CAN I MAKE MORE MONEY BY LEASING A TRUCK?

 This question finds its way into most new truck driver’s minds at one point or another. It's no wonder why it does. We work hard at this job. We make considerable sacrifices unheard of in most careers. When it comes to rookies just getting started, many of us seem a little disappointed with our pay. This lifestyle of being alone most of the time tends to limit our conversation to that of other truck drivers. We may end up parked at a terminal for a few days and hear our fellow road warriors complaining about their situation, or in some cases telling us how they have figured out some super secret way to beat the odds at trucking. That is typically when we hear these outlandish claims of making big money. I have actually heard guys claiming to make as much as eight thousand dollars per week!

Now that will get your attention! You just got a paycheck for $1,200.00. Here’s a guy, not particularly appearing as anything special, yet he just got a paycheck for $8,000.00. There’s something wrong with this picture! Yes there certainly is, so let’s talk a little about what is actually wrong. Hopefully I can help you out.

Lease operators don’t actually get a paycheck. That’s right. They are not even on the payroll of the company. Anybody leasing a truck who tells you how much his paycheck came to is “looney tunes.” The company never cuts him a paycheck. That is a very important fact for you to realize. A lease operator is a contractor. They get paid a contract price on each load. They do not receive a paycheck.

So, what are these big fat checks we hear about? You have to realize the propensity of these new lease operators to be unrealistically enamored with their new found way of making money. At first everything seems all shiny and new, much like a freshly minted penny. They have yet to get into the real give and take of the business. The checks they get are revenue checks. Their lease lays out all the parameters of how they get paid. It spells out their responsibilities and how they will be compensated. They are responsible for the expenses of running and maintaining the truck. It usually takes less than a year before those expenses take the shine off that new penny.

All that big money they brag about is to cover their expenses. They are now running a one truck operation. The dollars coming in to a lease operator are simply their share of the revenues they produce with the truck. It’s not even closely related to a paycheck. That’s how I knew the guy who foolishly thought I would believe he was making eight thousand dollars a week had no clue about what he was doing. Any driver claiming he is making that kind of money is not only lying to you, but sadly they are also lying to themselves.

The whole reason trucking companies lease their trucks is because it is profitable. In fact it is often more profitable than a company truck with a paid employee in the driver’s seat. So think about that for a minute. How does the driver make more money when it is likely the company is turning a better profit by leasing the truck to the driver? Can you conceive of any reason a business would encourage its employees to become private contractors just so they could pay them a lot more money? That goes against every common sense business principle there is. The whole ploy of leasing trucks to unsuspecting drivers is a gimmick. It's a way to lure people into a trap that seems to offer some really great bait. Those big numbers on those checks are the bait.

Businesses make decisions and choices to produce outcomes that are more profitable for them. Forcing the wildly unpredictable expense of running and maintaining their trucks onto private contractors gives them control over their costs. If they can control their expenses, they can accurately forecast their profits.  The lease operator sees some big checks coming his way, but he also has to maintain those big expenses he agreed to in his lease. Otherwise he won’t have a truck to run loads with. Those big checks are countered and consumed by big expenses. What’s left over becomes the driver’s pay.  He has no predictable paycheck and no employee benefits. Look at the things he gives up for this long shot chance of making a little extra money.

• No health insurance.

• No social security account being built up.

• No access to a company retirement account.

• No income tax payments withheld.

• No paid vacation.

• No seniority with load planners or dispatchers.

• No help with layover or breakdown pay.

• No bonus money that company drivers get.

Typically those things the driver gives up for this hope of getting ahead in the game far outweigh any difference he could possibly make by leasing the truck. I did a little calculation based on my last twelve months of driving as a company driver.  Here’s some real numbers that I would give up so I could lease a truck.

• $3,500 - that’s what the company contributed to my 401K

• $6,800 - that was the total of my bonus money

• $2,875 - that was my total extra pay for various things like layover

• $5,478 - that is my three weeks paid time off

Let’s see… that totals $18,653.00 and that doesn’t even take into account the lack of deposits in my social security account, or the funds they contributed toward my family’s health insurance. That’s how much I am going to throw into the trash just so I can risk taking a long shot at making maybe about 3% more by leasing a truck.  You can’t make that math work in your favor. Numbers don’t lie.

Most trucking companies operate near a 97% operating ratio. That means their profits are somewhere in the 3% - 5%  range. That’s not impressive, but it sure tells us something. It tells us by leasing the truck you only have a small percentage range you could increase your actual take home money. If there is only a 3% - 5% profit, then where do you think you are going to find all this extra money? I just did the math on my last twelve months pay. If I could make another five percent by leasing a truck I would increase my total pay by $4,750.00. Why in the world would I give up almost $20,000.00 so that I could get $4,750.00?  That makes no sense. That is what I call Owner/Operator math. It has never made sense to me.

In my situation as a competent company driver, I honestly think I would be cutting my pay by around $16,000.00 were I leasing a truck. I could be proud of the fact that I am “my own boss,” and I could run around bragging about the big checks I am getting. I have heard and seen these lease/operators strutting around like peacocks among common barnyard animals while mingling with the lowly company drivers. I just have to laugh inside. I know the truth.

I think the challenges of being a trucker really push people to try figuring out a better way to increase their income from this job. I empathize with each of you who thinks he is putting in more effort than expected. We’d all like to see more income when we consider the sacrifices we make. The problem with this is the way we fall prey to these foolish gimmicks. Leasing really is a gimmick.

You aren’t going to make more money by leasing a truck. It may feel good when you see several thousand dollars on a check, but you have to realize it’s not a paycheck. It’s basically a way to keep you pushing and trying to figure out how to make those big dollars actually end up in your wallet. There is that bait hanging right there in front of your face each week. Life would be really grand if you could just figure out how to keep the bait and not get caught in the trap!

Truckers are experts at keeping myths alive. This decades old myth that claims some trucking companies are out to squeeze every little drop of blood out of their company drivers, and then throw them under the bus, is still alive and well. It’s dead wrong, and goes against every business principle of success. Unfortunately every new driver entering the business is convinced of it from his internet research. This myth claiming we can make a lot more money by leasing a truck from one of these big trucking companies is just as bogus as it is ridiculous. The whole concept of leasing trucks to drivers was a profit driven incentive for the corporations who started this practice. Don't be bamboozled by such nonsense!

Will Autonomous Trucks Be Taking Our Jobs Away?

 I am seeing a lot of people concerned about starting a trucking career lately because they think driver-less trucks will soon be taking over our interstates and consequently killing the job market. I’ve been hearing these same reports for twenty years now. I guess we will still be hearing them for the next 40 years. We are nowhere nearer today than we were 20 years ago.

About five years ago there were television programs declaring that driver-less trucks would be taking over truck driving jobs within two years. There is a big scam going on within the tech industries that is driven by greed. If you can convince people you are on the cusp of something really big, then you can get them to open their bank accounts and invest lots of money with you. That’s the scam. Everything about the autonomous truck craze is designed to raise money now for something nobody has a clue how to accomplish.

We actually have driver-less trucks already. They can work fairly well within a confined environment where we control the elements and factors they will be dealing with. That is the problem. We can’t control their environment nationwide. We could accomplish this task if we could afford an entirely new nationwide infrastructure designed solely for big trucks. It seems we can’t even come up with enough money to properly maintain the infamous pothole riddled George Washington Bridge. Everyone is focused on creating self driving trucks to work within our existing infrastructure. That approach will never work. It will always yield a vehicle that still needs a driver on board.

We currently have all kinds of crash mitigation technology in the trucks we are driving. Most of it is total garbage. It is so unreliable that it causes more problems than it does solutions. I’ve had my truck slam on the brakes because I passed under an overpass. Just a shadow in the road will sometimes trigger the forward crash mitigation system to activate the brakes as if there were an emergency. Sensors are only sensing possible dangers, they do not process thoughts and make judgments. Those are uniquely human qualities. Sensors covered in ice and snow basically shut down and stop working. I wish you could see some of the incredibly risky road conditions I have successfully navigated. We sometimes face nightmarish conditions. Humans can handle it, and actually do it safely. 

We have had self flying planes for years now. Even under the power of auto-pilot we still have two pilots on board our commercial airliners. We have trains that run on tracks and could not possibly get off course, yet they still have engineers on board. We can put a rover on far away planets like Mars, and have it operating a mission there without a human being present. The reason that’s possible is because it is a far easier task than what we are attempting with autonomous trucks.

The transportation industry is not confined to its own separate environment. We are side by side with minivans full of small children. We are facing ever changing conditions moment by moment. It is much easier to fly an aircraft on auto-pilot than it is to drive an 80,000 pound vehicle under similar technology. There are so many difficulties when on the ground surrounded by other vehicles and variables. It becomes exponentially more complicated.

I have been brief here, but I wanted to address this. Do not concern yourself over self-driving trucks taking your career away from you. It is not happening now, and will not be happening in any near future I can see. The complexities of the trucking world are proving to be a great challenge to technology. Even the autonomous trucks going through various levels of beta testing generally have two drivers on board, and a convoy of other vehicles escorting them. Ease your mind of this concern. You are still needed out here. That demand will continue on into days of incredible technology advances.

NEVER GIVE UP!

 With those three immortal words, Winston Churchill rallied his nation to a wartime victory during a time when their crushing demise seemed alarmingly imminent. What is it that causes one man to face his fears with bravery and ferocity while another caves into submission? Fear causes some of us to retreat to a fetal position of defeat before we’ve even entered the fray. Others seem to rise to conquer a challenge solely motivated by fear itself. Some people are amazingly resilient in the face of overwhelming odds and difficulty. Those folks who have this amazing resilience go on to do great things. They are our heroes. They aren’t necessarily known to the masses as national heroes, but somebody knows them as a hero.

I had a friend when I was growing up who considered his own mom to be a hero. Their family was very poor and his mom had to figure out how to make do with what she had. He would tell me his mom was the greatest cook in the world. He’d say, “My mom can make the most delicious soup using only a gallon of water and a single bean,” My point is she rose to the challenges before her. My young friend viewed her as his hero because of her resilience. Her bravery in adversity made her shine in his estimation. She could have collapsed in despair and said, “I just can’t handle this - we are going to starve.” Her resilience kept her in the game, and she accomplished things that kept her moving forward.

As a character trait, resilience is a person’s ability to recover quickly from unfortunate circumstances. It’s an admiral characteristic, and worthy of our aspirations. So, what does all this have to do with trucking? I think it has a lot to do with our career. Especially those of us who are just getting started. I was sorely disappointed once when I saw a discussion online where a new driver was claiming, “My career in trucking is over before it even started!” This poor fellow had been sent home from orientation, and was already retreating in defeat. Here’s one of his statements I pulled from his post.

“For now I'm done. There is no point in applying for other jobs and wasting time and money to just run into the same issues.”

I’m dumbfounded at this response. I’m wanting to encourage and motivate this fellow and say, “Come on man! Are you giving up this easily?” The phrase that really got me was when he stated, “There is no point in applying for other jobs.”

Getting started in a trucking career is challenging. I know that well. Trucking is not an ordinary job. It is an extraordinary career that requires extraordinary people. It is as much a lifestyle change as it is a career change. The training is hurried, and requires a person to process a lot of information in a short time. It requires learning new skills quickly and efficiently. It’s no walk in the park. It’s a big challenge. How we respond to those challenges helps formulate our future in this career. Truckers bear a lot of responsibility. Some people consider them heroes.

One of the biggest challenges facing new truckers is the disturbing reality that truck driving school’s don’t magically transform us into real truckers. They allow us to obtain a CDL, but getting that CDL in our pocket is really just a single step in the process of becoming a trucker. The process requires resilience. There are seemingly insurmountable challenges that upset many a newbie’s efforts. Those tenacious spirited folks who conquer the various challenges go on to become some of the most critical players in our nation's economic machine.

The gentleman who inspired these thoughts failed his backing test and got sent home from his very first orientation. That’s no reason to declare, “There is no point in applying for other jobs.” Plenty of new truckers get sent home from orientation. I got sent home from three different orientations. I never gave up. When you start this process of becoming a trucker you need to want it badly. You need to persevere.

My dad used to tell me, “Quitters never win.” Some may think that’s a trite little saying, but it’s something that stuck with me all my life. I don’t quit. In high school I was a competitive tennis player. There were times when I’d find myself in a match with someone who was sure to beat me. That didn’t change my game or my approach. I’d hang in there and give it one hundred twenty percent no matter how badly they were humiliating me. I did the same thing as an adult in competitive skeet shooting. Anybody competing with me knew I was going to bring my “A” game. I wasn’t going to cave in to despair if I missed a target. The next 100 targets were sure to be crushed to dust - I’d make sure of it. In sport’s you have to be resilient. You aren’t going to win every game every season. It’s a contest. It’s a competition. Victory ebbs and flows, but resilience remains firm no matter the outcome.

Many folks don’t realize trucking is a competition. We compete against each other for loads and miles. As rookies we have the odds against us. We have to prove ourselves daily. We are going to have problems. We are going to struggle at times. Some of us are going to fall short and get sent home. It’s not the end of the world. We are going to feel very challenged. Resilience will be required.

I attended four orientations when trying to land my first trucking job. On that fourth attempt I finally made it to becoming an employee. I never looked back from that point. I always looked forward during those difficult times of being sent home. Determined to have my photo put in the dictionary, right there next to that word “resilience,” I never gave up.

Getting invited to an orientation does not guarantee rookie drivers a job. These orientations are basically like a job interview. If we get sent home it’s not the end of our careers. We failed an interview - that’s what it amounts to. We move on. We show our resilience. Never give up! That’s a trucker’s mantra. We face challenges daily. We rise to those challenges and conquer them.