Western Express Lease Purchase....thoughts???

I agree with old skool they should let you drive first then decide all that once you see how the company fits ya cuz if it ends up a bad fit dont want to be stuck good lyck

...

I agree completely. But how much more money is there to be made by saving fuel? $750/week? No way.

...

Yeah, that's not possible. But I'd guess that maintainance savings for a good o/o or l/p could be significant. I slip seat and see first hand how the average company driver treats the company truck. Often appalling.

Could the savings in both add up to $750/wk? Where else can the owner beat the company driver in lowering expenses? David?

Just wondering if anybody has heard anything about the W/E lease purchase good or bad. I'm going to orientation Sunday for flatbed ding. Any input would be appreciated.

My old trainer here at Western shared bad info about that particular thing. I like the company though.

Jon, I'm a flat-bed driver at Western Express, and as far as I know they don't have a lease/purchase program anymore. Maybe I'm missing something, I can't seem to keep up with everything that goes on around here. I do really well, and they keep my wheels turning. With your experience are they insisting that you go out with a trainer for a short period, or are they willing to put you in a truck and let you roll?

Are y I have still with them Old School

Jon, I'm a flat-bed driver at Western Express, and as far as I know they don't have a lease/purchase program anymore. Maybe I'm missing something, I can't seem to keep up with everything that goes on around here. I do really well, and they keep my wheels turning. With your experience are they insisting that you go out with a trainer for a short period, or are they willing to put you in a truck and let you roll?

Are y I have still with them Old School

Yah wanna try this again? No idea of what the question is.

Sorry for the slow response........ from a hard numbers perspective there are a couple of things at work here to consider. First is miles per gallon which is most obvious one, and Secondly the location in which the fuel is purchased. Prior to the 1990's fuel pricing did not pay much of role in OO savings or losses because the national average pretty much reflected the pump price throughout the country. Post 911, we have a totally different beast on our hands with pump price separation well into the $1.65 per gallon range from SC to CA. Pre-1990's and Pre-911 MPG was the only "primary" savings and loss variable an OO could focus on when trying to gain additional profits from strategic planning.....

FIRST SAVINGS METHOD If you drive 2500 miles per week at 5 mpg you will purchase 500 gallons. We will call this our base line variable. If an OO worked on slower average velocity, less "quick starts", over reving and reduced idle time, he or she could jump to 6 or 7 mpg depending on truck, equipment, load, weight and terrain..... but the above factors typically play into the savings 3 to 1. At 6 MPG compared to 5, you would purchase 84 less gallons at the national average of $2.502 this week OR $210.17 in savings. At 7 MPG compared to 5, you would purchase 143 less gallons at the national average of $2.502 for $357.79 in savings.

SECOND SAVINGS METHOD: This one requires nothing more than to use your common sense and a little planning. Unlike yesteryear, today we have satellite space-aged technology to give us up to the minute pricing for fuel at our fingertips. No more searching for billboards alongside the interstate for prices. Back to 5 MPG and 500 gallons at the national average of $2.502 or $1251.00 in fuel cost to the OO vs. fuel pricing in SC today at $1.83 or $67 cents cheaper than the average, OR $3.59 in eastern PA! Bulk fueling practices in cheaper states will always produce extreme savings when done properly and consistently. NO ONE ever thinks about this as a "savings", but they will surely calculate it as a loss if they go over the national average!! So, IF you ran 2500 miles purchasing fuel primarily in SC, NC, NJ, etc. at $1.90 you would have an average weekly fuel cost of $950.00. If you purchased your fuel primarily in PA, NY, CT, etc. at a fuel cost of $3.39 you would have a weekly fuel cost of $1695.00. The difference in these two regions would produce a swing of approx. $745.00 in a single week based on 5 MPG and 2500 miles!!

When you combine these two methods or practices of fueling you can quickly see the success vs. failure variable in owning a truck as compared to being a company driver. The biggest myth in owning a truck is IF you are a great company driver, you would make a great OO...... far from it....... You have to be a great driver with business savvy and self discipline.

...

I agree completely. But how much more money is there to be made by saving fuel? $750/week? No way.

...

Yeah, that's not possible. But I'd guess that maintainance savings for a good o/o or l/p could be significant. I slip seat and see first hand how the average company driver treats the company truck. Often appalling.

Could the savings in both add up to $750/wk? Where else can the owner beat the company driver in lowering expenses? David?

Are y I have still with them Old School

Sorry MonkeyBone, I've been so busy lately I must have missed your question - I just haven't had a lot of time to spend in the forum lately.

I'm no longer with Western Express, but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I was a top producer in the flat-bed division, and they treated me like a king. That is the way it works in this business - you can throw all those negative online reviews in the trash bin, every company has them, and every company has their core group of good solid drivers. Unfortunately there also happens to be a core group of malcontents that keep hopping from one company to the next looking for some kind of "Trucking Nirvana." It is that group of malcontents that keep up this useless mantra of "how such and such a company treats their drivers really bad, but I hear that those guys over there know what their drivers really want." Unfortunately once they get "over there" they find out that their same old problems have followed them into this seemingly promising situation they thought they were getting into.

I am working on a dedicated flat-bed account for SAPA Aluminum which is operated by Knight Transportation.

Here's my truck sitting high atop a mountain ridge at the Petro truck stop near Scranton, PA. I'm headed to Farmington, Connecticut with a load of aluminum extrusions for Stanley Access Technologies.

Hey Indy! Here are a few tips for Lease Operators to remember!

THREE things completely change the game. 1. Fuel savings: weekly I see fuel expenses ranging from 23 to 64 cents per mile. Simple math says if both drivers run 2500 miles per week the first one will spend $575.00 on fuel, where the scecond will spend $1600.00! That is an astounding $1025.00 difference in fueling practices! The problem with many of today's OO or LP is they spend 90% of their time focusing on methods of ownership from the 70's and 80's, mainly MPG. Using MPG as your primary financial compass is outdated and needs to be corrected immediately. 2. Maintenance: the maintenance variable is huge. Often companies will put schedules in place to service their equipment, but any professional driver will tell you that NO ONE knows their equipment better than they do. A company driver will tell someone in service and the person in service will just follow the schedule. An OO will follow their wallets and fix what needs fixing when needed. Simple things like air filters, tire pressures and fuel filters can save thousands and thousands per year. 3. Attitude: how many stores do you repeat because of their staff or someone that works there with a great attitude? Think carefully....... Often we like shopping or frequenting places that makes us feel good about our decisions. Being a business owner is the same thing in reverse. NO company guarantees OOs loads, they will offer them, but will not guarantee them. You have to remember you OWN that business which means you OWN its success OR its failure. If your business partner doesn't like working with you, or the reverse, why would they go out of their way to make sure your business is successful? You don't have to be best friends, but you have to have a mutual respect for the partnership that is required for success.

Hope that little bit helps!

...

I agree completely. But how much more money is there to be made by saving fuel? $750/week? No way.

...

Yeah, that's not possible. But I'd guess that maintainance savings for a good o/o or l/p could be significant. I slip seat and see first hand how the average company driver treats the company truck. Often appalling.

Could the savings in both add up to $750/wk? Where else can the owner beat the company driver in lowering expenses? David?

I just wanted anyone that spends time trying to read information about a potential opportunity to hear all sides of an argument for or against a sector of this industry. There are obviously very extreme mixed opinions on this subject and I will at least concede to the fact that not everyone will agree. The fact-finding portion of this discussion was to decide if lease purchase or owner operator was a good choice for someone, instead it turned into a mudslinging competition of Company driver versus Owner operator. No matter how much information and how many numbers have been posted on this blog, there are some people that will never believe what they cannot understand. I completely understand and accept that being a business owner is not for everyone, but to ignore that many, many, many people in this country can be successful business owners is just crazy!

Its kind of like saying Chocolate is the worst flavor of ice cream, YOU should only like Vanilla..... who should make that decision for you... someone else? or YOU?

Honestly, outside of math, the best reasons I've seen NOT to lease have been your non-answers to almost every straight question in this thread. To me, your posts are basically blatant advertising of the sort that usually results in me completely writing off a company because I know I'll never get a straight answer out of them. Then again, I'm also the sort who realizes that leasing is not a good option for her as a new driver and would already be saying no, so I'm not exactly your target audience.

It's not telling them they should eat vanilla ice cream, just that while the habanero ice cream might taste good now, it can burn your butt later.

Ask me a straight question and I'll give you a straight answer...... I've answered a hundred others on this post.... and straight and to the point.

Hi David I drove for Western last year for 4.5 months , haven't driven since can you please tell me if i came back for a couple months if i could qualify for lease PP thanks.

Sorry Don, I have no idea. My best answer would be to call and talk to someone about it. I like the trucking truth blog because of the lack of advertising and don't want to promote any single company..... I want to help answers for one sector of this industry.

I just wanted anyone that spends time trying to read information about a potential opportunity to hear all sides of an argument for or against a sector of this industry. There are obviously very extreme mixed opinions on this subject and I will at least concede to the fact that not everyone will agree. The fact-finding portion of this discussion was to decide if lease purchase or owner operator was a good choice for someone, instead it turned into a mudslinging competition of Company driver versus Owner operator. No matter how much information and how many numbers have been posted on this blog, there are some people that will never believe what they cannot understand. I completely understand and accept that being a business owner is not for everyone, but to ignore that many, many, many people in this country can be successful business owners is just crazy!

Its kind of like saying Chocolate is the worst flavor of ice cream, YOU should only like Vanilla..... who should make that decision for you... someone else? or YOU?

Honestly, outside of math, the best reasons I've seen NOT to lease have been your non-answers to almost every straight question in this thread. To me, your posts are basically blatant advertising of the sort that usually results in me completely writing off a company because I know I'll never get a straight answer out of them. Then again, I'm also the sort who realizes that leasing is not a good option for her as a new driver and would already be saying no, so I'm not exactly your target audience.

It's not telling them they should eat vanilla ice cream, just that while the habanero ice cream might taste good now, it can burn your butt later.

Ask me a straight question and I'll give you a straight answer...... I've answered a hundred others on this post.... and straight and to the point.

Hi David I drove for Western last year for 4.5 months , haven't driven since can you please tell me if i came back for acouple months if i could qualify for lease PP thanks.