Yep, I'm almost there, finally. Finished with my Prime trainer this week and I'll Upgrade test out next week.

Unfortunately, I have to drive on Prime's slave company wages for 8,000 more miles until I can lease. (Prime pays 30 cpm, but 8 cpm is Per Diem!)

Despite the negative comments most folks here have about Prime, you can make good money on their lease, if you know how to manage your yourself.

However, Gainey Transportation just pre-approved me for a lease last week, too. I could start leasing right away with them, instead of waiting another 3 weeks with Prime. Gainey's lease program is about $1,000 per month less than Prime's, but they pay by the mile (90 cpm), while Prime pays by the load (that usually averages about $1.04 a mile).

I could also buy a 1999 or later truck and become an owner-operator with Gainey instead of leasing. That option is not available with Prime. But if I buy my own truck, I'd be making a

Gainey says it's solo drivers average about 2700-3000 miles a week. Prime's solo drivers average about the same.

After riding with Prime for several months now, I know they have plenty of freight - I don't know that about Gainey.

I've also heard that Gainey is owned by the same folks that own Covenant. I don't like Covenant.

Prime is ranked 38 in Transport Topics Top 100. Gainey is ranked 61. My gut tells me I'd make more money with Prime than Gainey.

One thing's for sure - I'm not gonna be a company driver. Leasing is more profitable.

What say you?

 

I say you will go broke. You seem to have your mind made up, so I am not sure why you are asking for our opinions, at this point. I don't know what you have against Covenant, especially if you have never worked for them. If your gut is telling you that you will make money leasing a truck from Prime, I would say to go get something to eat and watch some TV. Your gut must be confused because it is hungry. :P As much as we have discussed this, I am amazed at how many gullible people will still sign on to these "fleece purchase" programs. Just because one company is ranked higher than another company, doesn't necessarily mean that the higher ranked one is the better of the two. It only means that they are larger. Companies such as Prime make a fortune off of leasing trucks to new drivers who haven't a clue as to what it takes to make money as an owner operator. I am sorry to sound so harsh, but you are about to make a huge mistake. There are so many inexperienced drivers who think that they are going to get rich doing one of these "fleece purchase" programs, but we never seem to have anyone who wants to show the actual numbers. Prime and other training carriers prey on those with limited or no experience, poor credit and limited financial resources. Those of us who have sacrificed to either pay cash or save a good down payment, know what it REALLY takes to own and operate a truck successfully. One thing you should understand is that you will never own the truck you are buying for them. You are making their truck payments for them plus a hefty profit. You make the payments and they keep ownership. A sweet deal if you are the carrier. You can buy a new truck on your own for about $2,000 (+-) per month with a good down payment. If you really want to be an owner operator, save your money until you can afford to buy a truck on your own. When you lease a truck from a carrier you are a lease operator and not an owner operator. You don't own anything. It is like the difference between renting a house and buying it. When you rent a house you are essentially paying for the house someone else owns. Go ahead and do the deal. Come back in a year and tell us how great you are doing. :?

 

OMG all prime drivers are lease operators????? they have no company drivers? from what i understand you drive company for 30 days then you have to lease???

 

While I am not an active driver (stopped driving 6 or 7 years ago) I been round truckers all my life. Never ceases to amaze me that a guy who would never lease a ford truck thinks nothing of leasing a Freighliner. (ain't saying that's you but it is common to see)

BUY YOUR OWN TRUCK. Payments are about the same and you OWN the thing. You wanna paint it pink with pictures of ducks and buffalo wearing raincoats - go ahead. Do that to a lease and see what happens. Wanna switch companies tomorrow - good luck on a company supplies lease -- sometimes it's easier to get rid of AOL :wink: Say you do have bad credit - fix it up (there are services for this) and then BUY a truck. Leasing isn't gonna help your credit near as much as buying.

With a lease - the same as renting a house. You pay someone else's payment plus profit and have nothing. With interest rates fairly low now - I would buy, get an older one if you have to. Many times extended warranties are avail if that's a concern.

Good luck - just remember lease = not yours but paying like it is.

 

There's a lease-purchase operator born every minute!

 

Dude! You're going to go broke. Drive company for a while and make all the rookie mistakes on their dime, not yours.

 

if you need a ride, and dont have the money for a bus ticket, i will give you a ride but you have to help strap and tarp and eat granola bars. :lol: just last week, i saw a prime truck that seemed to have misplaced its lease/purchase driver and dang near everything was taken out of it and both doors open. of course this was in east st louis at the pilot. not the best part of town. :shock:

 

Leasing is more profitable

You just got out of Truck driving school and have driven a few weeks and You know all this?

 

I say you're about to get a painful education.

I'll make really good money this year as a company driver. I'm considering the company's owner-operator program, but I am in no position to do it right now. Maybe in three years when I am completely debt free, when I have a solid history and track record with the company, and when I have that much more experience I might try it.

-p.

 

ScottieFL,

Man, I am really sorry to hear you talking about the lease. You really should be popping into the O/O section and asking about what it costs to run a truck. The actual business expenses. Line by line and roughly what it is going to cost you per mile to run that truck.

Then add those costs to the truck lease payments and figure out what you the driver are going to actually make. You will make more money driving as the company driver than you will get to keep out of your lease. That much I can promise you. I have run the numbers 14 ways from Wednesday and the numbers don't add up... Well they can add up to you the driver keeping about 10-18 cpm while the rest goes back into the truck. I don't know about you, but I am not working for that kind of money just so I can say I leased a truck. If you choose to go down the road not knowing what the costs are that are about to bite you and then have the truck broken down and no funds to take care of those business expenses... Then your headed for bankruptcy.

What others are trying to tell you is unless you have taken into account the insurance, tags, fuel taxes, truck maintenance and a long list of real expenses that conveniently get overlooked in the breakout that the companies pimping the lease then your in for big trouble. Stay a company driver for Prime since your already with them. Get your 1 year on the road and then look for better opportunities. I have talked with nobody that has completed a Prime lease and made out... This should tell you something.

If you choose to go the lease route let us know. The lessons you learn on this one will demonstrate to everyone exactly what everyone is warning you about. If nothing else someone else may be able to avoid the house of pain your about to get into.

If your interested in learning some of the information that Prime isn't going to talk about, you should be downloading some of the spreadsheet calculators on the OOIDA web site and then asking some of our resident OO's about some of the expense items that you will need to plug into the spreadsheet. This will help you get to some CPM calculations and a closer picture of the real bottom line. Factor in percentages of trips your going to be doing MT or deadheading for bounce between loads, and some of the other gotchas and "surprise" your lucky to be eating Ramen once a day. If you will take the time to do this you will be SHOCKED! That is no exaggeration. BOL

Longsnowsm