Prime Lease

Let me chime in.

1) I'm a company driver 2) I get a percentage of the load. 3) I track ALL my expenses that I don't give to the company.

If you decide to lease, find out what the company pays, and what you pay. Anything you pay, MIGHT be deductible, if it is related to your work.

Also, you MIGHT have to file quarterly. Even as a company driver, with my former company paying "per diem," I ended up paying a penalty ($9) to my state, because I did not withhold enough money. That was $9 including in the $500 I owed my state.

Dave

Let me chime in here as well I've known several O/O's and have a neighbor who owns his own company with 10 trucks it's a crude and rude business to get into first thing they have told me is you need a safety fall back fund of about 10 grand before you buy a truck just to cover your ass second thing the expenses are very high fuel alone is going to cost you an arm and leg so you want to think about that then there is tires and such then you have to factor in your unexpected ones like a transmission failure or major break downs that you then have to be towed to get fixed so you now have shop fees towing fees and parts. That's just the beginning then you get into the fact that the truck you're going to lease has been driven by God knows who and beat the **** out of so you now have that to worry about as well plus you are brand new to this industry and WILL make mistakes. Now factor in if one of those mistakes causes a something to break you now have to pay out of pocket to fix it and it won't be cheap. All this added on to you still trying to learn how to drive and control your truck is the makings for a disaster. I hate to come off as harsh here but it would be foolish to jump straight into buying a truck with no experience in this industry and no financial backing to boot. Take your time and learn how be a truck driver before you go buying a truck.

I just want to thank my lucky stars that I found this forum, as the advise given here is invaluable and delivered in an intelligent manner. Truth be told, because of TruckingTruth my respect for truckers has been elevated.

And the reason I am posting it on this thread is because it's only been on TT where I've been able to read such non-biased info about being a lease operator.

Now if I may push my luck, does anyone know of any statistics which might be available on lease-operators? How many last past their first year? How much are they making after expenses? I think leasing is a way for companies to get rid of their old fleet.

My cousin, I just found out about as recently as last week, drives for Prime and is currently leasing. I haven't really been in touch with him since '02 or '03 so I was surprised to learn that he's a driver.

He's doing well as far as I know. He told me he uses his own private bookkeeper/accountant. She has an office in her house and handles about 50-60 o/o. She get's him all the tax breaks she can from food, to laundry, to everything else that can be considered tax deductible.

I don't really know the finer points, but suffice it to say that leasing can be done, which of course we all already know. The thing is though is that he's been driving for many years. If I'm not mistaken he ran his company truck as if he was leasing it to determine if it would be a smart move, which is where I got that bit of info I offered to you.

As per your questions on how many last past their first year, and what they keep after exepenses, I'll have to give way to more knowledgeable minds than mine.