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

No chance- He's in the witless protection program

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.

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.

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.

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.

Not after hyperinflation.

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.

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.

I've never run a truck out of gas. Probably because I've never put gas into a truck.

:lol2: :rofl: Rev..... :bow:

That is something I hope we never experience..... The very word conjures up the image in my mind of people pushing wheelbarrows full of German Marks to buy a loaf of bread....

But I think there are many who misunderstand what happens when hyperinflation occurs, and how a country or an economy gets out of it. Here is a very telling story about the German Wiemar Republics episode of hyperinflation....

The Weimar Hyperinflation? Could it Happen Again?

Whats really interesting....was the solution... Oh by the way, lest anybody really be confused by the source....that site is really, really, "right wing"......

T2000 Hawk. You forgot a zero, Oh wait he he comes now.

I did say "right now"..........

I see your reading comprehension skills are at least as great as your powers of logic.

We are still in a deflationary environment.

Anybody who claims to be able to predict what will happen next is delusional.

The solution isn't necessarily interesting. Ditching the old currency for a defacto new currency generally is how hyperinflation is solved. It is interesting who implemented it though.

Saving ourselves from our debt by creating massive debt only works if you can eventually get yourself out from underneath the debt. Frankly, I just don't see that happening, and it seems to me that the current solution is like putting a band aid on a severed limb.

i am the dumb one? you think this 9 month lease is any better than the other deals...and u got the balls to call me dumb. good luck there buddy!!

Sigh. Stop the personal attacks please.

The part I found interesting was that Germany took their money out of the market and basically controlled its value....and financing internally while preventing any "short-selling" of their currency.

Frankly....I think one of the greatest mistakes this country ever made....was coming off the "gold standard" and allowing our currency to float in the market and be subject to the vagaries and whims of "brokers"....

While there may be some validity to what you say....I think the jury is still out, and given that he has only been in office a hair over 4 months..... I think he deserves a little more time before we march in the streets at sundown with torches.....

What I see the present administration as doing is trying very hard to prevent a "domino" effect.... and its a valid path of attack. Loan Guarantees can work wonders...but the other half of the issue is that the car makers have what I call "gutless opportunists" at the helm.
What we need is a "herd" of Iacocca's....and it wouldn't hurt in the least if we informed the rest of the freaking planet that we were going to play the game by the same rules they do with regards to imports and exports..... If Japan or any other country puts a tariff on our products.....we need to put the same blasted tariff on their products.... and if they don't like it...piss on them. Its time this country and its people embraced a little "Xenophobia"!

I have bought American made cars for years.... the last foreign made one was back in 1971.... sold it in 73, bought American....and have stayed with them. My current vehicles are Dodge and Ford.... piss on Mercedes, Jaguar and all the rest.... status symbols are a waste of money and just impress others foolish enough to care about that nonsense...

Yes, but at what cost? Can we really get ourselves out from under the trillions and trillions of dollars in debt that the current administration is creating? Or is it simply pushing the real problem further out to put a band aid on the current problem?

I honestly don't know, but then again, the partner question to that is: Can we really get ourselves out from under the trillions and trillions of dollars debt that the recently past administration put us into? We have to remember.... the start of the bailouts was during the past administration....first the unaccountable $7Billion to the "financial industry"..... supposedly to "shore up" many things, including "mutual funds".....:lol::lol::lol:, and then the first bailout money to the auto industry before the new administration took over.....

We have to be realistic and acknowledge that the previous administration literally pissed billions upon billions of dollars down the drain enlarging the government, while starting a war that needn't have been started....and failed to have its regulators do their jobs, in the energy and financial sectors...and then scooted off into the sundown....leaving someone else to clean up the mess they left behind.....

All of this debt that is now surfacing and accruing cannot all be laid at Obama's feet.... he inherited a phenomenal mess from probably the single most inept president this nation has ever suffered....and its up to him to try and correct it.

The pink tutu wearing "neo-cons" (aka hypocritical luddite) want everyone to believe that all the current problems in this country are the fault of the new president.... Man, those people are taking some wicked drugs, and their brains are seriously fried..... I know Limbaugh's brain is corroded to nothing.....the clod ingested enough illegal oxycontin and other pain killers to kill several bull elephants..... Hmmm, thats a groovy idea, get your "political intelligence (:roll3:) from a proving drug addict"....wait, he's the troll king of the ditto heads. And the jackass...is actually "un-American" enough to wish that the new President will fail...... thats ok for him though, over the years he's suckered enough dittoheads into listening that he's got some lucrative contracts and some money in the bank.....so why in the name of the Almighty would he give a damn about anyone or anything esle?

Whether or not this country even begins to survive depends on whether or not people, Americans of all parties decide to cut the crap and cohesively work to find a way out of this situation and stop playing partisan bs......

I go back to my original statement:


Saving ourselves from our debt by creating massive debt only works if you can eventually get yourself out from underneath the debt. Frankly, I just don't see that happening, and it seems to me that the current solution is like putting a band aid on a severed limb.

I liken it to shooting yourself in the foot, and then trying to use the gun to stop the bleeding.

You guys are having a great discussion here, and Rev.- you are displaying insight and intelligence in your argument. Please continue.

Well, since I have your permission.....:rofl:

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Tony Blair a set of inexpensive and useless (to Tony Blair's UK video formatting) DVDs, when Tony Blair had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current on their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive?

Can't think of anything? Don't worry.. He's done all this in 10 weeks -- so you'll have three years and nine-and-a-half months to come up with an answer.

I wished ****ing McCain would of won.. and continued Bush policies.. then we would of still heard the bitchin!! it was a lose, lose situtaion regardless who won according to most of you Truckers!!

Unfortunately, Bush (the younger) inherited a situation that simply had not come to a head yet. In fact, it started long before Bush (the elder) took office. The root of the problem dates back more than 30 years. It simply came to a "head" during the Bush (the younger) administration. Now, hope and pray that it doesn't take another 30+ years to straighten it out. It won't be straightened out until those in charge see the "ROOT" of the problem. Band-aids on the symptoms only increase the problem and make the problem worse. At this point, even a very serious letter-writing campaign to Congress and the Senate may not get the job done thw way it needs to be done. No one upstairs can see far enough to be able to look at the start of it all.

If Obama tried to take away your right of habeas corpus, would you let him?

If Obam launched an illegal and immoral war of aggression against a sovereign nation, based on false pretenses and forged documents, would you agree to that?

If Obam had inherited a federal budget that was running at a substantial surplus, and had turned that surplus into the largest budget deficit in peacetime history by giving enormous tax breaks to the wealthy, would you endorse that?

If Obama starts to add statements to new laws he signs, declaring that he, as President,, has the right to violate any section of that law, should he deem it in the national interest to do so, would you protest?

If Obama declares that if there is even a 1% chance American interests are in jeopardy somewhere in the world, unilateral American military interventions are justified, and this without conclusive evidence or extensive analysis, would you allow him to attack wherever he deems justified?

If Obama decides that he has the right to eavesdrop on citizens private conversations, or to spy on them in any manner of his choosing without a warrant, will you let him do it to you?

Will it be OK if Obama decides he is not bound by the Geneva Convention? If he authorizes the torture of prisoners? If he declares we are not bound by international law? (If we torture foreign prisoners, why not domestic ones? Let's get to the bottom of what that kidnapper did with the little girl via a waterboarding or two)

If Obama ever makes statements like the following, will you be embarrassed?

"He [Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi] said I want to make it very clear to you exactly what I intend to do and he talked about non-performing loans, the devaluation issue and regulatory reform and he placed equal emphasis on all three." -George W. Bush, who had meant to say "the deflation issue" rather than "the devaluation issue," and accidentally sent the Japanese Yen tumbling, Tokyo, Feb. 18, 2002

"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." -George W. Bush, July 27, 2001

"I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe - I believe what I believe is right." -George W. Bush, in Rome, July 22, 2001

"It is white." -George W. Bush, asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, July 19, 2001

Dude, there is no way Obama can do the damage Bush did. What scares me is that there may be no way he can UN-do the damage Bush did.

Blah blah blah, you guys can go back and fourth forever with the 'he did this' and 'he did that' game, neither where or are any good. I do not think we have had a good president for a very long time, most if not all of the last handful of presidents have done nothing to improve the country, but in fact more so to damage it. And for those of you who want to try to say Clinton got the economy good, sorry, but no he didn't, the .com bubble did, coupled with all of the spendable cash flow via credit the banks gave out like candy.

what is pathetic, is that you all think that going out to vote actually means anything. the figure standing in office isnt really anything but a puppet. He has no real power, and is controlled by big business. Where do we get our 'news' from? CNN, FOX, etc....they brainwash us into beleiving what they want us to. Why do you always see nothing but gloom and doom on TV and over the internet??

this country lost having a REAL elected president on November 22, 1963. Every president since Johnson KNEW that their real boss was the military. Look how bad they wanted to go into Cuba during the missle crisis and wipe them out, if they HAD...we wouldnt be here today. And the earth would be nothing more than a burnt piece of coal floating in space.

So quit the b!tchin' about Obama this, and Osama that, and Biden whoever.......nobody gives a ***.

Actually, you can narrow it down even more. Take a look at the financial industry and check to see who is not losing any money. Or, look at which businesses in the financial industry are NOT failing. Banks are still failing (a bank in Central Illinois failed just last week), so it's not the banking industry. Check the "guest list" for those $1,000/plate fund-raising dinners and see just who the guests are affiliated with.

Uuummmmm... NOPE. Not that many generals and admirals in attendance. You'll have to look to the civilian population.

That's right. Just follow the Judas Goat.

Was that even necessary?? I bet you won't say that at a Truck Stop around a Group full of Brothers...

This is one of the reasons why I like the fact that politics does not rear its ugly head around here on a regular basis.

Actually, I'm glad when it does come up. It seems to bring people out of the woodwork that don't normally seem to post anything. And, this seems to be staying reasonably civil... We're not throwing mud and slime at each other, but the discussion is certainly more lively. And, I get a chuckle out of the things that others, and even you, post.

i have, and will continue to do so, especially when 'brothas' who speak up, seem to always say the same thing, and it always sounds so rehersed. Wonder where they plagiarized that from, cause you know it isnt their own thoughts. BET maybe??

Funny how you ask one exactly what Obama's talking points are, and what he stands for, most couldnt tell ya. They only voted for him based on skin color. And the proof is in the pudding, cause 90% colored voted for him, and only 50% crackas did.

but seriously, it dont matter. politicians are only put in office to give us all the illusion that we are really in charge.

i dont 'follow' anybody, Gus. i actually do something most americans don't. I'll gather as much info about a topic, then formulate my own opinion.

See, i have two reasons i dont vote. 1st...its meaningless. the crap that gets shuffled around dont mean a thing. 2nd, i believe if you vote, you have no right to complain. I know people will turn that around and say, "..well if you DONT vote you have no right to complain...", but where is the logic in that. If you vote...and you elect selfish ignorant leaders and they get into office and screw everything up, then you are responsible for what they have done, YOU voted them in, YOU have no right to complain. I on the other hand, who did not vote, who didnt even leave the house on election day, have every right to complain as loud as i want about the problem you created. But i have solved this little problem, i do basicly the same thing as those who vote, but whem i'm finished masturbating, i'll have a little something to show for it. ;-)

Actually you have rights because you live in a democratic society.

That's not complaining, Kevin. That's whining. There is a difference. Someone who tries to change things (by voting) and fails, complains about it. Someone who does absolutely nothing to try to change things whines about it. So you're admitting you are a whiner.

so what, you got a problem with that?

One of the reasons the system is failing is because the people don't get involved as they should be.