Rookie Considering A Lease

Hey all, So I've been driving solo for about 6 and a half months, and am really starting to realize I care more about hometime than big bucks. I mean, I'm making 900-1000 a week before taxes as a company driver, but I'm out five days a week. Which is fine, I can keep on doing this forever BUT...

I'm starting to get it into my head that I'd rather drive 4 days a week and take 3 off, or even go out 3 weeks and take 1 week off because w/ my low cost of living, I can get by on 2500 a month BEFORE taxes! I only need 600-750 a week to make ends meet.

My current company won't let me part-time as a company driver... but my cynical ex-marine safety manager who used to drive told me if I was dumb enuff, I could part-time as a lease operator. I asked him if driving 4 days then taking a 3 day weekend, if it was possible to still bag 6 or 7 hundred a week and he said, "Yeah" and I asked well why isn't everyone doing that and he said, "because most people want to earn more than that, and you're lazy".

So yeah. How do I make 6-7 hundred a week, driving part-time. I really crawl up the wall being home two days then out 5... I'd rather longer stretches of hometime, even if I'm out longer. But I don't need that much cash, so I can take a paycut if it means part-time.

I get into the groove, and am good fighting northeast traffic 3, 4 days screwing out 4-5 hundred miles a day crossing the hudson and GWB four or five times a week... but then it starts to wear. Again I don't need the cash, just 2500 a month to get by on... anyway to do that as a part-timer? a lease seems to be what the cynical old safety guy at my company suggested.

Cheers, Northeast

a lease seems to be what the cynical old safety guy at my company suggested.

Really? You first told us he said this...

if I was dumb enuff, I could part-time as a lease operator.

Does that really sound to you like he's making a suggestion?

I've been driving solo for about 6 and a half months, and am really starting to realize I care more about hometime than big bucks.

Sounds to me like you'd rather have a normal lifestyle like the guys selling fresh baked pretzels at the mall. Why are you driving a truck?

Before the replies come flooding in I'll keep it simple. Bad idea. These things are expensive to run, there are no part time expenses. If the wheels ain't turning you're going in the red. I'd suggest you either ask your company if they have any opportunities for you to get home more often, or find a company that will. I don't know much about which companies are in that area but I'd start looking.

a lease seems to be what the cynical old safety guy at my company suggested.

Really? You first told us he said this...

if I was dumb enuff, I could part-time as a lease operator.

Does that really sound to you like he's making a suggestion?

I've been driving solo for about 6 and a half months, and am really starting to realize I care more about hometime than big bucks.

Sounds to me like you'd rather have a normal lifestyle like the guys selling fresh baked pretzels at the mall. Why are you driving a truck?

I'm driving a truck because I actually enjoy driving and listening to podcasts and even though I'm lazy, if college taught me anything it's that every system can be gamed and every bureaucracy can be hacked. I'll be damned if there isn't a way to make Auntie Anne's wages, but with less days!

Notice I didn't say less "work", necessarily. Driving 11 hours a day, even 3 days is 33 hours...

Trucking is a job where the hiring is rapid, they don't care if you wear a suit, you don't need to charm customers, and the standards are extremely low. I figure in this swamp-mess (is that a word? well, it is now!) I can eke out my goal of 2500 dollars a month while taking long weekends... I really just want to run hard part-time, figure 4 days on and 3 days off, or 3 weeks on and 1 week off.

I want to work less, not harder.

I figure that means having to work smarter... which means looking around at my options.

And as far as the cynical old marine, well, he said that in the same tone that he cracked jokes at the puerto rican student. Which I take it to mean, "this is generally a trap for many folks, but if you can hack it..."

And I'm all about hacking. I looooove the 20/80 rule!

After all, he prefaced this with the fact that another rookie at my company is doing quite well on a lease. So I figure he means this in the, "if you can hack it..."

Your thoughts? I've seen you post, you're experienced.

WOW! Why not drive for UPS, FedEx, etc. Hourly pay. Home every night. Anything else other than leasing with 6.5 whole months under your belt. Shoot, you can drive for Uber & make that paycheck every week. Like was said earlier, those expense aren't part time. Sign that lease agreement & now you'll have to make all your expenses first & then work to make your measly 700 a week. Your "cynical safety guy" said you can make that amount, he didn't say anything about all the expenses involved because you didn't ask anything about them.

One thing about point fingers (calling him cynical), there's always 4 fingers pointing back at you! Seriously, he called you lazy! There's tons of threads on this subject, there's blog posts, there's a free book by the owner of this site... did you try any of that before asking? Of course not. You wouldn't be asking if you did. Take yourself out of this thread, re-read your post as if it weren't you & see what advise you'd give yourself. I'd love to hear your response!

New Englander, you're a lazy man looking for a gravy train. Yet somehow you wound up in one of the most demanding professions on the planet. As if that wasn't bad enough, now you're considering starting your own business as a lease driver in one of the most competitive, cut throat businesses on the planet.

You're not just barking up the wrong tree. You're in the wrong forest on the wrong continent. The gravy train ain't nowhere to be found around here.

WOW! Why not drive for UPS, FedEx, etc. Hourly pay. Home every night. Anything else other than leasing with 6.5 whole months under your belt. Shoot, you can drive for Uber & make that paycheck every week. Like was said earlier, those expense aren't part time. Sign that lease agreement & now you'll have to make all your expenses first & then work to make your measly 700 a week. Your "cynical safety guy" said you can make that amount, he didn't say anything about all the expenses involved because you didn't ask anything about them.

One thing about point fingers (calling him cynical), there's always 4 fingers pointing back at you! Seriously, he called you lazy! There's tons of threads on this subject, there's blog posts, there's a free book by the owner of this site... did you try any of that before asking? Of course not. You wouldn't be asking if you did. Take yourself out of this thread, re-read your post as if it weren't you & see what advise you'd give yourself. I'd love to hear your response!

Oh he is cynical! Duh, just like I'm lazy :) That's not a bad thing imho.

I did ask him about numbers, but he doesn't have specifics. I would need to ask the general manager about that AND I can't ask the GM right away because "it never came from me", ie if the GM finds out that safety told me to ask safety will get chewed out, so I need to wait...

Let me say that putting down 40-100 g's on a used truck isn't a problem, I have that kind of money available at about 2% a year interest indefinitely. The company would help out on maintenance and fuel. And they have plenty of miles...

I'm waiting for more experience before jumping ship. I firmly believe in giving my first company a full year UNLESS they seriously suck or the opportunity of the ages presents itself. After all, they hired a rookie w/ no previous job experience and trained me, so I owe them that much. Also, 90% of trainees don't make it a year at my company, and I feel like beating the pack to boost my ego, or something.

No seriously, this is the only job where I've actually beaten 90% of the competition. I guess because I'm like a slow, plodding horse. Emphasis on the slow, and the plodding...

I read the owners book, and some of the posts... but I wanted to know about the possibility of part-time fleets, lease numbers, etc so I asked. It's a specific question, "Can I make 700 a week running 3-4 days a week" that wasn't answered specifically anywhere else.

inb4 u all jump on me.

This site actually convinced me to try trucking. I've read it.

As far as uber goes. The margins are rather iffy because I don't want to live near a big enough city that the work is out there... also I like older mod motor cars... think 90s town cars and mustangs... not exactly uber age requirements, eh?

I did UPS as a driver helper, they told me to wait until I had a year of experience then come back and ask for a job and I'd have it.

Again, part-time is my emerging goal, just wondering if it's doable.

In some areas of the country, Roehl does indeed offer a part time option. It's slip seating, of course, but they can do 7 on 7 off, and a 7 on 3 off 7 on 4 off.

I do not drive for Roehl so I don't know all the details but those kinds of arrangements are available with them near where I live.. don't know about the Northeast. Call them and find out, but I'd avoid any lease or truck purchase like the plague.

New Englander, you're a lazy man looking for a gravy train. Yet somehow you wound up in one of the most demanding professions on the planet. As if that wasn't bad enough, now you're considering starting your own business as a lease driver in one of the most competitive, cut throat businesses on the planet.

You're not just barking up the wrong tree. You're in the wrong forest on the wrong continent. The gravy train ain't nowhere to be found around here.

Uh... dude, this is a job where I can dress how I want, and the requirements are as follows:

A. don't crash B. drive and listen to music C. don't crash D. no tickets E. get the load there, preferably on-time F. don't quit

And I've been making 900 dollars a week.

To me, this is the gravy train.

If I had gone into teaching, I'd be stuck taking multicultural propaganda classes, dealing with bratty students and snotty parents, wearing a cheap suit everyday, and keeping my rather non-leftist political opinions to myself. Oh! And you actually have to go thru a whole interview process for a job because the bureaucratic obstacles are so steep and the market isn't there. Also there's that whole 30k for a masters degree thing and I just felt burned out and turned off to bureaucracy after getting my bachelor's... dealing w/ sjw professors and navigating curricula just took the fun out of teaching. Shame too, since my mom and great grandma taught back when it was less... insane.

What other industry is so desperate for workers, you get hired w/ hardly any interview process? this is a sellers market, and us drivers r the sellers!

that's rare in this day and age...

The interview for the masters program basically had the lady ranting and chewing me out when I said I'd rather get certified to teach spanish instead of french because there is more demand for spanish teachers. something about, "to hell with the ecobomics just follow ur dreamz!".

The interview for the trucking job was, "You have a college degree and no criminal background... hired, you start orientation monday!"

Supply and demand, and an enjoyment of driving down the highway led me into trucking.

What other job let's you admire the sheer economic intermodal POWER of Northern New Jersey as u drive down the turnpike, watching planes fly overhead, trains rumble down the tracks, ships come into port, surrounded by hundreds of other trucks all carrying quantities of freight that would have made emperors weep in ages past? This job puts you at the center of the universe, and lets you literally watch the economy tick. and, you get paid a decent wage for it!

others hate new jersey and chris christie kissing babies, I respect it.

still though, part-timing it, or finding a way to get longer stretches of hometimes would be nice.

In some areas of the country, Roehl does indeed offer a part time option. It's slip seating, of course, but they can do 7 on 7 off, and a 7 on 3 off 7 on 4 off.

I do not drive for Roehl so I don't know all the details but those kinds of arrangements are available with them near where I live.. don't know about the Northeast. Call them and find out, but I'd avoid any lease or truck purchase like the plague.

yeah I checked with Roehl, they don't offer it where I live or in New Hampshire where I'm planning to move.

Shame.

But yeah, I'm getting the sense to avoid leasing and purchasing. I think I'll take you guyses advice.

O/O and lease would give me "freedom" to take more hometime, but that's an illusion.

I guess I'll hafta settle for a local job... although if I'm going to be running regional home weekly, ODFL linehaul seems attractive... 50+ cpm , all drop and hook , my current company has me do linehaul from time to time and it's pretty good. of course I'd hafta learn doubles but wth I'll learn doubles just like I learned trucking: with practice and time.

Honestly my company safety manager and a mechanic wanted to start a business, I guess they saw something in me, wanted me to go in w/ them, but again running a business is a headache.