Why would you lease a truck from the company you are working for?

Yep

 

Depends on how the contract nobody reads is drawn up.

Some will allow outside, a lot not. Some, only a certain percentage outside.....

All varies based on that contract that is never read.

Yes, you are basically renting the truck & taking on all liability & expenses.

Even worse, the company entirely controls your income/lack of income stream if you "rent" from the very same hand that feeds you. In essence, they make or break you. Totally their choice.

 

Best option is to buy/lease on your own from an independent 3rd party that does not control your business.

I.E. Dealership or actual leasing company. Then, lease on to a company that meets your requirements.

Better to not be under control of the hand that feeds you & preserve your independent business ability to go/haul & do whatever the #### you want.

If you do not have that control, it is not really a business. It's a rented job with major liabilities. Nor are you "really" an owner. Just playing the part of one.

If you do not have that title in your name, you are not the "owner".

 

Full metal beat me to it. Its a very bad idea to lease from the same company you work for, for all the stated reasons. Even me. Im leased TO bones and bones is in the top 1% of best companys to work for. But even i own my truck through a 3rd party and have my own authority on standby incase things go belly up or bones cant feed me enough loads for whatever reason.

Sadly a LOT and i mean a LOT of drivers want to get into a truck with little planning and little money down and just have someone else deal with everything. Then when things go tits up have no recourse. And these megas love it. They can lease you one of their beater or problem trucks. No longer need to pay for anything and make a massive profit on both sides. And if you go tits up? Oh well throw a bit of warranty work at the rig and get the next moron in the seat or send it down the road, sue the previous failed "owner" for all they are worth rinse and repeat.

 

Drivers with terrible credit and no money will jump off a skyscraper if you tell them there is no money down and no credit check to get to the ground floor fast.

Seriously, desperate drivers without much financial wisdom will dismiss the 98% of people saying "I wish I hadn't leased a truck and went broke" and remember the 2% of lease-ops that claim they are making good money with a lease. With a lease you are responsible for all, or almost all, expenses of that truck but you have no power over which freight you haul. In short, you are required to pay the expenses, no matter what, but the company is NOT obligated to give you ANY work.

 

They are selling a dream basically. They say you can make more money or pick your own loads or more home time if you want. Everyone believes the boss/company is making big money and screwing the drivers. Plus who wouldn’t love to drive a band new truck and be your own boss right from the start.

That’s what they are kinda counting on because the new person getting into truck know nothing about it and the pressures to drive and make money.

This is only my opinion but I think these lease deals actually make the trucking company money. The trucking companies setup a separate company that does all the leasing part. They make money at the end of the lease when the leasing company sells the truck as a used truck.

The leasing side buys the truck from say Freightliner and lease it the driver at crazy high payments like $1000 a week. The driver agrees to say 36 or 48 month lease at $4000 a month that’s $192,000 for 48 months. That covers the price of the truck and driver can walk away anytime they want because it a walk away lease. So even if the lose a couple months payment it ok till next driver get in the truck.

When the lease if finished and the truck has 500,000-600,000 miles they can sell that truck for $45,000 -$55,000 or whatever the market fare price is at the time. If you have a fleet of 4,000 trucks and sell 1,000 of them every year so basically no truck in the fleet is over 4 years old. You will money on some trucks probably accident and repairs but most repairs are covered under warranty.

 

It's not worth it in the short and long run from any angle. Every truck will get old and eventually cost whiles in the shop. Plus, it's not your truck until it's paid in full after their higher than normal interest rates plus they control your career with the truck they own and lease to you. Your basically a glorified driver signing up to pay their truck debt. You can't make your own decisions on taking the truck to Operate with another company or freight broker. They call the shots,. It better to just be hired as a driver without any overhead expenses pertaining to the truck.

 

I wouldn't lease a truck from the same company that gives me my loads, because then they know exactly how much they have to run you in order to get their payment and could leave you sitting after that.

 

I wish there was a way to work harder, increase my liability, and make the same amount of money, or less. If only….