What Is My Punishment?

After reading everything Brett has said on this post, when they ask me if I want to be L/O, I'm going to ask them to go over the program with me one more time. Then when they've covered all the advantages of being a L/O, I'm going to ask them to go over it again, and again, and again, until they finally leave me alone and put me on a company truck.

Very few companies push it. Prime does not. If they push it, push back.

I keep praying to win the lottery and make my dreams of being a business owner come true

Well the running joke is if you want to end up with a small business, start with a large one!

I think the most important thing when considering a business is to understand you're going to be putting in 80+ hours a week most of the time, and all of the rest of your time will be spent obsessing about how you can make it better. It will truly become your life. Not only that, but in the beginning, especially, you can easily spend quite a bit of time and money without producing any profits whatsoever.

So the bottom line is to make sure you get into something that you really love and that you can be great at. Get into something you would consider doing for free if you could afford to. Don't go into a particular type of business simply because you think there's a fat profit margin in it. If there was, a ton of people would launch their own versions and drain the profit margins out of it pretty quickly. The competition is fierce.

Go into a business doing something you truly love so you know you'll be willing to put in the work it takes to be great at it. I'd rather produce one delicious, amazing flavor of donut that no one can quite figure out how to duplicate than to put out 1,000 flavors that everyone else is doing. You have to be able to distinguish yourself from the competition, and the best way to do that is to produce a product or service of exceptional quality, preferably one that's nearly impossible for your competitors to duplicate quite the same way.

So pick something you love, but study the economics of that particular business really well before you launch into it. There's no such thing as easy profits in any business, but some businesses are far more difficult than others to survive in.

The final thing that I would say is to try to bootstrap it if you can, meaning you start it with the smallest possible amount of time, money, and resources and see if you can grow it organically with the profits you're making. So many people go out and get big loans from family, friends, and banks and go crazy launching a fairly sizeable and complex business, assuming they'll figure out how to turn a profit before running out of cash.

My feeling for most businesses is simple; if you can't figure out how to make money with a small version of your business, you're only going to lose much larger amounts of money in a larger, more complex version of it. There are some businesses that take huge investments to get started in, but those aren't the type of businesses new business owners should be considering anyhow. Start small, grow it slowly, and master each step of the process as you build. Become the master of producing the products or services you're providing and take the time to learn all facets of the business, including your marketing, bookkeeping, human resources, and other aspects you'll need to handle.

Folks, this is why we don't discuss leasing. It inevitably descends into an emotional debate devoid of facts and logic.

Folks, this is why we don't discuss leasing. It inevitably descends into an emotional debate devoid of facts and logic.

My fault really. I should have known that revealing this would unleash Bretts inner-oligarch.

Yes Brett you're right, always right. I'll just shut up now and let you rule because you're always right.

I'm going to go back in my corner and mold my opinions to match yours. I mean, its appaling that someone here for once have a different opinion than your own without you criticizing them. By default, you're always right 8 years running.

My sincere apologies to everyone for trying out something new in my life and having a good time with it. For making it work for me and doing well at it. I'll just go back in my spot amongst the flock and never speak my opinion again unless it directly agrees with yours.

That was quite disingenuous, and you know it.

For starters, you know I don't care that you leased a truck. Why would I? It doesn't help me, nor does it hurt me in any way. And there's nothing in the world wrong with trying something new in your life. I'm constantly on new paths all the time. Right now, in fact.

You know exactly what my concern is. You're here misleading new drivers into thinking you accomplished something noteworthy and that you've figured out some sort of scheme to outsmart the big carriers. As I've stated, the idea that you went in there and pulled a fast one on Prime to make more money at their expense is just ludicrous. There is no chance on Earth Prime lost out on that deal. No chance whatsoever. You signed up for exactly what they were hoping you would sign up for, which is obviously why it was so heavily incentivized. They have plenty to gain from it.

So if you're hoping to convince me, or anyone with experience in business, that you outsmarted one of the largest, most savvy corporations in our industry with something as simple as signing up for a lease and walking away after a few months then you're barking up the wrong tree. I'm not about to believe Prime left themselves open to a scheme a middle schooler could figure out and execute. You believe that if you like. It's your money.

So this isn't about having differing opinions about whether or not you should lease a truck and I certainly never told anyone not to follow new paths in life. Lease a thousand trucks if you like. What do I care? Doesn't concern me a bit.

But coming in here bragging about finding some sort of smart scheme to outsmart major corporations isn't something I can let go. It's my responsibility to make sure people have a clear understanding of how the trucking industry works and what they're getting into. If it was as easy as sign a lease, train a few students for a few months, and walk away with a big chunk of extra money we'd all be doing it. I'm pretty sure after 25 years in this industry and 10+ years in business I would have figured that out. I'm pretty sure after 30+ years of running his own corporation, including a small fleet of trucks, and examining the lease option thoroughly himself Old School would have also figured that out.

After reading everything Brett has said on this post, when they ask me if I want to be L/O, I'm going to ask them to go over the program with me one more time. Then when they've covered all the advantages of being a L/O, I'm going to ask them to go over it again, and again, and again, until they finally leave me alone and put me on a company truck.

Very few companies push it. Prime does not. If they push it, push back.

Daniel...I didn't mean to imply that they do. The company I'm going to work for has a majority of L/Os in it's fleet and a small portion of company drivers. I just don't feel that the L/O situation is the best fit for me considering my ultimate goal is to be a FedEx Freight driver doing a hub pull. I hope everything works out for you brother and you continue a long and safe driving career. Many blessings.

Yes Brett you're right, always right. I'll just shut up now and let you rule because you're always right.

I'm going to go back in my corner and mold my opinions to match yours. I mean, its appaling that someone here for once have a different opinion than your own without you criticizing them. By default, you're always right 8 years running.

My sincere apologies to everyone for trying out something new in my life and having a good time with it. For making it work for me and doing well at it. I'll just go back in my spot amongst the flock and never speak my opinion again unless it directly agrees with yours.

That was quite disingenuous, and you know it.

For starters, you know I don't care that you leased a truck. Why would I? It doesn't help me, nor does it hurt me in any way. And there's nothing in the world wrong with trying something new in your life. I'm constantly on new paths all the time. Right now, in fact.

You know exactly what my concern is. You're here misleading new drivers into thinking you accomplished something noteworthy and that you've figured out some sort of scheme to outsmart the big carriers. As I've stated, the idea that you went in there and pulled a fast one on Prime to make more money at their expense is just ludicrous. There is no chance on Earth Prime lost out on that deal. No chance whatsoever. You signed up for exactly what they were hoping you would sign up for, which is obviously why it was so heavily incentivized. They have plenty to gain from it.

So if you're hoping to convince me, or anyone with experience in business, that you outsmarted one of the largest, most savvy corporations in our industry with something as simple as signing up for a lease and walking away after a few months then you're barking up the wrong tree. I'm not about to believe Prime left themselves open to a scheme a middle schooler could figure out and execute. You believe that if you like. It's your money.

So this isn't about having differing opinions about whether or not you should lease a truck and I certainly never told anyone not to follow new paths in life. Lease a thousand trucks if you like. What do I care? Doesn't concern me a bit.

But coming in here bragging about finding some sort of smart scheme to outsmart major corporations isn't something I can let go. It's my responsibility to make sure people have a clear understanding of how the trucking industry works and what they're getting into. If it was as easy as sign a lease, train a few students for a few months, and walk away with a big chunk of extra money we'd all be doing it. I'm pretty sure after 25 years in this industry and 10+ years in business I would have figured that out. I'm pretty sure after 30+ years of running his own corporation, including a small fleet of trucks, and examining the lease option thoroughly Old School would have also figured that out.

When did I ever say I outsmarted Prime? I leased and was happy with the outcome, chose to go local and turned in my truck. I made good money while I did it. Prime won on that deal too much more than me.

But you really are putting words in my mouth. Youre so fired up and ready to fight you're not actually reading and comprehending what I'm saying.

I never said I ran a business.

I never said I was a business.

I never said I outsmarted Prime and found a loophole.

I never said I conquered the universe.

What I am saying is:

I was happy with it.

I was happy with my profit.

Its very risky.

And I repeat, leasing is a terrible idea for a new driver.

How many times did I say to others "go company driver"?

Youre behaving like I'm advertising leasing is the path paved with gold. Whatever I type is going in one ear and out the other immediately.

Anyhow, I have to get to bed just got done with my long shift so talk to you later

Folks, this is why we don't discuss leasing. It inevitably descends into an emotional debate devoid of facts and logic.

My fault really. I should have known that revealing this would unleash Bretts inner-oligarch.

Well, as far as I see it, Brett isn't the one descending to those levels in this little exchange.

When did I ever say I outsmarted Prime?

When you said:

And I did it the smart way. Never was my plan to be long term. Leased a good truck, trained a few students and ran the wheels off of the truck and made the money. Then right before the wheels were about to actually fall off and things would start breaking down I turned it in and let them deal with it.

You're saying you signed up for the lease, made more money than you would have as a company driver, and then got out to "let them deal with" the mess they're in now because you were too smart to get suckered into the bad part of the deal. You stuck them with it.

So that's exactly what you're saying - you outsmarted them at their own game. I very much doubt that's how it played out in the end. Otherwise Prime has the business prowess of your average middle schooler.