New Express 1 Truck Lease Program

[gregmcclain911]

I have just very recently got my class-b cdl so I can not give you alot of advice backed with alot of 'on the road experience.'
I can however, give you 15-years of business advice, and in this business you need to be a business person first and a driver second.
I would not do this lease program at all. It is nothing against Express-1, heck I almost went to work for them - they are a great company.
However, I think you are eliminating alot of options you could have down the road if you remain patient - something that is a key to success in this business.
Yes, I am sure that you can walk away from the lease with no 'FINANCIAL OBLIGATION' to them. But, I can tell you, from my years working with the credit, repo, and legal system - the leasing company will report your payments to the credit bureau's. And when you stop making those payments before the original contract is paid off it will show up as a default or charge-off - which kills your own credit score and history. DO NOT DO THIS!

 

[cornerstone]

I understand that most people are not fans of the lease purchase program, but isn't it possible that this lease purchase is a good deal? Has anyone else actually seen the lease agreement besides myself? It sounds like everyone is basing their opinion on lease purchases in general, not this specific one. I am not so naive to realize that the leasing company is going to make some money on this lease and possiblly Express-1. My only objection to the posts is that they are based on generalizations and not hard facts about this specific lease.

Cornerstone

 

[Moot]

Never lease from the man with the strings in his hand.

 

[mudtruck34]

the other bad thing about leasing with a company is alot of companies out there will run ya till 6 months before your lease is up and then wont have no runs for you.

what do you do then, talked with a trucker about going with this one comapany and he told me of how his brother worked there and did the same thing got a truck with them and about 6 months before lease was up and truck was his they stopped giving all these runs and he lost his truck and lease
then i talked with another driver about that he said they have done that before but now they wont
so just watch yourself

 

[greg334]

Not to be disrespectful to the ones who have had experiences with bad properly setup leases, but others need to get real about what a lease is and what a lease is not, the advantages and disadvantages of leasing and so on.

I have leased a lot of equipment in my businesses, not a big fan of some company's lease purchase requirements, agreements and buy outs, but most of the time it worked out to my advantage.

My accountant has one rule, something that I bet many of you all do - DO NOT LEASE A CAR. If you are the type that says leasing a truck is bad but you lease a car, you make no sense at all.

Outside of that advice leasing equipment when there is not enough capital or a way to leverage capital to make a financed purchase may be the only way to go and work out better than a financed purchase.

When I took control of a consulting company, every piece of equipment they had was purchased. It took a week to inventory the equipment and send out RFQs for replacing everything, I felt that the money spent on expenditure like equipment and tying more money up in maintenance cost was not justified by any means. GE financing gave me a good deal - lease Compaq equipment today and when the life cycle of the equipment is up (not the lease) we will come in and replace it with new stuff. All problems they took care of, all issues with ordering, setup and installation is their problem, not mine. At the end of the lease we had options, buy out for a buck or turn over the old stuff for new and extend the lease. The company saved a lot of money by doing it this way.

A truck is a tool, business is business and many people get emotional about their truck and this is where most get messed up. As much as I love my van (aka truck in Michigan), it is just a tool for me to make money - nothing else.

Now I keep hearing these horror stories how the this company screwed this driver or that company did this to the owner, well I talked to a couple of these failed cases and one thing that strikes me as the key to these failure was the lack of business knowledge. I think that Phil (aka A Team) made a rather good point about business plans and some sort of business management system, I think he mentioned American Truck Business Services (I could be wrong) who handles things for him as a good start. This is a good idea when you either are new or are now getting into revenue of $100K or better. $100K is a lot of money to manager properly and many people who just get into this never had to deal with anything close to it before and sometimes either get overwhelmed or go on spending sprees.

If the lease works out for someone, that’s great. If it don't maybe there are a lot of reasons why, look at your business practices first before blaming the company..

So my advice is simple.

Get an accountant (LOOK WHAT I SAY, A REAL CPA – NOT A TAX PREPARER) who knows the industry and can guide you though a decision making process. If you can’t find an accountant who has industry experience, look for one that is familiar with any industry that has to do with manufacturing and the tax laws related to that.

And get a lawyer who can read a contract, answer your questions and make sure you don't get into trouble.

Oh and look into a business management system to keep you out of trouble.

 

[mudtruck34]

dont get me wrong but all that dont mean squat when your loads dry cause the company you leased this truck with stops setting loads up for ya
it went like with my uncle with a certain flatbed comapany they ran him hard the whole time cept about 2 months before his lease was up and he didnt have no loads to pay for the truck

i would never lease a car
but there are companies out there that does this sort of buisness
thats why i will stick with driving on other owners lease so i dont have too worry about any of that

 

[LDB]

Greg et al, I don't think leasing in general was questioned, just leasing a truck from the company responsible for securing the loads. Leasing of computers, copiers and other equipment is a good way to go. You have no responsibility other than paying on time and when the lease is up you trade for the current model. There just have been way too many horror stories, especially in the t/t otr world, of companies running lessees really hard until the last 2 or 3 months and then abandoning them so they can take the truck back and put the next sucker.. uh, lessee.. into it.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5507, 5508, 5509
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[greg334]

Yes Leo, there are a lot of horror stories, many are passed down from a freind of a freind while others are told first hand. I got what you are saying, I am just having a wonderful day reinsulating my van.

If anyone misunderstood what I am driving at, it is first get your house in order then get the right people on your team to help make key decisions - don't go into this blindly. That is all I am trying to say.

So I asked before what other expediting companies offer leases? anyone?

 

[kwexpress]

KW Express
o/o till i die

I dont understand a couple of bad examples here.

if your lease payment is less than 1600 and they stop loading you a couple months before the truck is yours. and if you dont have the money to carry you for a few lease payments then you must be a real good money manager or working for nothing to begin with.

prime is a good example of a bad company to lease a truck from.

didnt try hours try to do this?

I dont think your on the wrong path if you have no way to finance a lease could give you a way to save enough to pay cash for a good truck so if they stop loading you after 6 months.

there are a lot of good people who have had bad things happen to them that will knock them out of the finance and if you got a new truck to run and are maken money with only 800 or 900 out of pocket
good for you. if your runs slow down can you change carriers?

I may be mistaken but I thought it was illegal for a carrier to lease you a truck and require that you run exclusive for them or turn the truck back in.It was my understanding thats what happend at try hours or at least I met a guy once who told me thats how he got his truck then took it to con-way.if they try to pull any crap just get a lawyer.and good luck to you and make the money however you have to.

 

[Broompilot]

Express Ones creditabilty stands out, that said I do not see them holding runs back to screw its lease O/O out of anything. With that said a new owner if the company changed hands well, its been done before.

I think highly of E-1, just like I do my own company I just to not wish to be that close to my company financialy as to be tied into a lease with them. I am just no fan of a Lease to much to hold you liable for and to many things in life happen. Murphy, ever heard of him? When it goes bad, theres Murph.

 

[Asilynot]

I don't know much about Express 1 other then what I have read here. From what I have heard they are a decent company. I would read that lease over a couple of times take it to my lawyer and see what he thinks. If it is as you say you can terminate the lease with a 30 day notice I really dont see where someone could go wrong if they do not have the ability to finance there own. Correct me if I am wrong here guys but dont most of the drivers on this site actually lease there trucks from small fleet owners? So what would be the difference with this??
Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[LDB]

The difference is the ownership of the truck and the incentives and motives created. When Acme expediting signs trucks owned by John Doe, Jane Smith and Fred Jones they attempt to keep those trucks moving every possible moment. The 3 owners goal is also to keep those trucks moving every possible moment. The drivers of the trucks are in a winning situation.

When Acme expediting owns trucks and leases them they can either go 100% to completion and sell the unit to the operator for $1 or they can keep that operator busy until the last few months. In this case they get 90% of the payment amounts and then take back the truck that suddenly isn't running enough to make the payments. Now they have an asset that's paid them 90% and is worth maybe 30%. Now they get operator number 2 for the same unit, set up a lease, run it hard for 90% and then suddenly the jobs dry up. The unit comes back to them a second time. They repeat the process a couple more times and before finally disposing of the unit they get 200-250% of the legitimate amount the first guy got screwed out of.

I in no way think Express-1 will work their lease this way. Express-1 is an honest company. There are companies, especially in the t/t otr arena, who operate just this way and have screwed untold numbers of operators. That's why so many say DO NOT LEASE FROM THE COMPANY WHO BOOKS YOUR LOADS! X-1 is probably the exception to that rule but in general it's a good rule.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5507, 5508, 5509
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[raceman]

Let me answer greg334s question first. You can find used repoed trucks in many places. You can find many on WellsFargo asset list. I think it is www.wellsfargoassets.com. or it may just be WellsFargo then go to assets. Sorry I did not look it up before posting.You can also call banks. You can go to AlumaBunk and so on. They are all over.

To the person asking about the lease. Let me start by saying E1 is top of the line. Now let me stop there and talk about your proposed truck, sleeper and lease. Now do not take this personal but please know that this is the best advice you will ever get. It applies to any compnay with this deal. Here goes as straight forward as I can be,

YOU ARE A FOOL IF YOU DO THIS. YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF WHAT YOU ARE TALKING AND YOU WILL NEVER BE MORE SORRY THAN YOU WILL IF YOU SIGN THIS DEAL. YOU THINK YOU ARE BROKE NOW?SIGN THIS DEAL AND 12 MONTHS FROM NOW YOU WILL KNOW WHAT BROKE MEANS. SORRY

Good luck with your decision


OTR O/O

 

[Jayman]

I appreciate everybody's input. Thinking of getting a class 8 and stretching the frame. But, I need to find a place that does that kind of work.

 

[davekc]

Make sure you really do your research before attempting this. You want someone who is very experienced in doing this. Alot of bad things can happen if this is done incorrectly.
Not a place you would want to cut any kind of corners.






Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[greg334]

I can not find my note book with all my class 8 stuff, and with my memory of late can't remember the name of the places.

There is one place in central Ohio and one in Indiana that not only does streching but also laser align the frame.

 

[RonnieJ]

It is not looking like a lease is a good idea unless your a fleet owner.

Ronnie

 

[TERESA]

Cornerstone.....I am a little confused about your New Express 1 Truck Lease!!! As we met up at FEDEX for T-Val testing on 7.27.06, you showed us your new Sterling DR reefer Unit that you just purchased as an O/O. (contracting with FEDEX CC)
Oh...you have two new trucks now? Or, are you fibbing again?
You failed your occupation, you should be a story teller not an expediter.

Just a straight answer from Cornerstone would help me alot, oh, just forget about it, that would be just another story.

 

[TERESA]

Cornerstone.....I am a little confused about your New Express 1 Truck Lease!!! As we met up at FEDEX for T-Val testing on 7.27.06, you showed us your new Sterling DR reefer Unit that you just purchased as an O/O. (contracting with FEDEX CC)
Oh...you have two new trucks now? Or, are you fibbing again?
You failed your occupation, you should be a story teller not an expediter.
Just a straight answer from Cornerstone would help me alot, oh, just forget about it, that would be just another story.

 

[Jayman]

Dave and Greg,

Good info. You both are always good sources of knowledge. I think FYDA in Ohio is reliable when it comes to the class 8 stretch. But, they are a Freightliner dealer and I would rather deal with a KW shop that can do this and do it right.