Forced To Lease A Truck??

Topic 12511 | Page 1

Page 1 of 2 Next Page Go To Page:
Diver Driver's Comment
member avatar

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.

Trucker Kearsey 's Comment
member avatar

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

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.

Dispatcher:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

PSD:

Prime Student Driver

Prime Inc has a CDL training program and the first phase is referred to as PSD. You'll get your permit and then 10,000 miles of on the road instruction.

The following is from Prime's website:

Prime’s PSD begins with you obtaining your CDL permit. Then you’ll go on the road with a certified CDL instructor for no less than 75 hours of one-on-one behind the wheel training. After training, you’ll return to Prime’s corporate headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, for final CDL state testing and your CDL license.

Obtain CDL Permit / 4 Days

  • Enter program, study and test for Missouri CDL permit.
  • Start driving/training at Prime Training Center in Springfield, Missouri.
  • Work toward 40,000 training dispatched miles (minimum) with food allowance while without CDL (Food allowance is paid back with future earnings).

On-the-Road Instruction / 10,000 Miles

  • Train with experienced certified CDL instructor for 3-4 weeks in a real world environment.
  • Get 75 hours of behind-the-wheel time with one-on-one student/instructor ratio.
  • Earn 10,000 miles toward total 40,000 miles needed.

TNT:

Trainer-N-Trainee

Prime Inc has their own CDL training program and it's divided into two phases - PSD and TNT.

The PSD (Prime Student Driver) phase is where you'll get your permit and then go on the road for 10,000 miles with a trainer. When you come back you'll get your CDL license and enter the TNT phase.

The TNT phase is the second phase of training where you'll go on the road with an experienced driver for 30,000 miles of team driving. You'll receive 14¢ per mile ($700 per week guaranteed) during this phase. Once you're finished with TNT training you will be assigned a truck to run solo.

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.

Susan D. 's Comment
member avatar

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.

Doug 's Comment
member avatar

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

Trucker Kearsey 's Comment
member avatar

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

Diver Driver's Comment
member avatar

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.

Brett Aquila's Comment
member avatar
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?

Robert B. (The Dragon) ye's Comment
member avatar

double-quotes-start.png

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

double-quotes-end.png

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.

James R.'s Comment
member avatar

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.

∆_Danielsahn_∆'s Comment
member avatar

double-quotes-start.png

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.

double-quotes-end.png

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.

Page 1 of 2 Next Page Go To Page:

New Reply:

New! Check out our help videos for a better understanding of our forum features

Bold
Italic
Underline
Quote
Photo
Link
Smiley
Links On TruckingTruth


example: TruckingTruth Homepage



example: https://www.truckingtruth.com
Submit
Cancel
Upload New Photo
Please enter a caption of one sentence or less:

Click on any of the buttons below to insert a link to that section of TruckingTruth:

Getting Started In Trucking High Road Training Program Company-Sponsored Training Programs Apply For Company-Sponsored Training Truck Driver's Career Guide Choosing A School Choosing A Company Truck Driving Schools Truck Driving Jobs Apply For Truck Driving Jobs DOT Physical Drug Testing Items To Pack Pre-Hire Letters CDL Practice Tests Trucking Company Reviews Brett's Book Leasing A Truck Pre-Trip Inspection Learn The Logbook Rules Sleep Apnea
Done
Done

0 characters so far - 5,500 maximum allowed.
Submit Preview

Preview:

Submit
Cancel

Why Join Trucking Truth?

We have an awesome set of tools that will help you understand the trucking industry and prepare for a great start to your trucking career. Not only that, but everything we offer here at TruckingTruth is 100% free - no strings attached! Sign up now and get instant access to our member's section:
High Road Training Program Logo
  • The High Road Training Program
  • The High Road Article Series
  • The Friendliest Trucker's Forum Ever!
  • Email Updates When New Articles Are Posted

Apply For Paid CDL Training Through TruckingTruth

Did you know you can fill out one quick form here on TruckingTruth and apply to several companies at once for paid CDL training? Seriously! The application only takes one minute. You will speak with recruiters today. There is no obligation whatsoever. Learn more and apply here:

Apply For Paid CDL Training