Forced To Lease A Truck??

I read in a few articles on the forum about companies leaning on people to lease a truck, or suffer a reduced amount of miles. The problem is, I never saw a company name.

With that being said, can someone please spill the beans ? I'm about to graduate CDL school and I have a few companies that I'm looking at. Truth be told, my mind is going crazy trying to choose what company to go with. I've narrowed it down to May, Schneider, and Prime.

For me, Schneider looks good because of the amount of terminals they have and the quality of training. (From what I've seen and read. Plus, one of my CDL instructors worked there and has taught us a lot that is above and beyond what the other instructor has taught. Both with what the DOT says and just practical knowledge)

Prime looks, because of the creature comforts they have. (APU, converters....) They also have the miles as well (According to the recruiter)

May sticks with something in my gut. I don't know what it is really, but something keeps bringing me back to them. Maybe it's because they have a close terminal in Pensacola. (I live in Louisiana)

I'm a Navy veteran, and also a 20 year oilfield veteran. (Low oil prices suck for oilfield work but is great for trucking, I guess) So with that being said, I'm use to not being home for weeks, or months at a time. In fact, I'm looking forward to seeing the country as much as I can.

Any advice given would be greatly appreciated. (I don't care how slow their trucks are either. ;) You don't spend time in the hammer lane anyway. )

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

• Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
• Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

OOS:

When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I read in a few articles on the forum about companies leaning on people to lease a truck, or suffer a reduced amount of miles. The problem is, I never saw a company name.

With that being said, can someone please spill the beans ? I'm about to graduate CDL school and I have a few companies that I'm looking at. Truth be told, my mind is going crazy trying to choose what company to go with. I've narrowed it down to May, Schneider, and Prime.

When I researched Prime I found a lot of negative reviews stating they try to force you into a lease and the leases are bad. I have been here in training since sept 19th. ONE time my current trainer said dispatch asked if I was going compnay or lease because if I went lease I could keep that dispatcher..if not... id need to switch and it would have to be set up when I upgrade. As far as the leasing program I've heard good things and bad. I've come conclusion that some make good money as lease and some dont. Either they suck at business.. they dont understand profit loss concepts or they just want to complain. I had 3 trainers. One cleared $3500 per week on PSD training as lease .. and $5000 in TNT. My 2nd trainer was company and made $100k by Nov and my 3rd is o/o who clears $6000k a week or so.

Money can be made. As far as "forces lease" not a word has been pushed ..forced .. or intimidated in any way. Many new students go that route because you can choose where and when you want to drive....but with $1000 per week payment hometime is rare for newbies

Just my observat I n

I'm not sure there are any posts on this forum about people complaining about forced leasing. Actually, the experienced drivers here recommend new driversto not lease because they feel it's too risky without much benefit. Having been around trucking for many years, I agree with them. But I don't know of any companies that force you to lease.. why would you? Just work for another company if that ever happens.

Clears 6k per week ? 300k plus per year ???? Gross revenue maybe, clears, I doubt very much.

Clears 6k per week ? 300k plus per year ???? Gross revenue maybe, clears, I doubt very much.

After expenses of fuel...tolls..maintenance... and paying me as trainee... I do her paperwork.. she has no truck payment. Keep in mind prime gets deeply discounted fuel prices and insurance. They insurance she pays with them is a third of what she would pay on her own. Every week.. no.. but most... cause remember it is teaming. Some of these runs pay REALLY well.. and Prime gives them like 74% of load revenue or something g like that.

It's Jan so this month isn't that great..but I'm telling you most of the time I been with her she's been doing quite well

I'm not sure there are any posts on this forum about people complaining about forced leasing. Actually, the experienced drivers here recommend new driversto not lease because they feel it's too risky without much benefit. Having been around trucking for many years, I agree with them. But I don't know of any companies that force you to lease.. why would you? Just work for another company if that ever happens.

There was a post I saw (it was an older post) where a guy was asked about leasing and when he said he was going to go the company route, he was put on a back burner. Of course everyone here told him to stock to his guns. Long story short, the guy ended up leaving said company.

Was just curious.... I spoke to Prime's recruiter today.... 10 more school days until graduation.

After expenses of fuel...tolls..maintenance... and paying me as trainee... I do her paperwork.. she has no truck payment.

I'm sorry......what is she getting paid per mile and what kind of miles are you guys turning?

After expenses of fuel...tolls..maintenance... and paying me as trainee... I do her paperwork.. she has no truck payment.

I'm sorry......what is she getting paid per mile and what kind of miles are you guys turning?

No kidding, because even just with rough numbers, we ALL need to go work there.

Rainy you've yet to see a 30,000 dollar repair bill yet. That and owning a truck is a completely different thing financially from leasing one, for several reasons from not having to pay for the truck, or interest on the truck, to the company having an interest in you not successfully completing a lease purchase so they can fleece you for more money. I've said before that lease purchasing should be illegal. Anyone you come across that says they absolutely love leasing, ask them how long they've been doing it, and try to get numbers out of them that are NET not gross. You'll probably be unhappy with the responses of both questions.

I'm not sure there are any posts on this forum about people complaining about forced leasing. Actually, the experienced drivers here recommend new driversto not lease because they feel it's too risky without much benefit. Having been around trucking for many years, I agree with them. But I don't know of any companies that force you to lease.. why would you? Just work for another company if that ever happens.

There was a post I saw (it was an older post) where a guy was asked about leasing and when he said he was going to go the company route, he was put on a back burner. Of course everyone here told him to stock to his guns. Long story short, the guy ended up leaving said company.

Was just curious.... I spoke to Prime's recruiter today.... 10 more school days until graduation.

I remember that post too, and I want to say that the company was Trans Am. When I spoke to one of their recruiters, he even told me that L/O was pushed, and if I was looking to be a company driver, I could do good there, but was better off looking somewhere else. Which saddened me, because they were near the top of my list when in the beginning stages of my research. They seem to have a really good company, and their driver wellness program is what initially stood out to me. Even now, I have yet to find one that matches theirs, at least if another does, it is not mentioned in their recruiting information.