the short version of my spring. 2022 Mack Anthem, MX-13, mDRIVE, on a lease purchase through the carrier i drove for. 1,150 a week truck payment, 8 cents a mile into a maintenance escrow, a balloon at the end that i never saw written down until month 20. at month 31 rates were in the basement, i had a 4,900 dollar turbo bill the escrow somehow did not cover, and i turned the keys in. everything i paid into that truck is gone.
where i am now. 9 years with a CDL, home in Stockton, i know the Central Valley produce lanes cold, 22,000 saved, decent credit.
the two choices as i see them. buy a used truck and lease on to a carrier that pays a percentage of the line haul, or buy a used truck and get my own authority, my own insurance, and deal with brokers. the registration side is all on fmcsa.dot.gov and i have read it twice. it reads like a tax form written by people who never sat in a truck. which way would you go with what i have?
O
ooida_member_lou
2018 Kenworth W900L, X15, 18-speed, leased on since 2009
Over the roadColumbus, OH77 posts, joined Jul 2025
before anything else, go back and read your lease about the escrow. federal truth in leasing rules say the carrier has to give a full accounting and return the escrow balance within 45 days after the lease ends, minus things they can document. a lot of guys walk away and assume it is gone. it often is not.
on your question, lease on for the first year. you are carrying your own truck, bobtail and physical damage, and the carrier's authority and liability carry the rest. you learn what your truck actually costs a mile before you also have to learn brokers, factoring and a 16 thousand dollar insurance bill.
P
pocatello_flatbed
2021 Volvo VNL 760, D13 500, I-Shift, step deck and flat, own authority
i will argue the other side because i went the other way. own authority since 2022, flatbed.
first year insurance in Idaho was 16,400 for liability, cargo and physical damage, paid monthly. i factored everything at 2.5 percent for the first eight months because new authority means brokers pay you in 30 to 45 days and the fuel card wants paying every week. year two my rate per mile was 40 to 60 cents better than the leased guys i know, and i pick my own freight.
but i had 30k in the bank and no lease purchase bruises. you have 22. that is thin for a truck plus a first year of authority.
I
ifta_quarterly_pain
2020 Peterbilt 579, MX-13, 18-speed, dry van, own authority
put a number on the paperwork too. on my own authority it is four to six hours a month. invoices, the factoring portal, IFTA every quarter, the 2290 every August, UCR every year, keeping the insurance certificates current with every broker that asks. if you hate paperwork, that is a real cost, it just does not show up in the rate per mile.
M
mod_ron_t
retired, 2.9 million miles, last truck a 2015 W900L
i was leased on for 14 years and never once wished i was not. but i also never had to buy a truck coming off a lease purchase that ate my savings.
the advice i give everybody in your spot: lease on for a year with a carrier that shows you its settlement sheets before you sign. learn your real cost per mile on your own truck. then decide. you will know so much more in twelve months than you know tonight.
lou, i owe you a beer. i wrote the carrier on July 14, quoted the 45 day rule out of their own lease, and asked for the escrow accounting. a check showed up August 8. 4,180 dollars back that i had written off.
decision made. leasing on with a produce carrier out of Fresno that showed me three months of real settlements. now i need a truck, so i will be reading the buying board a lot.
Log in to reply. No account yet? Write the mods with your rig line and they will set one up.
