[ordinaryguy]

Originally Posted by Hawkjr

Why in the hell would some one want to lease one of those ugly ass T200's.. In Blue or White.. Please!! At Least at Prime, Schneider, and England you can pick out a nice truck with a nice color!!

and still get bent over w/o lube in the process

[LightsChromeHorsepower]

Originally Posted by dobry4u

that would be in the running for the witless comment of the year :hellno:

No chance- He's in the witless protection program

[LightsChromeHorsepower]

Originally Posted by dobry4u

The lease does establish credit, but so does a home purchase and has a much better ROI

Then why am I upside down times 3 when in March of 06 I had over 50% equity in each property?

I can't tell anybody to buy a home in this economy. You might as well buy a truck, you can live in it too.

[Windwalker]

Originally Posted by Kevin0915

Talking with the couple who bought into that 9 mo lease/fleece with Swift, was talking about how my 8 mo are about up, and how i could sign an actual lease to purchase after those 8 months. They told me something interesting, and wanted to pass the info along.....

They signed up for that 9 month deal a few months ago. They were asked to resign a new contract with something new added to it. It is an "anti-competition clause". When i asked them what that was, they told me that if a driver quits or gets fired, they cannot work in the same industry for 2 years.

Is this a new 'standard' trucking companies are doing in general, or just swift...........


and please.....no smart arse comments about how swift sucks, or how bad their lease deals are. we've hashed that out, and wasted time with that before. So lets leave that out this time, can we?

While not being a new concept in the trucking industry, I believe it's the first time I've heard of it being applied to a driver/lease operator.

When M S Carriers bought out ITC of A, the owners had to sign a "non-competition clause. One of the guys that had a 1/3 interest in the company gave the money to his wife, She started the new company, her name was on everything as the owner, and he simply answered the phones. M S Carriers found out about it, and the guy had to repay M S Carriers a few million dollars. By answering the phones, he was working for a competing company. Even though his wife owns it.

I don't know if it can be enforced or not. Obviously, it's an attempt to make the drivers stay with Swift. But, to sign something like that would be cutting your own throat when you go to leave them. Better win the POWER-BALL JACKPOT before you quit. If the exec from ITC is a barometer of what they can or can not do, you'll need it. If they can enforce it, violation of that clause could cost you a couple of years worth of hard earned money. Say what ever else you want to about them, if they were anything even close to a good company, they would not have to resort to that kind of coercion to retain drivers. It about tells you everything you need to know in regards to what kind of company they are.

[Windwalker]

Originally Posted by GMAN

If you want to play with a spreadsheet and the numbers OOIDA has two on their website. There are a couple of things that I would change about it but it offers a good way to play with the numbers to see if you can operate profitably. We have broken down the operational costs on this forum on several occasions. You should be able to do a search and find them. If not, then perhaps someone remembers the link. The best way to see whether you can afford to buy a truck is to put all the numbers down and then make your decision. One major variable right now are the freight rates and availability. When you do projections downplay your income and add to your expenses. If you do the best scenario then you are likely to be disappointed. You need to be honest when it comes to looking at the numbers.

And, after you're all done crunching the numbers, add in another 25% profit margin. Once you start paying all the expenses on the truck, you'll be amazed just haw quickly, and how many places the profits find to disappear into. Keep a tight leash on your profits or they'll be gone faster than letting a "lot-lizard" go through your wallet. There can be some very real unexpected expenses, not just tires and brakes, but you could come up with an oil leak, replace the turbo, or the air-compressor. (The last one would run about $1500 alone, including towing.) Screw up just one time, while locking in the differentials, and you're looking at about $3000+. If you don't run into that, great. You've even got frosting on your cake.

[dobry4u]

Originally Posted by LightsChromeHorsepower

Then why am I upside down times 3 when in March of 06 I had over 50% equity in each property?

I can't tell anybody to buy a home in this economy. You might as well buy a truck, you can live in it too.

timing is everything! It is a great time to buy

[LightsChromeHorsepower]

Originally Posted by dobry4u

timing is everything! It is a great time to buy

I respectfully disagree.

We may never, at least not in our lifetimes, see the levels of appreciation that real estate has enjoyed since the 1980's. The current market is nowhere near the bottom.

Why should you invest in an asset that will likely be worth less than you paid for it in 3 years?

Right now, cash is king.

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by LightsChromeHorsepower

Right now, cash is king.

Not after hyperinflation.

[Windwalker]

I'm afraid the Rev is right. There's another round of foreclosures coming. When it's all over, real estate isn't going to be worth very much at all. Even those with all the money tied up in the fancy homes around the lake up in McCall, ID will find that their investment of several million will only be worth a few hundred thousand. I'm afraid we're a little way from the bottom yet.

[Kevin0915]

Originally Posted by matcat

Hey Look! Kevin has that, "I am the rare exception and I will exceed" attitude! Woohoo! Just like every single other person that has done a fleace! We will see him cruisin' down the road in that nice blue tractor, with the little itty bitty 'Leased to Swift' sticker on the side, pullin all that wonderful freight they have in this downed economy, at a wonderful .90cpm! Of course I am sure he will use Swift's insurance instead of shopping around for cheaper! He will be cruisin' at 70mph passin all the company drivers at 62, idling all he wants, wow, what a super trucker!

I would hardly ever run close to 70....65 maybe. But i will know when to put fuel in my truck so i dont run it out of gas.