US Express Lease Purchase

[GMAN]

Question for GMAN and Dejanh, which of these companies would you lease to?

Swift
CR England
JB Hunt
US Express
Celadon

I would not lease to any of them.

[mike3fan]

I would not lease to any of them.

Why not?

[GMAN]

Why not?

None of them pay owner operators enough.

[mike3fan]

None of them pay owner operators enough.

Oh, because all the advice I have seen from you guys has been about buying a cheap aerodynamic truck with small payments and nothing about the company you are leasing onto.

So maybe since you wouldn't consider any of these cheap carriers maybe my giving advice that it is much more important to consider which company they lease to than which truck they buy wouldn't seem so bad.

I don't care what truck you buy, I don't believe you can make even as much as driver wages leasing a truck onto one of the McMega carriers. My advice from the beginning was to buy a affordable truck and look for the best paying carrier you can find, which is anything but a dry van carrier these days. And doing L/P deal thru any of these carriers is a financial death sentence.

I maintain that if you find a good carrier that pays decent percentage of the load line haul plus accessorials that you can buy any truck you want(common sence applied), including a "dying breed" long nose Pete.

[GMAN]

The pay you receive from a carrier is critical, but saving where you can is like putting money back in your pocket. It is much like some of the fuel discounts offered by many of the larger carriers. The money you save can be put back in your pocket. I don't care what someone else drives. I don't have to pay for the fuel. However, when rates are down and more sparse, any money you can save could make the difference between making money and losing your shirt. Personally, I like Peterbilt. I hope they continue making the hoods. I don't know if I will ever buy another one or not, but I still enjoy looking at them. As I believe I have previously stated, I have friends who won't drive anything else, even if it means that it will cost them more to run them due to the typically lower fuel economy. If I got a good enough deal in a Pete, I might consider buying another one. But at this point, I am not sure if I will buy any more trucks. I may just continue to repair the ones that I have. I am not that keen on sticking with any brand. I just look for something that meets my needs and then shop for the best buy.

[chris1]

I have two teams that run the same round each week,just different days. One spends approx 750-800 more on fuel,when fuel was up it was 1150-1200. They say they will not buy another truck or trailer. 50 rounds a year 40,000.00. Guess the different kinds of truck.

[RostyC]

I have two teams that run the same round each week,just different days. One spends approx 750-800 more on fuel,when fuel was up it was 1150-1200. They say they will not buy another truck or trailer. 50 rounds a year 40,000.00. Guess the different kinds of truck.

I'm thinking this is a trick question but.....................
That's a lot of difference in fuel. I'm wondering the difference in there driving habits as well.
Pete 379 (the less efficient) big cat and driver that won't keep his foot out of it.
volvo (small one) and a more efficient driver.

am I close?

[jiptwoo]

I'm not so sure about that point of---keeping your foot out of it. I ran produce for an o/o and I ran two different trucks the same way- 80 mph everywhere even ca. Both trucks had 500hp 13spd geared the same. The pete 379 500 cat, the century shaker a 500 come a long, the shaker had the best fuel milage in the fleet of petes and w900's. No one ran their truck harder than me, yet I have to say the reason for me having the best fuel mileage is the more aero dynamic truck, because I ran them all the same---balls out.

[GMAN]

I ran produce for an o/o and I ran two different trucks the same way- 80 mph everywhere even ca.

I can't believe you still have a CDL if you drove 80 mph all the time in CA.

[BoyNextDoor]

I'm not so sure about that point of---keeping your foot out of it. I ran produce for an o/o and I ran two different trucks the same way- 80 mph everywhere even ca. Both trucks had 500hp 13spd geared the same. The pete 379 500 cat, the century shaker a 500 come a long, the shaker had the best fuel milage in the fleet of petes and w900's. No one ran their truck harder than me, yet I have to say the reason for me having the best fuel mileage is the more aero dynamic truck, because I ran them all the same---balls out.

billy big rig, eh? lol

[jiptwoo]

No wise guy, they call me knucklehead. My post goes to saying about speed and aero dynamics or could you not figger that out.

[BoyNextDoor]

I'm not so sure about that point of---keeping your foot out of it. I ran produce for an o/o and I ran two different trucks the same way- 80 mph everywhere even ca. Both trucks had 500hp 13spd geared the same. The pete 379 500 cat, the century shaker a 500 come a long, the shaker had the best fuel milage in the fleet of petes and w900's. No one ran their truck harder than me, yet I have to say the reason for me having the best fuel mileage is the more aero dynamic truck, because I ran them all the same---balls out.

this was what i was referring to, not the aerodynamics... I do agree with you that aero trucks get better mileage than non-aero ones...

[Fuzeme]

Yeah, we are leased on to a 100% owner operator company, who provide good miles, and 100% of the fuel surcharge. No I'm not going to US Express program, trucks too expensive, and they only pay 29% of the fuel surcharge. My current truck is being pulled out of the fleet, and I will be getting an 05 KW T 600, Cat powered, with a 13 speed. Once our trucks make it to the million mile mark, he pulls them, and auctions them off.
The driver that had this KW kept it really nice, and the only reason he is coming out of it is because he's getting a brand new truck. I think the Cat is a 475, and he did say he was able to get fairly decent fuel mileage out of it, and it didn't give him hardly any trouble, so as soon as his truck comes in, which will be Monday, I'll be moving into my KW. If it turns out to be a great truck, I'll L/P it for a year, and then it's mine free and clear.

Be back soon, going from Amarillo TX to Philly PA.

[chris1]

I'm thinking this is a trick question but.....................
That's a lot of difference in fuel. I'm wondering the difference in there driving habits as well.
Pete 379 (the less efficient) big cat and driver that won't keep his foot out of it.
volvo (small one) and a more efficient driver.

am I close?

1999,475hp,cat,no apu,spread axle,379
2009,550hp,cummins,apu,closed tandem,aerodynamic
both have same trans and rearends
Both run mainly in 75mph states,at best 8-10 hours of idle time. When their truck was down for repairs they rented one of mine for a round and the fuel was comparable to the other team so i don't think it's the difference in drivers. A couple of other non aero,newer trucks doing the same routes fall in-between for mileage. I think aerodynamics play a large roll in van/reefer operations. Flatbeds a lot is lost in the trailer configuration.

[solo379]

With high speed, you'll get a high difference between "aero" and "classic". If you run "double nickel", it will be hardly noticeable. At 50mph, rolling resistance, takes more power, than air resistance. I'm averaging low 7Th with my Cat powered 2005 T6, pulling dry box mostly between OH and NE region, a lot of hills, lights and congestion's, but mostly with the light loads. I run between 60-65mph, when it rolls, I'll let it roll, on a rare occasions, I'll speed up(to pass, to get out of the crowd...) Could i run 80? I sure could, truck is not governed, but it's gonna cost me about 1 mph, with classic design, probably 1.5-2mph. At 120 000 miles it's around 15 grand difference, at current fuel prices. I have a much better use for that money, but that's a personal choice.

[GMAN]

Driving habits have a lot to do with fuel mileage. You can have two identical trucks with the same load and they will most likely get different fuel mileage. The only difference is in the drivers. I am like you, I can find a much better use for $15,000 than putting it in the fuel tank.

[jiptwoo]

Gman, I'll tell you the truth, that after 10yrs hauling produce ca. to hunts, and 5 ca. to albuquerque I still have a clean mvr and license---no tickets. I got more log book tickets and 8 hr shutdowns than anything else. The 3 or 4 speeding tickets I received I paid immediately like all tickets and they have never showed up on my license. I remember a driver laughed at me for having 2 cb's and 3 birdogs I passed him 5 mi. later and smoky had him on the side as I rode "bye bye". You cannot go peddeling around ca. at highspeed in the blind. You have to have some sense, I'm not a total idiot, a little but not total. There are and have always been produce haulers like me, and we do not go truckstop to truckstop. More like, we drive like we always have from back in the days till now; 1000 miles a day. As long as they don't check my log book at the gallup port and I mean, run my miles, I consider myself home free. Before they started running miles it was a joke, just start a new log everyday, but for the last 3 yrs they have me sweating sometimes, I'm glad I only run to n.m. these days. The 3 days to hunts. pt. solo are over. An advertiser on this site had 150 o/o's running produce ca. to ny, beantown, hartsford 2 days for a team and 3 days for a solo driver and if you could not do that you did not haul for them. I ran for them for ten years. O/o's built them and now they do not need o/o's.

[GMAN]

Jiptwoo, I would say that you have been extremely lucky. States are really cracking down, especially on logs. I am a little surprised that your former carrier isn't pushing for more owner operators. Some of the largest carriers are pushing for more owner operators and reducing their company drivers. Carriers are increasingly being held responsible for the actions of their drivers. That is forcing some of them to change their ways.