I've been hauling mostly flatbed loads for MacKinnon for the past few weeks, with an occasional overpriced generator thrown in at $3/mile. Today, Dispatch emailed me this little memo:

"This trailer of yours ... is really limiting the potential for you to get loads. We are having a hard time finding you loads that will fit on the trailer with the weight constraints... There is very little call for stepdeck rolltights in the industry".

From my past conversations with them I know they'd prefer me to have either an OPEN STEPDECK or a plain FLATBED WITH A CONESTOGA (sliding tarps are okay on flatbeds).

Does anyone know or have had experience in getting out of an "non-cancelable" equipment lease? I wanted to consult a lawyer but the one I found wants 400 bucks just to look at the contract with no guarantee of finding any loopholes.

I emailed the Conestoga dealer and asked for their help saying this setup doesn't work for me and I'm losing loads and their boss wrote, "I can send you to a trailer dealer in (near-by town) so that "they look at your stepdeck with the Conestoga and give you a trade-in value for a new or newer flatbed trailer." How would that work if I have both the trailer and tarp on lease? The trailer's contact is with the same company who financed my truck ...

 

Weight constraints? You mean that thing added so much weight you can't scale anything? Holy smoke we can scale 49,000 on our steps. How much can you scale?

Unless......they want to load you with steel, which pays by the ton????

 

Sorry Tracer. I can't help you out. I really wish I could. If it was a low deck 53 I might buy it but it just doesn't fit here.

 

I can scale 47,000 lbs with the Conestoga and full fuel tanks. That's just as much as their open flatbeds. I'm not sure what he's talking about either. Maybe he was referring to my 61" axle spread and that I can't take 40,000 lbs in the back.

Having slept on it, I think the fact they can't find enough loads doesn't mean anything: I just have to find specialized loads myself.

So, no one has any tips on how to get out of a lease?

 

maybe they would let you change your lease to something more suitable? if not, you will probably have to keep what you have, or pay off the lease and chalk it up to a lesson learned the hard way

 

You can "trade in" your lease for another trailer.(another lease or buy) They may not give you enough to pay off the old lease though.

 

After reading a lot of your blog I think the problem is dispatch not looking for loads. Remember when you got your tarp their was a waiting list.

 

Ptarmigan is a law student. Maybe he can offer some advice on your lease contract.

 

Well, as far as I know we only have one load planner looking for flatbed loads. The number of flatbed trucks at MacKinnon is around 200 (incl. owner-operators). So, naturally they don't like to look for any loads that don't fit their trucking specialty (plain flatbed).

A guy called this morning in responce to a my private ad on Kijiji.com He runs some kind of a plant or shop and they want to buy a sliding tarp trailer to move their product (they have an old truck but sold the trailer). I said to the guy, "Hey, I'll make the first 3 monthly payments".

 

No such thing as "non cancelable" .........ANYTHING can be cancelled, the question is how much will it cost and will it have an effect on your credit rating?

I have a friend with Mercer, had a step, always had problems getting loads, (might have been his fault some of the time) when he did they paid very good, he traded it for a flat, stays much busier now, doesn't deadhead as much either.

The trailer place will let you off the hook if you get another trailer from them? Could be worth doing if the numbers are right