Leasing Just For The Pay Bump.

How long have you been driving, Rigs?

Is this lease you're thinking about at the same company?

But like I said - some people just get an idea stuck in their heads (I happen to be one of them), and you have to look at this from ALL THE ANGLES before jumping in. DON'T LET YOUR NEXT EMPLOYER SUCK YOU INTO LEASING (and many PUSH IT HARD - again - the COMPANY BENEFITS WAY MORE THAN THE DRIVER DOES).

Best of luck to you - keep us posted. I have YET TO HEAR of someone that jumped into leasing (especially this early in the game) that came back and told us HOW GREAT IT WAS.

Rick

Lease benefits:

For the Driver: 3% more income on average! For the Company: No truck payment, no fuel payment, no worries about repairs costs...

It appears our original poster has dropped out of this conversation, but for those of you following along with similar interests as the O/P, I'm providing a link to a very interesting thread/conversation from almost four years ago. This topic of leasing intrigues so many people. Some of us are just convinced there's a magical formula to leasing that provides a way for us to make more money at this. I get it. I understand the temptation, but the way to more money has never been found in any type of gimmick like leasing. We hear these lease operators tell us about these huge paychecks, but they don't even get paychecks. Anybody who thinks a lease operator is receiving a paycheck is only fooling themselves. The checks they get are business revenues. That money cannot be considered as one's "pay."

Your performance will always be what increases your take from truck driving. Learning to manage your time more productively than your peers, and being savvy to the ways of getting in and out of customers quickly and efficiently, will always put you in that top tier of professionals who make a great living at this.

Take a look at this Conversation About Being An Owner Operator Or Lease Operator and pay special attention to the comments from the Lease Operators in the thread. Also of note are the comments from one character named "Unholy Chaos," a company driver convinced he can make a lot more money by leasing a truck. He was convinced it was the way to go and he was settled on that fact no matter what advice we gave. He has since disappeared from the face of the earth as far as we are concerned. I always expect these guys entering into these leases to come back in here and declare their stories of great success after they've been doing it for a few years, but they never do - I mean never! You'd think they would love to come back in here and tell us how wrong we were, but they don't. I honestly wish they would, but they can't.

That conversation I linked to is four pages long, but it's worth reading every word. There's just a lot of great stuff in there. "Unholy Chaos" even points out his own misconceptions and understandings when he claims...

The thing is though, owner operators do end up grossing a lot more per week.

That kind of comment makes it clear that he doesn't understand what he's getting into. "Grossing a lot more per week" means nothing positive. It's not a gross amount that is applied to your income. It is simply revenue that is consumed by expenses. You cannot consider it your pay. He makes further comments that really show how this gimmick has seized his mind with mysterious math equations. He makes this wild assertion...

When I lease my own truck through Schneider, I have a potential to double my take home pay every week if I do it right

That just simply isn't going to happen. We would all be leasing trucks if that were the case. The market drives truck driver pay. If there were a market so easy to get into as leasing that would double everybody's pay, we would all be knocking on that door.

Don't Be Fooled By Owner Operator Math

OS as usual you have hit the nail on the head. Some people just don’t understand many aspects of this industry, or business in general. They also assume everything will go smoothly as they planned. Well it never does.

I love what I do. First and foremost, I work harder and longer than I ever did as a company driver. I have spent years cultivating and networking contacts to do what I do each week. I found that niche in this business that works well for me.

I make marginally more than a good company driver at a good company. We all know some are better than others, just a fact of life. This year I had a major breakdown and about 25-30 percent of my profit went into that repair. Thankfully these types of things don’t happen all the time, but they do happen. If someone is not prepared for a situation like that, it can put them out of business faster than they got in business.

Those container drivers you mentioned in your podcast are a different breed in south Ga for sure. I don’t know what they make, but I know they usually drive crazy and don’t keep their trucks up.

Those container drivers you mentioned in your podcast are a different breed in south Ga for sure. I don’t know what they make, but I know they usually drive crazy and don’t keep their trucks up.

Ever seen the ones here in Chicago? They drive like their shorts are on fire drive junk that can't even pass inspection, ring up debts and fines then close that company and reopen under a different name.

Here's another thing to chew on. Most L/O agreements require you to use your lessor for dispatch. You can't go to the load boards yourself and choose your loads. You only get to choose the loads and rates from your Lessor! What does that mean? Well, when times are slow (January) there are fewer loads and rates go down. You get all the downside of any trucking company or Owner/Operator. You may sit idle for days waiting for a load or have to take one at or near break-even. When times pick up and rates go up everyone makes more money - except for you. See, if a broker get greedy and starts offering loads for less than his competitors are offering them for drivers will take their trucks where they can make the most money and he makes nothing. As a Lessee Operator you're captive - you can't take your business anywhere else. Lessors know this so they will take a bigger slice off the rate and offer you less. Yeah, your rates will go up but not as much as they would for a comparable load on a competitive board. So, in a fluctuating market you get all of the downside and a fraction of the upside.

Here's another thing to chew on. Most L/O agreements require you to use your lessor for dispatch. You can't go to the load boards yourself and choose your loads. You only get to choose the loads and rates from your Lessor! What does that mean? Well, when times are slow (January) there are fewer loads and rates go down. You get all the downside of any trucking company or Owner/Operator. You may sit idle for days waiting for a load or have to take one at or near break-even. When times pick up and rates go up everyone makes more money - except for you. See, if a broker get greedy and starts offering loads for less than his competitors are offering them for drivers will take their trucks where they can make the most money and he makes nothing. As a Lessee Operator you're captive - you can't take your business anywhere else. Lessors know this so they will take a bigger slice off the rate and offer you less. Yeah, your rates will go up but not as much as they would for a comparable load on a competitive board. So, in a fluctuating market you get all of the downside and a fraction of the upside.

And too many people never read the contracts. Prime actually does allow you to lease onto another company, however, they have you sign an additional rider that the new company agrees to pay Prime the fixed costs directly. Most "new" companies wont bother with that hassle. But I do know a few who did.

I should post some lease settlements along with my pay as a company driver

People need to compare apples to apples as well. Break it down to profit per mile and we can have a clearer picture.

I have lease settlements where the revenue was $10k. After expenses before taxes it came to $2300. For the same amount of miles i made $2500 plus my benefits before taxes.

In the end....newer lease ops I know are making between 42 and 52cpm. One with 6 years experience does about 64cpm...the most I have seen Proven to me was 73cpm

And....i ask for the "Lease to date" totals. That is real...not this weeks pay.