Getting Away From Leasing. What Are My Options?

Hey guys. Haven't been on TT for a while as I've been so busy. I know it's frowned upon here but for the last year or so I've been a lease driver for Wilson/Prime. Wilson training was great but the pay for company drivers wasn't great so I followed in my trainer's footsteps and signed a lease. The pay has been great mostly because of my work ethic. I never take resets, only running recap hours, and seldom go home (only every 2-3 months). I'm averaging $1800-$2000 a week take home.

The lease life is tiring though and stressful. In order to make what I make I have to work hard and as efficiently as I can. I know other Wilson lease drivers that sabotage themselves by taking resets every week and never make a check. I don't understand why they continue to lease if they're not making any money... I miss my family and have a new grandbaby and would love to be home every week or 2 if I can.

I agree with the general sentiment here at TT and want to get out of leasing but I have some questions. Unfortunately it doesn't look like I will be able to stay with my company as a company drivers dont make much here. They only pay 0.46cpm with a $900 weekly guarantee. I'm doing research to see what kinds of jobs I should be looking for.

As of yet I don't have any endorsements but I'm studying for tanker and doubles/triples. I've ran reefer for these past 18 months. I've never ran flatbed but not opposed to it.

We've recently moved to the Phoenix/Mesa/Tucson area as well. What companies, specialties, etc are available or advised for someone like myself that has a little experience and not a total rookie? I haven't had any accidents though I did get a citation for a tire that had picked up some nails and went slowly flat all while I was rolling. (The scale house picked up the low pressure on their sensors)

Thanks everyone.

Welcome to Pima County! I do miss it.

One of the tragedies of truck driving is there's a lot of jobs that fall under the heading of, "truck driver" but it's up to the individual driver to find them and figure what they're worth. Here's what I figured out after coming off OTR:

While it's possible to make money going OTR for a common carrier, it's harder. There's a lot of unpaid work and most of the work goes to the lowest bidder. There's no thought to, "Is this rate enough to fairly compensate the carrier and make sure it's worth the driver's while to stick around?", just lowest bid. That's why the rate for company drivers is so low and that's one of the reasons why many OTR carriers have driver turnover over 100%.

The three best gigs I've found are:

Dedicated

Imagine driving to your yard every Monday at 1 pm. A loaded trailer is waiting for you. After picking up the paperwork and performing your pre-trip inspections you head out for a ~3,000 mile trip. What's the rate? $30/hr. You head to the receiver, but it's the same company all your loads are for and the you keep making the same trip week after week. If there are delays at the warehouse, you get paid the hourly rate. Not after 2 or 3 hours, you get the hourly rate for every hour you are delayed. You usually return home sometime Saturday and prepare for your next load out next Monday at 1.

Dedicated gigs have low turnover and rarely advertise because you have to wait for someone to retire or die for there to be a vacancy. Google, "drive dedicated for" and Ruan, Cardinal, Shaffer to see openings in your area on the company websites.

Linehaul

You show up at night, hitch your set and either head out to the next terminal 2-3 hours down the road or meet another truck for a drop and swap. Your drive time increases as you gain seniority. You get annual raises and make more money every year. Generally sleep in your own bed every day and get weekends off.

Opportunities vary by location. When I applied at Old Dominion in Seattle after 2 years of OTR experience I was told I didn't have enough experience. In other parts of the country OD is hiring drivers straight out of school. They want tanker, hazmat and doubles/triples.

Hazmat Tanker

Harder to get into but once you have some experience it's an all-weather job that pays well. People will cut back on Amazon knick-knacks when times get tough but they still need fuel to get to work.

Pick up you truck at the yard and take it to, "the rack" a fuel distribution point in your area. You load your truck and pick up your BOL's then head out to whoever needs fuel. It can be gas stations, truck stops, airports, marinas or parked trucks - whatever niche your company serves. Pump fuel from the truck until the truck is empty and then head back to the rack for more!

Safety is very important and there are more ways things can go sideways in an accident but it pays well and there's the home daily, weekends off perk.

Good luck!

I work with a few guys the work bankers hours (Mon-Fri 0800-1700) and gross 2300 a week. When we were busy, they would volunteer for a Saturday and make another 500 on top of it.

Those guys had seniority and it worked for them. As a bottom of the board linehaul driver, I was grossing 1800 a week working from 9 PM to 6 AM Mon to Fri. I could also work Saturday and make another 500 dollars.

My suggestion is to ask actual company drivers at Wilson for pay stubs. Not just going by what lease ops tell you. Just because starting oay is 48cpm, doesnt mean there arent bonuses. Here at Prime we start at 50cpm, but with bonuses, you may be at 58+cpm. And the lightweight starts at 55cpm but with bonuses you could be as high as 65cpm. Ask actual company drivers because lease ops have no clue what we make.

My own students send me their pays and are making $1700+ per week in lightweight trucks at Prime. If you are willing to train, you could be at $3000 per week as a company driver getting home every month. Thats reefer. Plus benefits.

Chief Brody was in full size trucks and did close to that as both flatbed and tanker here at Prime.

Dont just take rumors. Ask for proof. I am maling a video shortly with pay stubs comparing lease vs company. My guess is that you werent making much more than company and dont realize it

My suggestion is to ask actual company drivers at Wilson for pay stubs. Not just going by what lease ops tell you. Just because starting oay is 48cpm, doesnt mean there arent bonuses. Here at Prime we start at 50cpm, but with bonuses, you may be at 58+cpm. And the lightweight starts at 55cpm but with bonuses you could be as high as 65cpm. Ask actual company drivers because lease ops have no clue what we make.

My own students send me their pays and are making $1700+ per week in lightweight trucks at Prime. If you are willing to train, you could be at $3000 per week as a company driver getting home every month. Thats reefer. Plus benefits.

Chief Brody was in full size trucks and did close to that as both flatbed and tanker here at Prime.

Dont just take rumors. Ask for proof. I am maling a video shortly with pay stubs comparing lease vs company. My guess is that you werent making much more than company and dont realize it

Hey Kearsey! I'm glad you commented because I knew you are a Prime driver and I wanted to ask you about it. I can switch if I give Wilson notice of like 30 days or something. I am curious about getting into either flatbed or tanker or whatever options Prime has that we don't have.

I only know one company driver at Wilson. Everyone I know is lease... I asked him about his miles and pay and he said he brings home only $1200 after 2000-3000 miles a week. That wouldn't work for me and what my family's budget is.

I've heard that Prime only sends Wilson the junk loads you guys don't want so we're scraping the barrel if that's true. Another reason to move over as well as the option to learn something new. I would love your input.

Oh and what do you haul? Reefer? I haven't watched many of your videos so if you've covered that already I apologize.

Welcome to Pima County! I do miss it.

One of the tragedies of truck driving is there's a lot of jobs that fall under the heading of, "truck driver" but it's up to the individual driver to find them and figure what they're worth. Here's what I figured out after coming off OTR:

While it's possible to make money going OTR for a common carrier, it's harder. There's a lot of unpaid work and most of the work goes to the lowest bidder. There's no thought to, "Is this rate enough to fairly compensate the carrier and make sure it's worth the driver's while to stick around?", just lowest bid. That's why the rate for company drivers is so low and that's one of the reasons why many OTR carriers have driver turnover over 100%.

The three best gigs I've found are:

Dedicated

Imagine driving to your yard every Monday at 1 pm. A loaded trailer is waiting for you. After picking up the paperwork and performing your pre-trip inspections you head out for a ~3,000 mile trip. What's the rate? $30/hr. You head to the receiver, but it's the same company all your loads are for and the you keep making the same trip week after week. If there are delays at the warehouse, you get paid the hourly rate. Not after 2 or 3 hours, you get the hourly rate for every hour you are delayed. You usually return home sometime Saturday and prepare for your next load out next Monday at 1.

Dedicated gigs have low turnover and rarely advertise because you have to wait for someone to retire or die for there to be a vacancy. Google, "drive dedicated for" and Ruan, Cardinal, Shaffer to see openings in your area on the company websites.

Linehaul

You show up at night, hitch your set and either head out to the next terminal 2-3 hours down the road or meet another truck for a drop and swap. Your drive time increases as you gain seniority. You get annual raises and make more money every year. Generally sleep in your own bed every day and get weekends off.

Opportunities vary by location. When I applied at Old Dominion in Seattle after 2 years of OTR experience I was told I didn't have enough experience. In other parts of the country OD is hiring drivers straight out of school. They want tanker, hazmat and doubles/triples.

Hazmat Tanker

Harder to get into but once you have some experience it's an all-weather job that pays well. People will cut back on Amazon knick-knacks when times get tough but they still need fuel to get to work.

Pick up you truck at the yard and take it to, "the rack" a fuel distribution point in your area. You load your truck and pick up your BOL's then head out to whoever needs fuel. It can be gas stations, truck stops, airports, marinas or parked trucks - whatever niche your company serves. Pump fuel from the truck until the truck is empty and then head back to the rack for more!

Safety is very important and there are more ways things can go sideways in an accident but it pays well and there's the home daily, weekends off perk.

Good luck!

These are great points! Thank you! I'll definitely refer back to this thread as I do my research.

Well start watching my videos lol

When you say "take home" of W2 vs 1099 you are negating something....

Your 1099 doesn't inlcude taxes and benefits. And everyone has different "take home" based on state/local income tax and benefits. You need to compare W2 gross to 1099 net revenue. Most lease ops at Prime are making exactly what company drivers are making...they just dont believe it until i show them in their settlements.

Would you be willing to send me your settlements? I would love to compare them to company.

Truckingalongfun@gmail.com

Thanks

Prime has tanker, flatbed, reefer and intermodal. Intermodal depends on where you live.

Well start watching my videos lol

When you say "take home" of W2 vs 1099 you are negating something....

Your 1099 doesn't inlcude taxes and benefits. And everyone has different "take home" based on state/local income tax and benefits. You need to compare W2 gross to 1099 net revenue. Most lease ops at Prime are making exactly what company drivers are making...they just dont believe it until i show them in their settlements.

Would you be willing to send me your settlements? I would love to compare them to company.

Truckingalongfun@gmail.com

Thanks

Prime has tanker, flatbed, reefer and intermodal. Intermodal depends on where you live.

I emailed you the monthly for February (I think) and the last 4 or 5 weekly I got. I didn't include the last two weeks as I took off for a week to move.