Lease operator
 

I kind to new to trucking, i am thinking of becoming a lease operater. Do you think i should do it, what are the pros and cons, or should i just stick with company driver.

I'd stay away from the fleece deals!

run away as fast as you can screaming. You might see a decent paycheck every now and then but you will see lots of small and maybe even non existent checks. Fuel is now on you, depending on the company, the tolls might be on you, all expenses are now on you. Supose to break even you need to make 1500-2000 miles. What happens when your broke down for a week, that 1500-2000 miles just became 3000-4000 to break even the next week Not to mention you also have to add the cost to repair the truck if it's not warranty work, maybe a hotel. Also remember, not always will the company be able to run you that 1500-2000 miles, it's easy to get in the hole and hard to work out of. Don't even think of doing it if you have a fam that depends on you making a paycheck. Trust someone that tried to make it work, don't even try it. save your money and get your own truck, you'll fair better in the end.

I have looked at many of these lease deals. I can't think of a single positive thing about doing a lease with any carrier. Your weekly payments are much too high for the income you will generate. In fact, you will usually pay about $800/week by the time you pay for everything. And that is just for the truck and doesn't include any expenses of operation. From those that I have checked out, you will pay about 4 times per month what you could get on your own with a standard purchase. For what those carriers who do these pay you cannot afford to do their lease. If you want to be an owner operator and be successful, the best way is to save your money and stay away from these lease through a carrier. I don't understand why people are so willing to pay double or more to lease a truck they may never own, than to save their money and buy a truck outright. There are very, very few who can make money with those leases. In most cases you will make more money if you stay a company driver. If you can discipline yourself to save $100-200/week, you can pay cash for a decent truck in a couple of years. Or you could use that money to make a very good down payment on a more expensive truck. That would be much better than what you would pay leasing a truck.

yes g, thats what I'm going to do. I know a few places I can make my own truck work but my experience with lease was realy bad. It's not that I have no idea on making it work. the cards are usualy staked against you from the start.

It is very difficult to make a lease work when you get the truck from your carrier.

Out of curiosity, have you actually sat down and run the numbers on a lease to see if you could actually make money? I am talking about not only the numbers the carrier gives you, but have you sat down and plugged the actual costs of running the truck, such as for fuel, tires, etc? Have you looked at the expected revenue, based upon the company average and then checked to see if you can make any money?

Expenses are far more then the income when you lease a truck, first estimate all the costs should be paid by you in comparison to the actual earning.

pros:
long term investment
boosts your credit score
eventually you will have something to show for your hard work that you can take pride in
load priority over a company driver
after truck is paid for, you dont need to worry about running miles, and can literally take it easy.
your truck, your rules(within limitations of contract)
challenging
cons:
one sided contract
all expenses are on you, which means you need to put the truck before yourself, your family, your own ambitions<====good if u dont have much family:)
once paid off, its hard to sell
challenging to the point of frustrating at times

all in all trucking is about finding a rhythm. a set priority of what works for you. Everyone on these boards can tell you to run away from the lease deals over and over again until they are blue in the face. thing is, all the major trucking companies at one point and time were at the point where you are. Its about setting goals and taking the necessary measures to achieve those goals.

I am not sure that leasing a truck from your carrier would help your credit score. I doubt that any of them report to the credit bureau. Most major trucking companies did not start out leasing a truck from another carrier. The owners usually saved their money until they had a good down payment or enough to pay cash. Those who succeed in business learn to keep costs down and to maximize revenue. They put a business plan together and worked to achieve their goals. From the leases that I have checked, there isn't enough profit for one person, much less if you decided to put a driver in your truck. At most, you will only be able to get drivers wages. I know that the high failure rate of leases is not all the fault of the carriers who make the leases. Most who get involved in a lease will usually have bad credit and no money. Rather than working to improve their credit, they lease a truck and when that doesn't work out their credit is in even worse condition. There are no shortcuts when it comes to becoming successful.

Don't listen to us nay sayers go fleece you a new truck and sink or swim.

Some companies do lease their trucks, but they lease them from another company they own. My guess is for tax or liability reasons.

^this

Not to mention the fact that some 'major' carriers founders have never even driven a truck in their lives. They just knew where to go for financial backing to get started.

CRE reports to equifax.....one of the many people who have since quit CRE whom i still keep in touch with stated that CRE reported him for being 6 weeks behind in truck payments. CRE never repo'ed his truck, however after 6 weeks of not seeing any $$$ he decided to hang up the keys.

also, as I recall jerry moyes' father (SWIFT) started with CRE.... source:
CR England - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

let us also not forget how Knight Transportation came to emerge out of SWIFT

also the following statement you made bears a lot of truth, but you also forgot to add the tidbit of passing costs onto others, which most of these corporate scum are famous for:
"Those who succeed in business learn to keep costs down and to maximize revenue."

i also like this part of your post because it says it all:
"There are no shortcuts when it comes to becoming successful. "

trucking isnt about fast money, its about climbing the totem pole, and EARNING it.

I think we scared the op off. :eek2:

i dont think they were scare doff so much as they (like a great many others) have a very strong opinion on fleece deals.

fact of the matter is some people can make it work, but most cant.