Lease Drivers?

Wait a minute so while a student your driver is responsible for.things like that??!

Hey hey, don't worry. For the duration of the lease I never came home with a negative check even on hometime weeks. Luckily Prime has a walk-away lease so when I got a local job I turned it in with no issues. I was extremely satisfied with the money and greatly blessed with a truck and APU that always worked and never broke down. Those repair bills are what sink people because truckers aren't the smartest people and they never have money saved for emergencies.

Worst that happened was when my student clipped another trailer in a parking lot while I was sleeping. That cost me 500$ out of my own pocket.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Wait a minute so while a student your driver is responsible for.things like that??!

That's correct Matt, the trainer is responsible not the trainee. Sucks, but that's the way it is at Prime. Just one of the reasons I don't train folks at Prime anymore. More to it, but that's part of it.

Ernie

Wow. What does that do to the experienced drivers record? I noticed you said prime are they the only company that does this?

Wow. What does that do to the experienced drivers record? I noticed you said prime are they the only company that does this?

The accident goes against the trainee, not the trainer. Prime is the only company that I have driven for that has a training program.

Ernie

Still the driver having to pay for something like that I personally wouldn't be to fond of. I mean isnt that what insurance is for? I would think that could destroy a driver if something a little more severe happened.

mean isnt that what insurance is for?

All insurance has a DEDUCTIBLE. I'm sure it is much higher on a Tractor Trailer Rig than your car.

You guys baffle me.

James says that lease drivers barely make enough to cover their truck payments... yet he's interested...?

Rick owned a business for 5 years and sounds like it wasn't as good as he had hoped. So he sold it and "barely made it out alive". Yet the subject of owning another more risky business and less rewardful business is on his mind?

(Facepalm)

The O/P was saying the lease drivers at his current company aren't making much and is inquiring whether he may have better luck elsewhere. There are many lease drivers on our highways making a terrific living. Some people understand business and succeed, others don't and fail miserably. Just because you or someone else belongs in the latter category doesn't mean the O/P and many others fall into the former.

Wouldn't the company cover this? Or since he was on a lease I guess it would be his responsibility?

The 500$ charge is for the insurance deductible. Any time you must use insurance there is a deductible that the L/O has to pay and its always 500$ no matter the extent of the damage.

I didn't mind. His training got extended by 15k miles so then I had a very good and dependable driver for an additional 3 weeks. Selfishly, I ended up profiting financially from the incident. But sucks for him.

I guess that helps. It makes a little more sense now because I suppose you would be looking at it from a L/o view not from a company drivers stand point. From a companies driver trainers stand point I would assume the company would cover the deductible?

The 500$ charge is for the insurance deductible. Any time you must use insurance there is a deductible that the L/O has to pay and its always 500$ no matter the extent of the damage.

I didn't mind. His training got extended by 15k miles so then I had a very good and dependable driver for an additional 3 weeks. Selfishly, I ended up profiting financially from the incident. But sucks for him.