Comments By BQ

BQ wrote:

I don't know the exact figures for particular leasing programs but have come across drivers who are successful, some are not. You will find many on this site are strongly against it. If you are a business minded person and understand how to keep costs as low as possible (tracking fuel prices, driving in a manner to conserve said fuel, keep maintenance up and limiting preventable breakdowns (stuff happens but you can be proactive in prevention), keep record clean and insurance costs manageable, etc) and willing to put in work to keep income up it is possible to be a successful l/o or o/o. Some ppl aren't good with running a business, others excel. Every trucking company, big and small started somewhere and grew. It's certainly not impossible but make sure you do thourough research and are willing to put in work. Best of luck.

BQ...your reply is counter-intuitive to the facts.

Do you speak from first hand knowledge? Obviously not because you prefaced and qualified your response with I don't know. Correct...you don't know. That is all we really need to read and understand in your reply. Not knowing the exact figures is at the very crux of the issue and why we vehemently oppose lease operation as a means to increase earning potential. No one can prove leasing through a carrier is substantially more lucrative than being a top performing company driver. Honestly,...can you? How can you reply like you did and ignore the basic questions that need to be asked and answered when considering this? There are several people on this forum I trust implicitly...until the day comes that I see them seriously considering Lease Operation (L/O) through a company, and/or supporting it with credible math,...this will never cross my mind.

Robert (Dragon) accurately and honestly replied to the OP. Robert is an experienced Owner Operator, and knows first-hand what he is talking about. I trust the credibility and validity of his response and totally agree with him. He absolutely represents the truth when it comes to Leasing through a company. O/O and L/O are two entirely different models, not to be interchanged or confused. Although I have no idea who you have talked to; Lease Operation is heavily biased and contractually skewed in favor of the trucking company; passing most of the liability, most of the risk, and all of the operating cost onto the driver with only a marginal increase in mileage pay. The sales pitch typically tugs on the emotions of the prospect, conveniently side-stepping the true business benefits and increased risk. Ask one of the sales people for facts and figures and see how they respond..."we have one in your favorite color Mr. Driver, RED. Would you like to take a test drive?".

BQ unless you are currently a Lease Operator and can provide hard, fast, accurate income and operational numbers proving your point in support of the "drivers you have come across", then please try to understand the basis of my concern with your thought process. Offering anecdotal information like you did isn't helpful. It's confounding, and unnecessarily fuels the on-going debate.

I sincerely suggest you take the time to read the same link I sent the OP and perhaps your perspective might better align with reality.

I am not currently a lease operator, as I currently don't want the added responsibility or to take on commitment to fulfill said lease. If I were to start one, I would finish the full 3 year term and I am not currently willing to commit to saying I would stay at prime for 3 more years. My feet are firmly planted in reality, thanks for offer though. I speak to many drivers while at terminal, which is only when in for maintenance or p/u, dropoff or intermittent student issues (testing, p/u documents, etc) and have had chats with l/o's on their 2nd, 3rd.....so on successful, satisfied lease. I also have come across those that are not successful and the "terminal rat" breed. I am aware of the model and how it works, the "skew" in favor of the company. I simply told o/p in uncertain terms he is unlikely to find support here and to be sure to do research beforehand and follow it up with the necessary work and attention to be successful. I actually recommend to all new students I interact with to start company, if they feel later on a lease would be the right move, so be it. What may not work for one, fits another just fine, like life, this little career we call trucking is not one size fits all. For now, I am perfectly fine as a company driver with company driver/trainer responsibilities and commitment obligation. That doesn't mean I am not regularly learning about other avenues with possibilty of making changes if I feel they are warranted and time is right.

I currently work at prime. They have been a terrific company from my perspective thus far and you can take "hometime" anywhere you want or need to so don't let that hang you up. GO BILLS

I don't know the exact figures for particular leasing programs but have come across drivers who are successful, some are not. You will find many on this site are strongly against it. If you are a business minded person and understand how to keep costs as low as possible (tracking fuel prices, driving in a manner to conserve said fuel, keep maintenance up and limiting preventable breakdowns (stuff happens but you can be proactive in prevention), keep record clean and insurance costs manageable, etc) and willing to put in work to keep income up it is possible to be a successful l/o or o/o. Some ppl aren't good with running a business, others excel. Every trucking company, big and small started somewhere and grew. It's certainly not impossible but make sure you do thourough research and are willing to put in work. Best of luck.

As the old saying goes, "time is money"

While I agree that things such as breakdown, drop and detention pay are minor in the overall scheme of the trucking pay system, they are still a part and should be considered. If I am unable to make money turning miles for reasons beyond my control and can be compensated for it at one company and not another that is something to consider. As a prime driver if I am on time for an appt and customer takes more than 2 hrs beyond appt time to unload, I am paid for that time, I have been paid over $100 to basically take a 10 or split while truck next to me is in same boat, making nothing. All that is required is a simple stamp, with times filled out. As a matter of fact, my dispatcher sends regular fleet wide msgs noting the amount of detention time missed out on by drivers failing to do such a minor thing, costing drivers, himself and the company thousands of unpaid minutes on a near weekly basis. When truck goes into shop, I also can count on paid hotel and $100/day for missed time. Again there may be another driver with truck in same shop for same amount of time who got nothing. This money could cover a bill or at least be something for the time I am unable to spend rolling or am sacrificing away from home. In the grand scheme of what I make annually, these little bits aren't settimg me up for early retirement but to imply one should not take them into account is ludicrous to be honest. These smalll gestures by a company can be an indication of how a company overall values it's drivers and the sacrifices made as ee spend lsrge chunks away from home and loved ones. My time out here is valuable to me.

Likely to be alright as far as battery, however if have apu, it will charge battery while running or get up every few hrs and run truck for 10-15 min to be sure

Unless a State Government can implement Federal policy, which would be breaking news, this is only for those renewing license in State of Arkansas. Wouldn't be a horrible idea for other states or feds to follow suit. There are many things that are going on everyday in front of our eyes that most are completely blind to, a 30 min video shouldn't be too much of one's time if it can help them identify and help another from such horrible circumstances.

I would imagine if can pass drug test upon entering field and don't have signs of drug use history or related convictions, you should be fine. Weed is perfectly legal in Colorado, as long as feds don't come snooping, so said job is not much different than one in pharmaceuticals. Personally, I believe marijuana and its derivatives to be a much better option for many health issues than some of the current legal ones.. prescription pain meds are a major contributor to the heroin epidemic that currently grips every level of today's society. Best of luck to you.

If you have to pull into a truck stop. Just pull through the fuel island and up to the yellow line. About 20 minutes from the time you pull off the interstate until you get back on.

Well I agree with most of what Big Scott said, this is one of the most annoying things some drivers do, particularly when pumps are busy. If not running in to grab fuel receipt and maybe something quick (beverage, already prepared food), find an actual parking spot. A driver may pull into fuel island and ready to roll in less than 10 mins (I don't lollygag when fueling, especially during drive hrs) and be annoyed, along with truck waiting behind him that they are being held up by a driver who didn't even fuel and is sitting in bathroom for 20 mins. Also, DO NOT take 30 in fuel island...

Sounds like you got yourself a ******bag of a trainer, who sees you more as a means to spin miles than an entry level driver he needs to bring up to speed with the several nuances of trucking.. as far as logging breaks, definitely not recommended while driving down road, regardless of traffic unless pull over to side, perfectly fine at receivers, waiting in line for fuel as long as the time it takes for actually fueling is logged within an hr of actual fuel time and for checking in/out of customers, applying loadlocks, handling paperwork, which can be lumped together into one block. I just went through trainers course myself and these were a few of the tidbits expressed by logs dept. For example, arrive for fuel but have line, go on duty for 8-11 mins to show fueling time, then go off until process of waiting, fueling, getting receipt and whatever else need from store is complete. When arrive at customer, log on duty for 7-10 min (few for ck in/out, few for docking and cpl for applying load locks), you can then go off duty until rolling again, unless you must be on dock during loading which should be logged on duty. If sitting in truck playing on phone, watching tv, etc there is absolutely no reason to be logged on duty. I also previously thought had to go on duty seperately for check in/out but that myth was pleasantly dispelled by our logs dept who explained all work at customer can be put into one block, thus providing an uninterrupted 30, split, 10 and on the rare occasion 34. Tough it out through tnt and the clouds will part when solo, if need be, talk to dispatch or training personnel about switching trainers, it will not be held against you.