Question:
During my research of company driver versus owner operator, I see lease/purchase mentioned at many company websites. Now I am not yet a truck driver, I do have my CDL and am waiting to retire next year from the Air Force. But for the money involved, I can't see why any driver, especially a newbie would enter into a lease/purchase agreement. Is there some thing there that I am missing? I personally won't consider it, but why would anyone? If after a few years of driving, would it not be better for the individual to purchase a used truck from a dealer?
Whistlepunk

Answer:
They have stars in their eyes. Pictures of big money and their own shiny big rig running through their heads. It wont happen.
Just like most things. If it sounds to good to be true it probably is. Trucking is a job first and foremost for the majority. Dreams come true with work and usually lots of it. Not with some tricky deal put down on paper. The only ones getting what they want in a lease deal is the one taking the payments. Not the one trying to make them.
"Caution: Door May Open"

Answer:
Your instincts are correct,lease purchase is a scam,the ONLY WAY TO BUY your first TRUCK IS TO SAVE UP YOUR MONEY AND PAY CASH!If your credit is so poor you can't get your own loan then thats a pretty good indication you need to stay a company driver,because it's pretty apparent you can't handle money.

Answer:
if your credit is so poor you can't get your own loan then thats a pretty good indication you need to stay a company driver,because it's pretty apparent you can't handle money.
Not a true statement in the kind of economy the U.S. is. Wait till you or one of your family gets a serious illness and have to deal with insurance companies, or go for a long period of low or no pay and see if you still think that. People who have gone through life on a srictly cash basis also have no credit, so at either extreme poor or no credit is not a measure of how well a person handles money; plenty of people with excellent credit also end up bankrupt, and at record rates these days.
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Humans are amazing creatures. "With all the things you can train them to do, I've been considering getting one."-StoneyJay Gould
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This post coming to you live, from Jesus Land !!!

Answer:
Dominoes actually says something that I can agree with.
While it is true that many people wind up with poor credit ratings due to living well beyond their means it is also true that many people end up with damamged credit through no fault of their own. As Dominoes pointed out, layoffs, serious illness in the immediate family, injuries, and so forth can all quickly turn perfect credit into something far uglier.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
Answer:
Originally posted by whistlepunk:
During my research of company driver versus owner operator, I see lease/purchase mentioned at many company websites. Now I am not yet a truck driver, I do have my CDL and am waiting to retire next year from the Air Force. But for the money involved, I can't see why any driver, especially a newbie would enter into a lease/purchase agreement. Is there some thing there that I am missing? I personally won't consider it, but why would anyone? If after a few years of driving, would it not be better for the individual to purchase a used truck from a dealer?
Whistlepunk
The very basic reasons drivers fall for these lease purchase scams is really fairly simple. It is a combination of chasing the "American Dream" with the desire for instant gratifacation. People want everything now and dont want to follow the steps needed to get there if they think they can leap frog up the ladder some.
These two forces that work within us can be very powerful and will cause the unwary to fall prey to the very slick advertisements trucking companies use for the lease purchase programs. Be your own Boss with no money down and no credit checks for only $385/month. Make 80 cents per mile. ALl of this can sound very good to an uneducated (as in not knowing all it takes to own and operate a truck) driver. It can also sound irresistable to those who are having a bad day or week and driving a company truck for 25 cents per mile. They think "Wow. 80 cents per mile. I can actually start to make some real money in trucking, plus no one can force me to go to these whole in the wall warehouse anymore." What they don't know or dont want to think about is how much more they are going to spend for fuel, insurance, repairs, routine maintence etc, and how fast that truck will eat up that 80 cents per mile, but it is a lesson they learn real fast once the dotted line is signed.
As you have already deduced whisltepunk these programs for the most part are nothing more than a big con game that is made legal through slick contracts. Very few of these programs are true purchase programs where you actually own the truck when the last payment is made, and everyone I have seen to date, even the ones where you do own the truck, you are getting 4 and 5 year old, half worn out ex-company trucks with 500,000 plus miles on them and making payments for them as if they were low mileage 2 year old trucks.
You are entirely correct in your thinking that the best way to become an owner operater is to save your money, repair your credit if you need to, and once you have a good down payment, several thousand dollars in operating capital in the bank, and a good understanding of what it is going to take to be an owner operater then go find yourself a truck.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
Answer:
Wow, uturn, That was a KeyBoardFul.(mouthful)
You stated that Better than I ever could.
Therefore, all that's left for me to say is....DITTO!!!

Answer:
Lease/Purchase is a fools dream.
I've seen several, and in all of them you put up your house, etc. as security.
In return, you get to pay off the truck for the company in 3 years, after which, they will generously sell you the used truck for an inflated price.
Since you are not being "loaned" any money (the co. taking their money out of your check weekly) you are not getting any kind of credit record.
Your "pay" (typically 80 to 82 c.p.m.) is barely enough to provide you with co. driver wages, assuming you have excellent fuel milage, and NO non warranty repairs.
There is, however, no dearth of starry-eyed fools standing in line believing they can beat the odds.