Can I Lease-on With My Own Truck And Hire A Driver?
Topic 33634 | Page 1
Mercer Transportation does for sure.I drove for an owner for a few months in 2019
Jason, it’s a really bad time economically to do what you propose. Especially if you are still in CDL school with no experience.
Better for you to get a job with a reputable company and get several years of experience and learning under your belt. Failure rate for your plan would be extremely high.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
EPU:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
This question is company specific. I don’t know about van companies, but Quality Carriers and Heniff in the tanker world do. You just have to contact companies and ask on this one.
Be preparred for this. Any driver you want to hire must meet the companies requirements just as you do. They can and will prevent you from hiring if those qualifications are not met.
Hiring drivers can and will be labor intensive.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Mercer Transportation does for sure.I drove for an owner for a few months in 2019
What made you quit so soon?
Jason, it’s a really bad time economically to do what you propose. Especially if you are still in CDL school with no experience.
Better for you to get a job with a reputable company and get several years of experience and learning under your belt. Failure rate for your plan would be extremely high.
I am long past CDL school; about eight years now and enough experience to know I don't want to drive again. I make more money at my regular job(s) that it would be a paycut. I don't imagine the failure rate can be too bad if I have no truck payment, no trailer payment, and out a good bit into the maintenance account. I have nothing to lose it seems and I could always just sell the truck or part it out to recoup purchase price.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
EPU:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
I have nothing to lose it seems
That is an interesting way to look at a seriously risky commodities business. Let me see... I just read a real number being bantered about in the news about recent trucking company failures. Oh yeah, there were approximately 35,000 trucking company failures this year. And that is only the data from the first three quarters! I guess all those folks made the silly mistake of financing their equipment - no wonder they failed!
Look, I think Jason is too far gone to hear a voice of reason, but anybody else contemplating such action needs to realize this: When you are smart enough to recognize a business model cannot provide enough cash flow for you to finance the equipment needed to operate the business, you also have to make the conclusion that you are going to throw your hard earned and disciplined savings to the wind by investing it into that same business. Why would you think it smart to invest your own savings into a business model that can't even support itself properly. That makes no sense.
There are trucking companies dropping like flies right now. The business is in a powerful downturn with little to no positive outlooks for the near future. There are much better ways to put your money to work.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
You have alot to loose, and can’t see it. I’m guessing you will buy a used truck to pay cash. 60-80k is much less than 140-200k. But even brand new ones break down. Warranties are only as good as the paper they are written on. Driver neglect is the number 1 reason claims are denied. Number 2 is improper maintance records. That usually translates to they do not accept the person performing the maintance as properly qualified.
IF it were to go down hard, usually a blown motor your left with the remainder. Parting it out will get you about .05 on the dollar you paid for the truck.
Look at the more likely scenario. You will be running a business, even leasing onto a carrier. When you hire a driver if done legally now you have WC insurance, payroll taxes and social security you have to pay.
Your driver tears things up, costs you to fix. The driver gets stuck, you have a tow bill to pull them out.
Truck breaks down. If you go to just about any dealer plan on a week of it being there. Not counting the repair bill you now have a hotel bill for your driver and whatever you pay them as salary during that time. That is money you don’t get back. No company leasing on O/O’s pay for anything like that.
I went through your scenario a few years ago. It was a pain and in the end the truck didn’t make much money. That was at a much better time in the industry also.
Your going to do what your going to do. This is a very bad time to get in. It will get better, but not for awhile. Every company is struggling, big and small. Capacity is still way over what is needed in this ecomomy.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
You have no knowledge of the trucking business and you want to buy a truck and have a driver drive it for you? What you will get is somebody that has a not so favorable DAC record or a total newbie both of which will cost you more than you will ever know in insurance.
One reason I wouldn't drive for you is because you don't have knowledge of the trucking business.
The second reason I wouldn't drive for you is because you want to take the truck on my off time which would be a 34 hour reset or 4 weeks out with 4 days off. I don't want you in your/"my" truck because I would have to take my stuff out of there while you are running it and then putting it back in when I'm ready to go back out on the road.
Third, you could fold at any time and I could be out money for trips that had recently been run or stranded somewhere. Been there done that and it's a royal pain taking you to small claims court to get my money back. I've dealt with the Idaho State Labor board and they are no help.
I don't care how old you are, cuz you aren't as old as me or have my experience but I'm going to call you very foolish amongst other things that I've been thinking.
DAC:
Drive-A-Check Report
A truck drivers DAC report will contain detailed information about their job history of the last 10 years as a CDL driver (as required by the DOT).
It may also contain your criminal history, drug test results, DOT infractions and accident history. The program is strictly voluntary from a company standpoint, but most of the medium-to-large carriers will participate.
Most trucking companies use DAC reports as part of their hiring and background check process. It is extremely important that drivers verify that the information contained in it is correct, and have it fixed if it's not.
Mercer Transportation does for sure.I drove for an owner for a few months in 2019
What made you quit so soon?
It was my brother-in-law's truck.He needed a driver while he was recuperating from medical issues.Once he was able to,he got back in the truck
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All the company sites talk about leasing on and me operating the truck. I'm looking to buy a truck in cash and hire a driver and only drive on his off time (if at all). They don't cover this - is this generally allowed? I'm looking to get my wheels turning without the huge cost of authority (and mostly 20% down on insurance). TIA.