Questions About Prime Leasing

I'm finding the common denominator with drivers that are so against leasing is they haven't been too adept at managing their time and day to day business on the road.

My business model is to reduce risks. I don't appreciate being charged over a grand for a tire, I don't like the idea of paying about a grand per week on a truck payment. It has nothing to do with me not being able to manage my time and day to day business on the road. You sound like you have it all figured out, eh.

Go ahead and do it. You clearly haven't taken anything to heart about what we've all said. In fact, you're leaning even more towards it because of a guy who only has 1 post on this site. You don't know if his numbers are correct, you don't know if he's honest, you also don't know if he's trustworthy. He's more of a stranger to you than we are. But go ahead and take his bait man. We've said all we needed to say. I suggest you go on other sites that are more geared towards being an O/O or a L/O because there's nothing we can do for you anymore.

I'm finding the common denominator with drivers that are so against leasing is they haven't been too adept at managing their time and day to day business on the road

If that is all you have figured out then you have more to learn about trucking than you think you know. I have had 2....thats right 2 trucks of my own. Know how much I owe on them? Nothing. Of course I got rid of them. I was successful with both of them. Never went in debt. Not once. Once I closed my escrow accounts I took enough away that I was able to pay for a house in cash along the Arkansas river and 2 new vehicles. Sucessful? I think so. And I will tell you the same thing. Don't do it. But for some odd reason you will not listen then at least go to Kevin Rutherford's website "Let's Truck" (he is also a radio host on Sirius XM and talks about trucking. He has been in trucking over 20 years and had a fleet of trucks on with FedEx.) and let him tell you why leasing is such a bad idea.

First of all let me answer your question Terry, sorry i have been running hard here lately and havent had time to check my email. I appologize. Ill send you a PM with my cell number which is the best way to contact me. But yes, i do use Abacus for my tax purposes because of two reasons. One, they work with Prime and i dont have to save all my receipts for fuel or other purchases on my card (oil, antifreeze, wipers, oil changes). The only receipts i do have to save are lumper receipts because on their end it looks as if i just took a cash advance. If you didnt have Abacus you would have more responsibility to save those purchases and receipts for tax write off purposes. Two, I am new to this industry, only been driving for about a year and want to focus all my attention on being as profitable as I can with the least amount of stress as possible. I have heard some people say that they arent a good place to do taxes with because they charge so much but they try to make it so at the end of year you dont have to pay as much in. For example, my first quarter they sent me an estimate of $4000 (im single, not married with no kids barely any exemptions). I immediately called them worried because i only had my truck two months, and their explanation was that they wanted me to have enough money paid in to where i didnt have to pay any at the end of the year. It might seem fishy to some but you have to understand that not many drivers take the initiative to put money aside for tax purposes throughout the entire year and then wonder why they have to pay so much in. They seem to understand the industry and i just felt more comfortable having someone there in Springfield that i could communicate and work with while im at the yard. I also went ahead and got an LLC with them, they made it extremely easy and only charged me $300 dollars to do which i can make in payments each week out of my settlement. Another thing about leasing is its always good to seperate yourself from your business just in case you do encounter any trouble on the road like an at fault accident. It will protect your personal assets. If you have learned anything about being a truck driver, you will understand that you will be at the terminal more than youll be home. (If you plan on making money) But once again, its just a personal preference, just like leasing, you can ask 10 drivers and 5 will say good and 5 will say bad. My personal experience with them has been good. But like i said, ill send you a PM with my cell number and if you have any questions at all, dont hesitate to ask, I personally want to see everyone at Prime be successful. Dont let anyone at Prime or any outsiders tell you that you cant be successful being a lease operator, if you have any kind of a business mentality and want money, you will learn extremely quick how to be profitable. Most of people who frown on leasing havent even done it. Plain and simple. Take care.

Now to Daniel B, my business model is to make money, and that i do. Your excuse of being charged over a grand for a tire is complete non-sense. If you knew anything about Prime's Leasing program you would know that they take money out of your settlement each week for a tire fund. So even if i was to blow a tire right now it would cost me half as much as what you think if anything at all. The idea of paying over a grand for a truck payment does worry allot of drivers, especially drivers who are more focused on being at home then they are out on the road. It takes money to make money and i never see the money that does go to that payment. Within one load my truck is paid for, by load 2 im paying for all my fuel, 3rd load is straight profit. I dont know you personally, but i do know that you spend allot of time on this forum helping fellow drivers which is good, im happy for you, but you also spend allot of time taking luxurious bike rides while im out here turning wheels and making money. So for a fellow driver to come on this forum and ask a question about something in that which you have not done, i dont understand how someone could be so negative? You must be listening at the truck stop to all the stories people tell you. If thats the case you might want to check out the three little pigs or little red riding hood they are pretty decent stories too. You dont know me, so for you to say im not trustworthy, dont know what im talking about is an insult. If you want we can start posting our settlements weekly to see who is more profitable. You know we can update it about as often as your bike ride thread, you always have the best threads so we can add another to the list. Its funny that you would tell him to look towards other forums for answers when your a moderator, you should be able to provide him with all the answers and information he needs. Unless you havent done it before....maybe thats the reason, EH?

Terry, just a few settlements, you can see....you definitely can make money leasing......

With all of that being said Robert, you STILL have to pay taxes quarterly or at the end of the year out of what is paid to you each week. And it may be true you can write much off to lower the tax burden, but you can then forget about trying to buy a house or a car if you are going to finance it. How do I know? I currently work as a mortgage loan officer for a bank and have had to tell many self-employed clients that they cannot qualify for a loan because their adjust gross income is too low due to the deductions they were legally allowed to take. I have also worked as a finance manager for an automotive dealership and the same issue will arise. Now, if a person already owns a home and has no intentions to move and there is no need for a new vehicle, then the above is a moot point. I have been self-employed before and personally think it's not worth it, but that is just my 2 cents.

First of all let me answer your question Terry, sorry i have been running hard here lately and havent had time to check my email. I appologize. Ill send you a PM with my cell number which is the best way to contact me. But yes, i do use Abacus for my tax purposes because of two reasons. One, they work with Prime and i dont have to save all my receipts for fuel or other purchases on my card (oil, antifreeze, wipers, oil changes). The only receipts i do have to save are lumper receipts because on their end it looks as if i just took a cash advance. If you didnt have Abacus you would have more responsibility to save those purchases and receipts for tax write off purposes. Two, I am new to this industry, only been driving for about a year and want to focus all my attention on being as profitable as I can with the least amount of stress as possible. I have heard some people say that they arent a good place to do taxes with because they charge so much but they try to make it so at the end of year you dont have to pay as much in. For example, my first quarter they sent me an estimate of $4000 (im single, not married with no kids barely any exemptions). I immediately called them worried because i only had my truck two months, and their explanation was that they wanted me to have enough money paid in to where i didnt have to pay any at the end of the year. It might seem fishy to some but you have to understand that not many drivers take the initiative to put money aside for tax purposes throughout the entire year and then wonder why they have to pay so much in. They seem to understand the industry and i just felt more comfortable having someone there in Springfield that i could communicate and work with while im at the yard. I also went ahead and got an LLC with them, they made it extremely easy and only charged me $300 dollars to do which i can make in payments each week out of my settlement. Another thing about leasing is its always good to seperate yourself from your business just in case you do encounter any trouble on the road like an at fault accident. It will protect your personal assets. If you have learned anything about being a truck driver, you will understand that you will be at the terminal more than youll be home. (If you plan on making money) But once again, its just a personal preference, just like leasing, you can ask 10 drivers and 5 will say good and 5 will say bad. My personal experience with them has been good. But like i said, ill send you a PM with my cell number and if you have any questions at all, dont hesitate to ask, I personally want to see everyone at Prime be successful. Dont let anyone at Prime or any outsiders tell you that you cant be successful being a lease operator, if you have any kind of a business mentality and want money, you will learn extremely quick how to be profitable. Most of people who frown on leasing havent even done it. Plain and simple. Take care.

Now to Daniel B, my business model is to make money, and that i do. Your excuse of being charged over a grand for a tire is complete non-sense. If you knew anything about Prime's Leasing program you would know that they take money out of your settlement each week for a tire fund. So even if i was to blow a tire right now it would cost me half as much as what you think if anything at all. The idea of paying over a grand for a truck payment does worry allot of drivers, especially drivers who are more focused on being at home then they are out on the road. It takes money to make money and i never see the money that does go to that payment. Within one load my truck is paid for, by load 2 im paying for all my fuel, 3rd load is straight profit. I dont know you personally, but i do know that you spend allot of time on this forum helping fellow drivers which is good, im happy for you, but you also spend allot of time taking luxurious bike rides while im out here turning wheels and making money. So for a fellow driver to come on this forum and ask a question about something in that which you have not done, i dont understand how someone could be so negative? You must be listening at the truck stop to all the stories people tell you. If thats the case you might want to check out the three little pigs or little red riding hood they are pretty decent stories too. You dont know me, so for you to say im not trustworthy, dont know what im talking about is an insult. If you want we can start posting our settlements weekly to see who is more profitable. You know we can update it about as often as your bike ride thread, you always have the best threads so we can add another to the list. Its funny that you would tell him to look towards other forums for answers when your a moderator, you should be able to provide him with all the answers and information he needs. Unless you havent done it before....maybe thats the reason, EH?

Those bike rides are a promotion for truckers to exercise. Not everything is about making money.

And secondly, about the leasing. I'm not listening to anyone's story at truck stops, I'm listening to drivers who have a whole lot more experience than you - including me.

No one is saying that you can't make money. You can but you also run the risk of having major issues if something goes wrong with the truck and you end up sitting and not moving for whatever reason. The risk are super high.

As a former lease op(now a company driver) I made money. Luckily enough I had nothing major happen to the truck so I never sat. But there is always that risk of a major break down and a lot of money spent and making no miles that week but as a company driver I get paid even if the truck break down and I sit. I loose nothing at all and still make a pay check ever week.

I am done with this thread. It boils down to this. If you have driving experience and know what you are getting into then go for it but go in with your eyes wide open. Your an adult so make the grown up decision and just do it or not.

There are many lease Ops that are making money but it's always a stressful time cause one break down can ruin them. Not so for a company driver. Oh BTW be prepared to stay out two to three months at a time. While company drivers don't get paid to sit at home not turning miles it can be worse for lease Ops cause not only do you not get paid to sit at home but your lease payment and insurance still has to be paid while your at home sitting still on homesite.

So this is the last word on this thread from me.

This thread is about Prime Leasing and yet none of yall are talking about the topic of this thread. Yall must be new to forums. Usually the people that comment are the ones who have some information about said topic. Guyjax you said yourself that you had 2 trucks and bought a house and cars and all this jazz so your comments completely contradict themselves. Jolie, I already talked about having to pay taxes on that money so maybe you should fully read the thread before you comment next time. And yet after all these comments no one has yet to give a good reason of why leasing from Prime is bad besides having a truck payment when you take time off or being broke down. But anyone with anything between their ears knows that, it isn't a surprise to anyone. If there wasn't any risk there wouldn't be any reward.

< I suggcompa go on other sites that are more gearedoowards being an O/O or a L/O because there's nothing we can do for you anymore.

So this is how moderators of TT deal with conflict and difference of opinion? Send people away from the site? I didn't realize this was a "you're only welcome here if you think like I do" kind of forum. I must have missed that part in the "about us" message. I've read several of your posts and if someone says something that differs from your opinion, you greet them with hostility and zero tact. I'd just well you say your part and move on about your way, without resorting to belittling someone like you did in the post a woman described her husband failed a SIM test then proceeded to say the man was "really stupid" to fail a test. Then with this thread if someone has something to say and only had made one post, they must not know what their talking about. I can appreciate the way guyjax handled it. He gave his side and moVed on without the "go away if you can't respect my opinion"attitude.

I suggest you go ahead and put the disclaimer in the about us section that this site is only geared toward people going company driving only. I've read other mods posts steering people new to driving away from leasing and I totally respect and agree with that. But to send someone away from the site because they've inquired into leasing, even when said person had stated they're not new to the industry, is completely unprofessional and a bit immature. It is possible to "agree to disagree."

Bro, we've said all we needed to say about leasing. You completely dissed the information that we gave you. It went in one ear and out the other. We've repeated several times about the risks and still you guys ask for more reasons not to lease. You got what you wanted from us. And like I said before, there are forums with people who support leasing a truck, maybe they'll give you the pat on the back that you're looking for.

I mean, you have no idea if you will even get decent miles from the start. You need to make sure your DM will keep you busy if you do lease. You don't want to lease and get stuck with a "not-so-good" DM. You're trying to jump to level 10 immediately.

And about that husband failing the simulator. It's not a test! It's like being in high school and being given a worksheet at the beginning of the class so the teacher can so what you know or don't know. And then the teacher telling you that it's not a test it's just so I can see what you know. And then going out and actually failing that worksheet even though it's not graded. Makes zero sense!

You inquired, sure, then you argued about it. We gave you all we could and you told us we were wrong. On top of that you followed it with an insult by telling us:

"I'm finding the common denominator with drivers that are so against leasing is they haven't been too adept at managing their time and day to day business on the road."

Yeah...

And if you have a complaint, or more, feel free to message Brett about it. I'm sure the armies or people I have helped would gladly disagree with you.