Insurance Costs From The Lease Side

I don't want to start the debate of Lease vs. Company, but what is the cost for insurance from the leasing side? I'm trying to gather information so I can make an educated decision whether to go lease or not

If you contact ooida they are the owner operators independant driver's association. They can quote you all kinds of insurance info and give you more information to make an informed decision.

I don't want to start the debate of Lease vs. Company, but what is the cost for insurance from the leasing side? I'm trying to gather information so I can make an educated decision whether to go lease or not

Whomever you're leasing from should give you an idea of what your responsibilities are.

Typically - you'll need to cover the non-trucking liability, comp/collision, PIP, etc. Essentially, "bobtail insurance" - similar to what your auto insurance coverage is. The company you are leasing from, might "insist" that you purchase this insurance from THEIR CARRIER, which would be typical when you're leasing a truck from the carrier you will be operating for.

The company typically covers your "laden insurance" - that is - cargo and trucking liability - though they may also pass along a portion of this cost to you.

ALSO - you are going to be responsible for IFTA (fuel taxes), though the company tracks and pays these for you - and deducts from your settlement.

ALSO - you're going to have to cover your own health insurance, disability, will likely have no WC coverage - since you are now a sub-contractor, not an employee.

Not to put you off on leasing - just that there are a lot of expenses involved, that you didn't have to consider as a company driver.

Try and get with one of the lease ops at the company you are at, and see if they will let you have a peak at their settlement sheet. You'll be able to see the expenses deducted for insurance and other costs.

Rick

Ooida's web site is the best place to start.

I don't want to start the debate of Lease vs. Company, but...

Diver Driver, I'm assuming when you start off your question with that statement you're saying that you've already read the voluminous and valiant efforts we've put into this debate already, but they've had no effect on you. Please hear me out, and I promise I will restrain myself from going over board on you. I know we have decided not to discuss this issue, but Brett has the power of the delete button, and he knows full well that he won't hurt my feelings if he decides to pull my comments from this thread.

You are brand new to this thing called trucking. Take it slow man, there is so much for you to learn. How long have you been solo now? Isn't it just about three months? I have thirty years of experience as a business owner, I understand the desire to be in charge of your own destiny, and if there were some golden thread of hope at success woven into the whole idea of leasing a truck I would have jumped all over it by now. All my years in business taught me how to analyze a situation and see where the profit was in it, but for the life of me I can't see why anyone would go into leasing a truck when they can do just as well, and more than likely do better as a good solid company driver.

Be honest with yourself and ask yourself this: "What is it about leasing that appeals to me?" Whatever you answer to that question is - that is where you need to focus your research. Here's the three most common answers to that question,

1) I think I can make more money.

2) I can have more home time when I want it.

3) I can pick and choose my loads and where I'm going.

All three of those answers are appealing in their own way, the problem with each of them is that they are all based on a false premise. That premise is that you are in charge. In a lease you are the one who is leasing. By definition that means that someone else is really in charge. Who controls the freight that you will be hauling? Who finds the customers that you will be serving? Who sets the rates that you will be working for? You have no control over anything but how hard you run, and brother it better be way harder than you ever have as a company driver.

At this point I'm having to force myself to be silent, I'm sure you don't want my sermonizing. Here's a little tip though. Those fine folks at OOIDA have a service that they offer (I'm pretty sure they still do this) where they will look over a prospective lease agreement for you and point out for you the problem areas in it. They are professionals and know all about the ins and outs of the truck leasing agreements. I think it is something like 97% of the agreements they look over for people that they reject outright and tell the person to run in the other direction. So, if our arguments against it don't sway you, then maybe the experts will.

I'm trying to gather information so I can make an educated decision whether to go lease or not

OOIDA is a great place to gather that information.

Forgive me, but just one more observation...

It is a common mistake for a new entry level driver to lack the ability to recognize that his inconsistent pay is commensurate with his inconsistent performance. He feels he worked just as hard one week as he did the last week, yet there was a huge disparity in his last few paychecks. It literally took me a good solid year of running like crazy to get the hang of this stuff so that I was just scratching the surface of how you make money at this game. Leasing will not even out the ups and downs in your pay, if anything it will exaggerate them.