Most drivers dream of someday owning their very own truck. Some people are so caught up in this dream that they walk right into a predatory lease, which will ultimately leave them in debt and even further from their goal than when they started. It’s extremely common for lease-operator agreements to be highly profitable for the trucking company at the driver’s expense, and you absolutely must make sure you aren’t signing a contract that is designed to make you fail. TruckersReport forum member Rawze posted some great tips to help drivers identify rip-off leases:
Here is a list of some of the things to avoid the most…
- Any deal where you pay based on the miles driven. These are the worst of them all, but sadly the most inviting to newbies.
- Any lease where the term, interest rate, truck payment, and/or final asking price is not set in stone.
- Any lease that does not have a clearly defined payment schedule and a total asking price for the truck.
- Any company that does not give 100% of collected fuel surcharge back to its owner-ops, or that does not provide fuel surcharge. This will put you out of business fast.
- Any company that does not offer a fuel surcharge that is fairly close to the current average going rates.
- Any lease that has no defined ‘cap’ on maintenance or other escrow account withholdings.
- Any lease that does not allow you to pay off the truck early relative to what you owe.
- Any lease where the interest rate is high compared to the interest rates of other sellers.
- Any lease where the asking price, before interest, for the truck is higher than what the truck would sell for in a truck sales magazine.
- Any company that does not allow you to take the lease-purchase agreement to someone else for a second opinion.
- Any lease that forbids you having upgrades or improvements done to the truck to improve its fuel economy and/or lower its operating costs. It is ok for them to have an ‘Undo’ clause if you fail your lease, but limiting you from improvements is like saying that you aren’t allowed to make a bigger profit. This defeats the entire reason for owning the truck in the first place.
- Any lease that limits who does PM and/or repair work to your truck, especially if you are willing to pay for that work yourself out of your own pocket.
- Any lease that has large penalties for missing a truck payment.
- Any lease that has a lot of long term administration fees.
- Any lease that does not guarantee you a free and clear title to your truck at its end, especially if you are willing to make your ‘Balloon’ payment.
- Any lease that forces you to pay for a truck warranty, or that forces you to have all work done at the company shop. This is typically a scam to keep taking back the money you have earned from them already.
- Stay well away from companies that try to put students or rookie drivers into brand new, or fairly new equipment as lease-purchase operators. These are definitely slave labor companies.
- Run like hell as fast as you can away from companies that push their lease-operators to trade their truck back in and start over at the end of the lease. Not only will you end up perpetually leasing, but you will never have a truck to show for it.
- Stay away from companies that take fuel taxes out of your settlement pay based on ‘Average’ or ‘fleet wide’ rates. If you are going to be dumb enough to sign on with a company that makes you pay fuel taxes, then be absolutely sure you only pay fuel tax based on YOUR individual fuel purchases only. If you get really good fuel mileage, and the rest of the fleet does not, then you will end up paying taxes on their bad driving habits.
-Rawze
Thank you, Rawze!
I agree. CR England is a slave labor company who can’t seem to stay out of both federal and state courts because of their treatment of the drivers. Think about it, they don’t have enough freight and equipment to dispatch all of the rookie drivers that come out of their CDL school. So they push the lease purchase program to bury their drivers in perpetual servitude. It is a scam and they need to be
Severely punished for what they are doing. Stay away from CR England at all costs!
Actually they do have enough freight . They are the largest reefer carrier. They just have poor dispatching
Its a terrific list that should be posted on every single trucker websight. I was a victim of one of those scam slave labor companies and i paid dearly. I lost so much but i saw others who lost everything. Good decent people who just wanted to make it. They werent greedy. They wanted what they were willing to put in back with some profit. Most of em found themselves so deep in debt. Unable to pay personal debts. Unable to take time off to live. In the end unable to maintain their careers. The companies profited hugely regardless and easily replaced the lost driver with another naive newbie. If it wasnt enough for the companies to destroy these peoples lives for profit. They had to pour additional salt in the wound by hounding their credit reports and collection agents. Rediculous amounts of debt. The company never lost a dime on any truck. They simply handed it to another driver to continue the payments while demanding payments from the past drivers. Crazy..but true.
“Run like hell as fast as you can away from companies that push their lease-operators to trade their truck back in and start over at the end of the lease. Not only will you end up perpetually leasing, but you will never have a truck to show for it.”
Unless you don’t WANT to own a truck at the end. I don’t want to buy a house and I lease a car. Why should a truck be any different?
Maybe I misunderstood, but isn’t the list for people who WANT to own a truck? IJS
I just signed a Lease with Celadon about six months ago. And have not gotten a pay day now for a week.at this time I’am looking for a Company that will help pay off my Truck. So I can get on as A Truck owner and operator.and pay them back at a lower rate on the payments.Where do I find one at.?
if got a truck from Celadon. that mean you are with quality lease they own that company. take your truck to GDS Express they will pay you and quality will get they payment everyweek. and with GDS Express you will get home when you want. I’m home everyweek and make good money.
Wow reading these comments in 2020 is sad
A Celadon lease driver being advised to go to GDS
and both of those companies are in BANKRUPTCY today
Ya thanks for the heads up was about to make that mistake now i guess ill be a company man a little longer keep saving up
I also would contact the OOIDA for some advice too trust me, they will tell you the nightmare the L/P is. A long time ago a company tried to bait me into a L/P. Unknown to them I was already hip to their scam lol. Needless to say I had a blast pokeing holes in thier contract. Heck I even asked them if I could have the truck inspected by Kenworth to give it a clean bill of health, or to fix any exisiting problems. Well they did not like me very much lol. Information is your best weapon. Dont go in there with all these pie in the sky dreams of playing owner operator on a L/P. Aint gonna happen.
Also, the best thing to do is save your money for a decent down payment and get your own truck. The payments will be cheaper than the rip-off lease-purchase.
PS. The adds you see of drivers holding thier titles and the keys to their trucks is a real representation. Let me put it to you like this. Ever see a hotel that advertises a room for $39.99….but when you go to the motel you find out that room isnt available and it will cost you $75.00 for the night. Long as they have only 1 room for $39.99 they are fine. The people that get though their lease/purchases are set up to do so. In this way when someone brings action the carrier can point to a driver and say….”look he managed to do it.” 🙂
Hi every one I need some help and in advise plz . I am doing lease p with company the truck is 2010 it his 700000now I pay 60% from the truck and I can’t keep work with this company any more . Is there any way I can fiend bank or Good F company to get loan to pay the truck off the prices for the truck was 69,900 now what still is 25000 . Thanks
the going rate on a truck settlement is 70-72% of gross if your only getting 60 you’ve been getting screwed from day one, I’m sorry to say trying to find financing on a 6 year old truck with 700,000 miles on it wont be easy, if I were you I would just walk away from it, as long as they get there truck back at their terminal they cant come after you on amount owed on a lease. Make sure you take pictures of the truck and its condition when dropped off so they cant come after you for damage that wasn’t done.
the most important objective is to find a company that is 100 percent upfront, they are usually the smaller family type operations. this is critical, a big company with lots of bull can break you faster than you think.
I got screwed twice, but there is a couple of good lease purchase company’s out there you just have to look and research, and don’t give up on the dream.
Prime Inc. HAS financialy victimized atleast 15 LPs to my knowledge. Tips 4, and 6 through 19. I would NEVER recommend PRIME to anyone. One driver had 24k in escrow, when he was close to pay off, his fleet manager wanted him to turn in the truck and take a 30 day training. The shop claimed numerous repairs and kept all but $200. I have many horror stories but I would have to write a book.
He must of screwed the truck up, not my experience
What is your experience, Steve? I’m a driver at Prime now thinking about leasing…
Yeah right. I paid off my truck under their ace lease deal and got the title. Your buddy probably didn’t take care of Maintenon on the truck beyond PM’s done at truck stops. I doubt they did $20k+ of work at Prime unless a new engine had to be installed or the Def died on truck . What is tip 4,6,& 19?
if he had 24k in escrow and was almost paid off… why didnt he pay it off?
The ONLY way to become a lease operator is to buy a truck from a reputable dealer & find co. to lease on to. Any co. that won’t take you after you bought a truck from somewhere else is a RIPOFF!! PERIOD!!
My question is, when is someone going to say what companies are good because all we see are the bad ones! Help us all out and give us the names of the good ones please!
I agree with the post above. How about some names for these “good” companies please.
I remember talking to the owner’s son at Prime 12 years ago. When it came to talking about earnings, he talked about running 3500 miles a week and averaging $900 take home. When I told him I was making $1000 a week running 2500 miles a week with JB Hunt, he said “well if that’s how you want to run” and walked away. Needless to say I didn’t go to Prime.
Lee you are lying lol. The owners son didn’t tell you that because no driver at prime drives $3500 a week to make $900. Prime is paid by percentage and most solos average 2200 miles a week. Prime doesn’t even run solos that many miles anyway so you are full of it.
😂😂
Hirschbach motor lines out of East Dubuque, Illinois was a good company to do lease with. My husband worked for them as a L/p and after all expenses he still cleared on average 1500- 2200 a week take home. They were up front about the lease and didn’t nickel and dime you on everything. They’re hard to get on with unless you have an impeccable driving record tho.
“Good” companies I know of… this info comes from various other blogs and word off the street.
NOTE: Many drivers that work for good companies have a tendency to keep it to themselves lest the “good” company get swamped with “Bad” drivers. Also these “Good” companies tend not to advertise much. Now, what I’ve learned:
Knight Transport has a decent lease purchase but is very picky on who they hire MVR/CSA/DAK
Panther is amazing to work with. I worked for an owner operator and while I didn’t like my boss the folks in the office bent over backward for us. They not only offer to help finance through arrow truck sales to get you the truck, but they pay a bonus if you already own one or are making payments.
Crane Cartage is another I spent the last year driving dedicated through Werner. Their freight is constant but requires teams in many cases although they do have day cab available as well.
ATI had the best run down when I interviewed them last year but they don’t hire in my area. If you are looking at ATI you had better live near or south of I-80.
I’ve spent countless hours interviewing different companies and am in the process of gathering info to launch a company scorecard website where the data in 30+ companies is presented at a glance.
Well I guess a good lease purchase company is only a phantom. I don’t see any names listed since my post.
I guess I will continue to drive for Britton Transport till I can save enough for my own truck or die, which ever comes first.
Talk to Bill Laverde
They gave me a chance to be a company driver at twenty five percent.Then a month or so later i sighned my lease at Seventyfive percent plus all fuel surcharge as well .Their out of Oregon.
CHARLIE TAFT
Lone Mountain is a lease company I’ve been with them 5 months making my payments at $2,600 a month the truck will be mine in 60 months look into Lone Mountain
After 11 years of driving and talking to many leas purchase SLAVE OPERATORS I reached the conclusion that there is no such thing as good for driver, leas purchase company. All of them are good for company, at the expense of the driver. Sadly government refuses to step in and protect the public from predatory corporations. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that corporations own the politicians.
I am just finishing training at Gibson.I have been driving for 35 years.I am supposed to be doing a lease purchase but it sounds like you might not get a paycheck for the first couple of months because they take out all the misc. expenses out at the beginning.Has anyone else heard about this?
I am just a guy who’s thinking of entering the trucking world, but I always figured that since the big companies push their lease programs so hard that they’re more or less just a big scam.
If I ever do decide to go to CDL school, I will use a company that will pay up front for schooling, then work there just long enough to pay back the school costs AND get some experience & miles under my belt. Then move on to a better company but still just remain a company driver. I don’t think I want the hassle of being an OO, I know the money is much higher but so is the risk.
I can’t understand how it’s not common knowledge. It seems like the trucking industry would make more of an effort to warn people of these scams. The old saying “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”. From my experience, if it sounds too good to be true, IT IS.
Spell corrected:
Working for Gibsons is a nightmare. Favoritism, incompetent management, dispatchers full of hostility and drama. You will not be respected or be acknowledged for your skills or abilities, or for your service to your customers. Your lease will be for a tractor not worth half the price quoted in your contract(ie, 3 yr contract for a 2013 Peterbilt 379 daycab, Isx Cummings, wet kit, 300,000mi. listed in the contract as $130,000 with $22,000 balloon payment). That is a typical Gibson lease offering. Trucks are just about ready for retirement by then. Yet, they continue leasing and releasing them out. BTW, you are responsible for every single expense on the tractor and the trailer. They are not liable for anything. No warranties except that if the truck you accept today breaks down or you change your mind tomorrow, they might let you switch out to a different truck or trailer. That is not written in the lease btw, it is a symbolic gesture that can and will easily be taken away. And you call that a lease? I have trained lease operators without any experience in tankers much less crude oil. I have watched almost a dozen highly qualified and experienced leave all for the same reasons. You make enough to pay the $6000 a month lease and misc. things, but you wont make enough to run your business and have enough to put back for operations. I leased with $8000 to work with for expenses. Low rates, minimum loads dispatched, and a dozen things that effect your bottom dollar and that has evaporated and I am in debt to the same amount. You will never feel like you are a true independent contractor/operator. You will feel like a number, and a company employee as they exert control over everything. The honeymoon ends after 2 or 3 months. You wont make bonuses as they seem to suggest you always will. Those out in the field trying to work within this environment will burn out quickly. You will end up broke, in debt, and regret that you never had a chance for a future with a company like Gibsons. There is always a few who slip thru somehow. I suspect they are “pets” kissing ass and never standing up for themselves and unfair business practices. I have no respect for those kinds of people anyway. They would steal or undercut you if that is what they have to do to make the company happy and themselves. Spineless jelly fish. Gibsons was a great company before when it was Taylor. The Canadian garbage that came out and did a takeover of Taylor ruined it for all the senior drivers at the time working under Taylor. Earnings went to the bottom of the chum bucket and they left in droves. Fact is Bridger is a company created from the remenant of employees, contractors, and some management from the Taylor era. Careful of Bridger also.. heard lots of horror stories. Good luck to you. Im not staying myself. After years of working in it I cant afford to stay…
ouch $130 k for ’13 pete 379 day cab, I just bought a brand new ’17 pete 579 titanium with full sleeper for $159k
Not all pay per mile is a fleese purchase. $1.52 loaded $1.00 empty, stop pay, detention pay, layover pay, fuel discounts and fuel surcharge. I net between $2500-$4500 per week. Unless I go home.
Who do you drive for?
Clinton who do you drive for?
I’ve been with a lease purchase company for a year now. It’s a walk away lease, the company has been good with breakdowns, they put up the money with a p/o and you pay out of your settlements. The problem is that my repairs are $10,000.00 plus, and the settlements have been low, the owner is starting to not extend credit to drivers, like me being new and such, I’m thinking now being a company driver I would make more money.
Y can try C&G out of Wayne Ohio. They are not to bad . It is a steel hauling company. Home on weekends. Make good money. Trucks. Are 379 Pete’s .truck payments are 15 percent of what truck makes . Pay fuel surcharge. .u get truck and trailer .
You don’t own anything and have no rights to the truck. You don’t even have them listed as a lienholder on a title.
Its all a medicine show to scam drivers……period.
If you are going to be a Lease Purchase operator here is something you should know, open you up a bank account for your maintenance account because after you leave that company they will try and keep your money that you got up in there bank account setup for your maintenance account. you will not get any money back from them. so be smart an get you a bank account for your maintenance for your truck. I got my own account for my truck. you can put what you want in your account. I put $250.00 aweek in my maintenance account. that’s $1000.00 a month. and it’s a tax write off for you, not that company. keep everything that you do for taxes. like me i only have to spend $314.25 a month in a half on getting my truck service every 15,000 miles. that’s it. and the rest of money just builds up. soon I will be going to buy my own truck. with a down payment on a 2017 truck.
What do y’all think of jct? Looked over there stuff and looks promising. Looking at making the jump in a couple of weeks so if I can get a response back quickly I’d really appreciate it before I quit my company job.
What do yall think of MGR or Conqueror Trans they both do 88% of line haul. Been told after everything paid people taking home 3k or more a week
Knight transportation has all these but one in there lease.