know. It may be your question that will help someone else. Some people are shy when it comes to posting on the internet. The best way to learn is to ask questions.

[Kevin0915]

[QUOTE=Useless;470450]Your moronic ramblings about Greenpeace [COLOR="Navy"]aside, my point is that as you grow up, (if and when that happens!!) in the long run, you'll find out that you are far better off with a polite "No thanks" than you are engaging in battles where there are no winners.

I never suggested that you should have accepted the offer from the JB Hunt recruiter. I used to get an occasional knock on the door at a truck stop and get a brief pitch from JB recruiters. A quick "No, thanks, but good luck to you!!" was all that was needed. If you are satisfied with running 2500 - 2700 miles per week for SWIFT and working +/-70 hour weeks in exchange for five or six hundred greenbacks per week, that's a matter of your affair. Given the current state

[homer]

Check at Celadon -

if you want a real job and a life maybe another ata member training company is not the answer.
they all have the same business model . i see these swift daycab drivers sleeping on the steering wheel all the time as im hurrying to make my run and go home.

[Joey Shabadoo]

I don't see how some of you guys can bash one company over the other, unless you have worked for them both. Same for the lease/purchase bantering of different companies. Have you tried it and failed?

I don't need to stick my hand into a hornets nest to know it's a bad idea.
Nor do I need to lease a truck at .90 cpm plus FSC with $600/wk "E-Z" payments to know that's not a good way to go either.
Ditto for Swift and JB.
No, I've never worked at either of these outfits.
And as long as I'm not destitute or homeless, I don't plan to either.

[oldcodger]

Having been a day-napper since leaving the Jerry Moyes circus some years ago, my business/retirement plan is on track. Two more years and that is it as far as full-time steering wheel holding goes.

In planning for retirement, I have hit on something that will supplement my pension, my 401k, and my ss checks.

I will apply to every bottom-feeder carrier that is still in business and go to every orientation, regardless of where and will fill out every piece of employment application that they have. I will listen to every lie and every scam that they tell the new sheep. I will take there so-called road test and listen to all the bs.

I will ask for every piece of paper that I have filled out and that has my initials or signature on, which is my right. I will also secretly tape every lie and exaggeration that comes out in orientation and try to secretly video tape it too. At the end of there presentation and they offer otr instead of what they promised, I'll politely decline and go on my way.

I will then process all the info and write a book about carriers and their crap. I will have to sell the books in truckstops to drivers or wanna-be drivers because the general public wouldn't believe it.


Codger

[Jackrabbit379]

Good to see ya Old Codger

[jburd]

I used to sit and listen to all the big time O/O at various Swift terminals.....the yarns they spun.....very amusing.
Some bragged of having more than 1 truck! Little Jerry's I called them,or wannabes is more like it.
I bet their ancestors were the very ones who bought the colored wunder water in the old west daze.

Just for ****z and giggles....last time I talked to my mental/trainer he said they were hitting him for all kinds of things......with a hefty side order of no/low miles and negative paychecks.Jerry's wife can eat the lease/fleece finance company end of Swift.

[b00m]

JB, Swift are the same crap companies that need to disappear from the trucking industry.They were the companies that brought in the enormous amount of cheap labor to this industry.That's why things are the way they are and will never get better anytime soon.

[jonp]

With the new 2010 rules coming out look for one of the mega carriers to bite the dust not being able to force drivers to do iffy things anymore. This should cause a domino and several others will fall. The resulting exit of carriers on the brink and "zombie" companies that are hanging on but should be out of business will cause the carriers capacity to drop and hopefully the rates and pay to rise just in time for the economic turnaround end of 2010 and beyond.

[Kevin0915]

Having been a day-napper since leaving the Jerry Moyes circus some years ago, my business/retirement plan is on track. Two more years and that is it as far as full-time steering wheel holding goes.

In planning for retirement, I have hit on something that will supplement my pension, my 401k, and my ss checks....

if you really think social security will be around for you when you retire, you're kidding yourself. Unless plans change in our government, when the baby boomers start to retire, cash going out will exceed the cash coming into S.S. Meaning it will be operating in the negitive. and this happening within the next few years. By 2016 it will be permenantly operating in the negitive, eventually running out of funds soon after.

So in short, dont bank on getting your social security money you paid in..........that is unless the government changes their spending habbits (i.e. $700 billion for a war in iraq since 2003) or they get china to pay off our social security debt.

[oldcodger]

Well Kevin0195, you need to read a post before you reply to one. In my post I clearly stated that I have two years to go until I retire from full time steering wheel holding.

This means I will be eligible for social security and I will start to draw mine. I have paid in to the system since I was 15 years old and I plan to live at least another twenty years or so, God willing, and my health stays good.

If you were old enough to receive social security advices in the mail as I do you would notice that yes the system is suffering from underfunding and changes must be made to keep it solvent.

Where can I find the data on it running in the negative in 2016? All my checking and discussions with people who are in positions within the social security administration have not once stated this timeline to me.

Codger

[Kevin0915]

where can you find data? look around. Social Security goes bankrupt

there is a link for just one. Notice he says "the federal government projected that by 2017, Social Security would begin paying out more in benefits than it generates in revenues"...pretty sure that means bad news.

want another one? Social Security and Medicare Projections: 2009 - Brief Analysis #662

pull your head out of the sand if you think social security will be around in a few more years.

[jonp]

Planning for my retirement I never include Social Security. Anyone that thinks this program will be here given the out of control spending and refusal by congress to address this problem due to the lobbyists is dreaming.