so when you lease on with a company they help you pay for gas? sounds pretty alright... what other help you get from the company?? how does driving with your own authority work?

 

How old are you chevy454 ????

 

I enlisted for driver training in 1964. The U.S. Army kept the training guarantee, but assigned me to a unit that had three sedans and a pickup truck. The sedans performed like taxi cabs picking up officers at the airport, and the pickup truck hauled laundry to another post. I soon changed my MOS. After my discharge, I drove company for six years before buying a truck. During a time when our country had a military draft, there was an advantage in the job market to have my military obligation behind me. Today, there seems to be no end to your service and they will call you back when you are invested in something else.

 

Leasing on to a company is much like a mechanic who brings his own tools. An owner operator brings his truck. When you lease to a carrier you operate under their authority. You are an independent businessman, but operate much like a company driver. Most carriers find loads for you, book them, (some) furnish base plates, permits, and handle all paperwork, such as IFTA. Some pay your IFTA fuel taxes. Most will issue you a company owned fuel card. You can usually get a fuel advance of about 30% once you are loaded. If you don't Your success is primarily up to you. Get with the right carrier and you can make a decent living.

Having your authority means that you have been granted authority from the government to conduct the business of moving freight. The federal government grants interstate authority (crossing state lines). Intrastate authority enables you to pick up and deliver within the same state. I believe there are about 11 states who issue intrastate authority.

When you run your own authority you can get your own loads from any source you choose. When you lease to a carrier you are normally limited to carrying their loads unless you get their permission before hand. When you run your authority you are totally on your own. There is no one on which to rely but yourself. You buy your own baseplates, permits, fuel, all paperwork and everything else. Leasing gives you the support of a larger company. Keep in mind that either way you are in business.

 

This was part of my post earlier in this thread. I wanted to edit it, but couldn't. I just wanted to clarify that I was NOT insulting your intelligence... and certainly not saying you weren't even smart enough to "make a choice." :lol:

What I meant was IF you scored high enough on the placement tests to HAVE a choice in the mechanics field, you would do better to choose Aircraft mechanics. IIRC, Mechanics was my lowest score, and I'm not sure I HAD that option.

Sorry if I offended you in any way with the poor wording I used in the original post.