CRST Facts & Journal
 

I wanted to start this journal for the new drivers looking for info on the CRST lease purchase program.

First, I am a driver of 11 years, during that time I have owned two trucks of my own; one I bought outright and then sold and the other a Lease Purchase.

I have yet to find a Lease Puchase program that benefits the driver. My last lease purchase experience was with a company called Express Freight Systems out of Chattanooga, Tn. I regularly stayed out for four weeks at a time and still could not be profitable, I found them to be extremely dishonest; they are now bankrupt. Therefore, I exercised my right to void my lease agreement. LOL!

After that, for the last 8 months, I have exhaustively looked at various lease programs. At a distance, it seems as if CSRT has about the best lease program in the industry. I say "at a distance" because I have not started yet. However, I have crunched the numbers many times and think that I can be very profitable in their program. We will see!

I start orientation on Monday. It is actually first class so far... They have rented me a car! When I get there they pay you back for your gas in cash!

You can expect me to be honest. I have been in the industry 11 years and have heard it all and seen it all. I will not report any bad unless I can support it with facts.

Anyway, I will keep you posted.

I rented a truck from penske for cheaper than what the LP companies offer trucks for, with 0% commitment.

Think about it, but be optimistic.

Good luck, most leases are a rip off due to higher fuel.

Thanks. The truck payment is suppossed to be 306.00 a week as compared to my last lease which was 580.00. Like I said we will see!

I will be sharing the details of my lease agreement and settlements for the next few months - minus my ss# and Name. He! He!

That way we can see it on paper together and also that way if I end up quitting, we shall quit together and you will be able to see if my reasons are well founded or not. LOL!

Yes you are correct most leases are like that. We shall see!

This one is 306.00 a week and it is a walk away lease.

Leases are tough. You have to be 100% committed to make it. They are not for everyone. Ive been recruiter for quite some time and after these years im finally getting quite a few drivers who finished our LP. In fact, in the last 2 weeks Ive had three. Everytime a driver finishes the lease they are routed to corporate and I get to sit down and talk to them. I have found out a lot of useful information about what they did to succeed in LP when a lot of drivers fail.
1. Even though its no forced dispatch, they never turn down loads.
2. Even though LP drivers can get home every two weeks and even sometimes every week. The successful drivers are very flexible on this and stay out as long as it takes to make it. Even if its a month at a time.
3.Even though its flexible hometime and a LP driver can stay home as long as he wants the successful drivers tend to never stay home long.
4. The one thing they all said that also stuck is they said they run smart. They said a lot of drivers just dont get this. They said you have to treat it like a business investment. You have to save money, run smart, keep your idle time down. be smart when buying fuel and you can make it work.

Like i said, its not for everyone. You have to be committed, you have to focus on the future 3 years down the road, when you have a paid off truck and then making really good money.
I always tell my recruits that if they can find a way to buy the truck from a dealer, do it. However if you have questionable credit or other problems, this CAN BE an option for you is you are willing to work harder than you have ever worked to make your dream of being an owner operator happen.

1. Even though its no forced dispatch, they never turn down loads.
I never turned down a load. Ever.
2. Even though LP drivers can get home every two weeks and even sometimes every week. The successful drivers are very flexible on this and stay out as long as it takes to make it. Even if its a month at a time.
I stayed out up to 6 weeks.
3.Even though its flexible hometime and a LP driver can stay home as long as he wants the successful drivers tend to never stay home long.
I had 4 days home in 3 months.
4. The one thing they all said that also stuck is they said they run smart. They said a lot of drivers just dont get this. They said you have to treat it like a business investment. You have to save money, run smart, keep your idle time down. be smart when buying fuel and you can make it work.
This was me too. my idle percentage was less than 8 percent. My mpg stayed at 6.2 every week.

I was also "proactive". I called every shipper and receiver. If the load could be there early it was.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I did a lease and lost. It seems there has to be some higher power (read DM's and load planners) that determine success in a lease. Although the lease was not with CRST, it was a lease all the same.

I was in California the other day and I saw a guy and a girl in a CR England truck. The girl ended up being behind me in line and I got to talking with her. She was with a trainer and she planned on leasing to to CR England. She was raving about how good the company was and their training is top notch. Yet she admited that her trainer was barely able to make his payments until he took her on as a student.

I told her I had no experience with them and I don't know her so she doesn't need to listen to me, but I asked her "have you done your research? this is company has a bad reputation"? She claims she did her research and that she plans on teaming with a partner to share expenses and she is going to start her own trucking company. I wished her luck and left. As soon as one turns in a truck there will probably be 2 more to jump right in.

By the way, I called Penske the other day for a quote and this is what they gave me:

Week;ly $575.00/.13 cents a mile.
Monthly $2275.00 /.10 cents a mile.

Deposit would be $7,500 cashiers check and a credit card for weekly payment, also mileage will need to be called in weekly to maintain current billing


I don't know if it's cheaper in other parts of the country. This was in S.E. Florida

I forgot to add, that there is no maintenance cost with this penske deal. They pay for everything according to them. Banditscousin could probably better speak on that.

Im just going by what the drivers who actually made the LP work tell me. And that is exactly what they say. In fact those drivers I hired that finished the program do most of my recruiting of lease purchase drivers for me. They do the selling, send them to me...and I just sign them up.

Gentleman, we can speculate all day, but in a few weeks; I will paste my actually settlement sheets into this thread minus my name and SS#, of course. I will regularly post them for a few months; then we all shall see what is the truth about the CRST LP program.

By the way, I am not defending or knocking CRST at this point. However, I would be the first to say that I have yet to see a LP that benefits the driver and brings more net income than that of a company driver.

However, I thought it would be nice to actually post the results of my experience that way you get facts and not vain babble.