Game Changing New Policy Here In The Forum

Cool ideas !! lol dang no popcorn?? HEY! who stole the bar-b-que sauce???

I missed what was going on to prompt this, but this is why I suggested before about archiving useless/repetitive threads and locking threads when they've become bloated or there's been more than 6 months (or whatever timeframe you like) has passed without a new comment. Some forums have a post limit (like no more than 100 replies or 200 or whatever works) then a second thread will be started with a PART 2 in the title, or something like that. But again, I'm used to modding a phpBB forum. Not sure what platform you have running here. It looks like an integrated platform to the website so I'm not sure about the inherent capabilities.

By the way, in my experience, archiving old posts still allows these posts to be searched in a general search request. I still think it's the way to go to clean up the forums and make things even more streamlined. (Also, with the search parameters, on one forum there was a box you could check that would ask if you wanted to also search archived material. That way the person searching has a choice to only search newer posts, thereby making the wait time for results shorter, and the list more digestable.

The other thing we could do, maybe, is breaking up the "general" category into sub-categories, like ALL NEWBIES HERE and EQUIPMENT and NEWS and OFF TOPIC, etc.

Not criticisms, just suggestions. I modded a bunch of forums for over 10 years. I've always got a million ideas.

So do you guys think it would be a smart idea for me to get into a lease right out of school? The companies sure seem to like it.

Just kidding! But I'm glad I found this site as I would have walked right into a lease like a lemming.

Thanks Brett!

I missed what was going on to prompt this

The #1 reason we're not going to talk about it anymore is that it simply doesn't apply to our visitors. We're helping people that are brand new to trucking get their careers underway and buying or leasing a truck simply isn't in the cards for most of those people.

I had always hoped we could have thoughtful, intelligent conversations about it in order to help people understand the business prospects and challenges a little better but that just doesn't happen.

For starters, people who want to buy or lease a truck often times really, really want to buy or lease a truck. It's not a logical business decision for them, it's a passion or a dream of theirs. So most of the time they take it as a personal insult if you tell them it doesn't make good business sense. They simply can't speak objectively about it because it's not an objective proposition to them - it's a passion. It's their personal dream. Although they're hoping to make more money they're not really doing it for money as much as they're doing it for the challenge, the perceived perks, and most importantly the bragging rights. So you can't speak logically or objectively about it with someone who feels that way.

Not only that, but it turns out that a lot of the people that are interested in buying or leasing don't even know the basics about running a business. We find ourselves spending hours arguing with people who don't even know the difference between gross and net earnings or don't know how to calculate a simple profit margin. So it's impossible to explain it from a business standpoint because they simply don't have the understanding of how a business operates and how to determine the prospects for any given business.

In the end it turned out to be an impossible topic to cover productively and because it applies to very few people we're wasting everyone's time with it. It just turns into a big fight all the time and we all wind up chasing our tails. Instead we're going to remain focused on what people should be learning to prepare for the start of their careers.

So I assume that if someone posts a new topic with a title like, "Thinking of going lease! Any insights?" it will promptly be deleted? Or will you be creating a canned response for these folks, directing them to the old conversations?

Guess I'll just have to take my new proposed topic titled, "I've never owned a business, I have no mechanical experience, and I'm buying a fleet of 12 trucks! Who wants to drive for me?" to the Trucker's Report or something...

So I assume that if someone posts a new topic with a title like, "Thinking of going lease! Any insights?" it will promptly be deleted? Or will you be creating a canned response for these folks, directing them to the old conversations?

I'm going to create a canned response that will explain why we don't discuss it any longer, direct them to our information about leasing, and also direct them to the previous conversations we've had about it.

Guess I'll just have to take my new proposed topic titled, "I've never owned a business, I have no mechanical experience, and I'm buying a fleet of 12 trucks! Who wants to drive for me?" to the Trucker's Report or something...

Yap because that doesn't fall under our jurisdiction any longer. We'll let TTR handle it. And OOIDA.

Is it a dream of mine? Yes. Will it happen? Maybe. But not for at least 5 years, or more.

I appreciate the candor about the topic, but I agree that it has gotten a little repetitive.

Good policy.

Wait you mean I can't tell people how I made 1 million last year and how life is a peaches and cream.

I think it's a good idea I won't even open a thread about it unless I know the poster. And I am an owner operator.

I appreciate the candor about the topic, but I agree that it has gotten a little repetitive.

I don't even mind things being repetitive to tell ya the truth as long as people are learning something from it or enjoying it. But neither of those things were happening with the conversations we've had on this topic.

I appreciate the candor about the topic, but I agree that it has gotten a little repetitive.

I don't even mind things being repetitive to tell ya the truth as long as people are learning something from it or enjoying it. But neither of those things were happening with the conversations we've had on this topic.

Awesome, I will truly miss beating my head against the wall...and reading others vain attempts to offer logic over an emotional and at times impulsive decision. Good call on this.