L/P And "Enough" Hometime

I just found this site and I must say it is one of the better ones. I have been driving for about 8 months and want to eventually own my own truck and possibly more. Crst Malone is offering a dedicated home daily L/P in Middletown,Ohio. Is that even possible to be home everyday on a lease purchase? Does any one know of any other L/P that offers decent home time. I have a wife and two young boys. Any info would be appreciated.

Welcome to the forum Jeff, we're glad you showed up.

For the most part we try our best to help new comers figure out how to get started in this industry. It looks like you've already gotten past that hurdle and are on to bigger things, but we are still glad to have you here. If you read very much here you will find that we are not big proponents of leasing or owning trucks. Here's the deal: While it appears to provide a lot more income, the very opposite is usually the case. You not only take in a lot more money as an owner operator or a lease operator, you also take on a lot of expenses. Have you ever noticed how so many lease operators are also trainers? Many of them don't want to be trainers and therefore aren't very good trainers. Well why do you think they are training? Usually it's because they are so far behind on their lease payments that they were basically forced into finding one more revenue stream to try and help them catch up or at least break even. It really boils down to ego, and truck drivers are famous for having more ego than good sense. It's a big head rush to own your own truck, I know, I owned six big rigs at one time.

Jeff, my advice to you would be to stick with what you are doing now until you've finished a full year of safe driving, and then if you want to move on to better things, start looking for a different job as a company driver that will meet your needs as far as pay, benefits, miles, home-time, and type of freight.

You already show some understanding about all this when you ask...

Is that even possible to be home everyday on a lease purchase?

The answer to your question is NO!, not if you expect to be able to keep up with all of your expenses. I think it sounds like you probably have a good head on your shoulders, don't let the trucking number crunchers fool you into helping them get rid of some of their expenses by putting the burden on your back.

You feel free to participate here in the forum anytime, and if you still have more questions about leasing or owning trucks we will do our best to give you the truth - or the "rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say.

Welcome Jeff, I'm still preparing for school, so I don't have any driving experience and don't presume to act like I do. I do have business experience, having been in business for myself for around 10 years. I can say this, from what I've researched, average profit margin as an o/o is around 5%. That's a low profit margin. You have to compare apples to apples, but with my small business of sales, I operate on a 35-40% average profit margin. As a business maxim or law, the lower the profit margin, the more 'inventory turns' or sales you have to make. It's basically the business model of very large corporations. Sell stuff cheaper, you better sell a lot. Having a low profit margin isn't inherently bad, it just means you need to make up for that w/ volume.

Same with any other industry like a service industry. If you're working w/ low profit margins, whether you sell stuff or provide a service, you need to make up for that w/ selling more stuff or providing more service. Read, "driving more miles." You work on a higher profit margin, you don't have to sell as much stuff, or drive as many miles. A crude analogy, but I think you catch my drift. If most O/O operate on a low profit margin, they HAVE to run a lot of miles.

This is all assuming you have a handle on your operating costs. The reason why a lot of drivers fail as O/O is because they haven't had business experience, just driving experience. Even if you understand your industry, that doesn't mean you have the knowledge, or the discipline for that matter, to be a successful business person. This trucking industry can be brutal w/ convincing rookie drivers, or even seasoned drivers, that being an O/O is a great idea. I've never seen an industry that encourages people to become a business owner, without any experience, on such a grand scale.

Being an O/O, or any business owner, isn't inherently a bad idea. You just need to know how to be successful. Since this website is geared towards rookie drivers, and not budding entrepreneurs, you'll frequently be told to just focus on driving. Nothing wrong with that!

We were leased to CRST Malone.....trust me...you won't be able to afford to be home every week, let alone every day....and you will be lucky to make it every month....L/P has its own set of problems, and its own set of costs...and in the trucking world right now, you would have to be single, live in your truck, and never take home time, to make a profit.... God truly sent us a blessing, when we sold our truck a year ago.....Stay a company driver.....it will keep you sane, keep you married, and hopefully keep you financially stable.

Thanks a lot for the info. I actually put my app in with TMC. I have stepdeck/RGN experience so I shouldn't have a problem. TMC is running a local account in my area. Home everyday running a day cab.

Jeff...you made the right choice....good luck !!!!