john christner trucking
 

am gonna start orientation with jct coming monday. anyone have expierence with them, good, bad, or ugly?

Im sorry, I hope you have good luck with JCT! I was in there lease purchase program for a year. The only one that makes money is John Christner....

why did you quit? what were the problems you had with them? any thing you would of done differently if you did it all over? any advice that might help me make it with them? what did it cost to quit them?

Any time you see the words Lease Purchase you are headed for the poor house.

boneebone, is that spoken from personal experience, or just word of mouth? how many companies lease purchase have you tried?

I am not foolish enough to go that route. I bought my own used truck and leased it to a company. My truck is paid for and I don't have to worry about the repo man knocking on my door. If I don't like the company I am with I can take my truck to a different company. Try that with a lease purchase truck.

It has nothing to do with having personal experience whether to go with a lease purchase or not, it is doing research and asking questions first before jumping in head first and seeing what you will have to commit to.

I have talked to many lease purchase operators who had to walk away from their truck because after all the expenses, they barely made a few hundred dollars a week.

Do a search on this board and you will read many a horror story about drivers who got bamboozled into a lease purchase.

I am only stating my opinion, so take it for what it is worth. Good luck.

thanks for the reply. i have been doing my research over the past 2 years and after speaking to quite a few drivers i have only come up with a couple of lease purchase companies that are really legit. most are scams. also those that are legit, i have found, it is more head ache than being a company driver. but, i am gonna give it my best shot. with a little luck, and lots of hard running, maybe in 4 years i will own a truck only 5 :roll: years old.

Have you gotten a copy of the lease and had it checked out by an Attorney with the background to analyze it and give an opinion as to its merits and flaws?

Here at this link: http://www.johnchristner.com/drivers...gram/index.cfm
is a basic rundown on their L/O program. It seems somewhat average. The only thing that I would question is the "$1.00" buyout to get ownership of the truck. While things may have changed.... I can remember a time not so long ago that the IRS had a real problem with "$1.00" buyouts on just about anything you could name...especially big ticket items. I would think it would be a good idea to get a solid read on that, based on an amortization schedule reviewed by a CPA.

These things may cost a couple of hundred up front, but could save you thousands in the long run. If JCT has a problem with you wanting to do that, I would see that as a "yellow caution flag".

My best suggestion to anyone who wants to become a Owner Operator is to sell your toys at home, fix your credit, if you are going to try and obtain financing, save your money and buy a good used truck and lease to a company or obtain your own authority.

Also, don't think just because you buy a new truck, you won't have any problems, these new trucks have more computer and electrical problems than ever before with all the EPA standards that they have to have. Some of these new trucks have three on board computers controlling the engine. They also run hotter which shortens under the hood engine component life.

Buy a pre-2003 engined truck and work it, and save your money for a in-frame. These truck will give you better fuel mileage than any newer truck ever will. Since fuel is the number one expense of being a Owner/Op you will get your money's worth in the long run by getting more MPG.

From a business standpoint I'd be really cautious about it to say the least. Take Skywalkers advice and take the lease to a lawyer. Companies don't offer these programs because they want other people to succeed, it leans in their favor you have to figure out how much it leans in their favor and make a decision based on that. Don't be fooled by shiny trucks. :wink:
Best of luck to ya Bob :)