Truck financing is a joke!!!

[brycey2004]

thanks for the info Baldy, i have a 10.30am meeting with the credit union tomorrow, so ill see what happens, so far they have said 8% fixed over 5 years, starting to think i may get a trailer as well, as crst wanna charge me $185 a week for theirs, just got to decide wether to get a van/reefer or flat, ill be hauling flats with crst, seems to me reefer is the way to go when i get my own AUTH,
Rich

[marcel27208]

id rent/lease a crst trailer for awhile.......flatbed rates are HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so that way when u wanna leave crst for lack of freight you wont be saddled with a trailer you cant find any freight for on....

[GMAN]

thanks for the info Baldy, i have a 10.30am meeting with the credit union tomorrow, so ill see what happens, so far they have said 8% fixed over 5 years, starting to think i may get a trailer as well, as crst wanna charge me $185 a week for theirs, just got to decide wether to get a van/reefer or flat, ill be hauling flats with crst, seems to me reefer is the way to go when i get my own AUTH,
Rich

I would agree about renting a trailer for a while to see if you like pulling a flat. It will also give you an opportunity to find a good buy. $185/week is a bit pricey but if you buy a new trailer that is in line with what a monthly payment would run. If you decide that you don't like pulling flats you won't need to worry about selling your trailer. Flat freight should start to pick up a bit in a few weeks. When the weather breaks construction usually starts up and that helps flat bed freight begin to move.

[Triple Digit Bob]

At 500k miles is when trucks usually start to have problems or run the risk of needing overhauls. A dyno is not a 100% gaurantee that the truck is in good shape. Just make sure it has a minimum of a 2-year 200k warranty on major components and try to negotiate the NTP(National Truck Protection) warranty which covers the rest of the parts such as turbos and injectors. A good truck can make you and a bad truck can easily break you. Just keep that in mind. Produce should start picking up next month in FL. if you have a reefer but it dies down after 3 months. Getting your own authority with no experience based out of FL will make your insurance go thru the roof. Leasing on would be a good way to test the waters.Flatbed trailers are easy to buy and sell so if you decide to go from flatbed to reefer the transition should be easy. Keep in mind though that it costs more to use a reefer than it is to use a dry box or flatbed.

[brycey2004]

i will look into those points, its always a gamble when you buy a used vehicle, well, im of to the credit union for a meeting, ill let you all know how i get on
Rich

[GMAN]

Triple Digit Bob makes a good point about your insurance. These insurance companies look for at least 2 years otr experience preferable with the type of equipment you will be pulling under your own authority. There is also a premium most charge for reefers due to the high claims. One of the questions most insurance companies ask is the length of experience, type of freight you will haul and amount of experience hauling the type of freight you will haul. The type of freight can impact your premium.

[brycey2004]

Hello, i got the loan, $608 a month over 5 years!! so now starts the process, form an LLC, talk to a cpa, insurance, get supplies/logbooks, figure out how to do the IFTA thing, and probably allot of stuff that i dont know about yet, any ideas? i am an O/O who will be leased onto CRST, i guess i should ask them, THANK YOU, all for your input so far, the advise on the credit union has been a huge help, i went from a 5 year loan that required $4600 down with a $1155 a month payment on $20k, To a 5 year loan for $30k no down payment, at $608 a month!!!
Rich
the only other thing im thinking about is that Florida produce is gonna start running soon, and i live in the perfect place to cash in on it, Palm Bay Florida, seems a shame to miss out!!!

[Rev.Vassago]

That's some cheap money right there.

[mike3fan]

no reason to form an LLC for a single truck operation, and also the company that you lease to will file and report the IFTA for you. You may or may not be on the hook for the money for the actual taxes.

[GMAN]

Hello, i got the loan, $608 a month over 5 years!! so now starts the process, form an LLC, talk to a cpa, insurance, get supplies/logbooks, figure out how to do the IFTA thing, and probably allot of stuff that i dont know about yet, any ideas? i am an O/O who will be leased onto CRST, i guess i should ask them, THANK YOU, all for your input so far, the advise on the credit union has been a huge help, i went from a 5 year loan that required $4600 down with a $1155 a month payment on $20k, To a 5 year loan for $30k no down payment, at $608 a month!!!
Rich
the only other thing im thinking about is that Florida produce is gonna start running soon, and i live in the perfect place to cash in on it, Palm Bay Florida, seems a shame to miss out!!!

CRST Malone will do your IFTA and take any taxes out of your settlements. I am glad things worked out with the credit union. It sounds as though you will save a lot of money.

[Cardog17]

I hope you didnt put your house up as collateral.

[heavyhaulerss]

Good for you! as far as log books e.t.c ,the co. you lease to should provide all nessasary documents, logs included. I bet you learned a lot just thru this lil process? strive to be the best at what you are doing & teach others from your trial & errors. wishing you the best for many years to come...

[heavyhaulerss]

I do want to weigh in on the house for collateral... some may have had an experience doing this, or know of some one who did that may not have worked out too well. for what it's worth, my intake on this is as follows... I think all options should be considered. putting up your home is some thing I would take very seriously. having said that. When faced with the options you had, I would of chose to go the route you did. why ? well if you dont have a family to support, that is a big plus. I have 6 kid's. the terms & rates are great. ask any other driver out there they would love to have had a choice like yours.

Now the main thing I like, looking at your figures is the payment. you could make that payment just working a regular job. it's not like you have to do a huge certain amount of miles just to get by & pay the bills. like a lot of lease purchase programs. I'm not sure what kind of debt you have & you dont need to to mention it here, but if it is low & things didnt work out & the truck engine blew up after a few weeks or months, you, like I said could make that payment by getting a job. not may folks could do that. another thing. in today's market, it is hard to get a loan. banks dont wants homes. they just want their money back. they would not be too anxious to get your home if you did default. they just want their payment. unlike some lease purchase where it is in THEIR best interest to see you fail, cause they want the truck back. banks do not want real estate. that is the common theme since this whole mortagage crisis started. at any rate. you are on your way. stay tuned here & let us know how you are doing from time to time.

[brycey2004]

in reply, the loan i have is a heloc, for those who express concern about my house being used as collateral here are my thoughts, 1st im not married and have no kids, of course that will change one day, so im only putting myself at risk, if this whole thing failed, the smallish payment, the fact i can sell the truck, and a few things i wont mention on here, make it a pretty safe bet for me, i believe CRST to be a pretty good company to lease on to, but there are other options, im willing to go where the work is, im willing to stay out OTR for long periods of time, my 1st goal is to pay the truck off, i hope at some point to find good Florida statewide work, ill be looking into produce, work at the ports, military heavy equipment, HET, i believe if you are willing to work hard, have a good attitude, and are sensible with finances then you can do well in trucking, of course there is an element of luck as well, especially with equipment, so ill keep you all posted, right now im just trying to find a good truck, im looking for a 2004 or newer FREIGHTLINER CL12064ST-COLUMBIA 120 , 70 condo, detroit 60 or Mercedes MBE 4000 MOTOR, min 450hp, eaton trans, alluminum wheels, 550k or less miles, There are a few around, i hope to have one next week, i may also consider a Volvo 770 or KW T600.
Rich

[Heavy Duty]

Since you are willing to gamble you home and now you are a cash buyer, why not go to a auction and by a truck for about half of retail. you have no guarantee the dealer truck is any better than a auction truck.

Auction Calendar

[GMAN]

Heavy Duty is right about auctions. I have known some owners who have gotten good buys by attending auctions.

[Hoyt602]

I've seen some International 2005 International 9400i and 9200i with miles in the high 300s to 500 for mid twenties to low thirties. Prices on used trucks have fallen 20% since last summer. Of course that means trade in values have decreased also. We bought a 2005 T600 last summer for 45,000 and I bet it's not worth 25k now. I'd be wary of the Select Truck dealers. The one here in Atlanta tends to inflate their prices a little. I've found some good prices advertised by the Charlotte International UTC. You can find their inventory on truckpaper.

[GMAN]

Several years ago I called a dealer about a Select truck. He told me that he could sell me a similar truck out of the program for about $10,000 less that he could under the Select program. Of course, they could be willing to deal more these days.

[brycey2004]

Just thought id post a video i shot from my truck in iraq to show how it is really like over there, cause of the 10 min limit i had to edit it down, ill post more soon
Rich
ps im the english person you will hear




YouTube - mission part 1

[blanco]

message sent regarding Atlanta,Ga.

Good luck and be safe out there...