Trucking Advocate and Activist Allen Smith of TruthAboutTrucking.com : Articles Current News and Information for CDL Truck Drivers and Truck Driving Students…"Raising the Standards of the Trucking Industry"
On November 9th, 2009 we began our Owner Operator Lease Purchase Program survey, in order to collect data on this issue which has caused many drivers to fail within the trucking industry. I have always proposed that this program is one that is designed for the truck driver to fail, having noted that past studies have shown that this lease purchase option resulted in an 87% failure rate for drivers.
I will continue to let this survey run further, to collect as much data as possible. Consisting of ten questions, as of today, the following are the results of our truck owner operator lease purchase program survey:
Was the Owner Operator Lease Purchase Program you were under require any money down or credit check?
YES – 30%
NO – 70%
Were you given the opportunity to choose the truck of your choice, or did the company choose for you?
Driver Choice – 52.5%
Company Choice – 47.5%
Which of the choices below best describes the amount of gross income the company said you would be able to make as an owner operator under their lease purchase plan?
$35,000 to $45,000 per year - 7.7%
$46,000 to $65,000 per year - 15.4%
$66,000 to $100,000 per year - 38.5%
Over $100,000 per year - 38.55%
What was your ACTUAL gross income?
Overall Average - $36,545.77
How many miles did the company say you would average per week as a lease purchase owner operator?
Overall Spread – 1800 to 5000
What were your ACTUAL miles per week average?
Overall Average – 2000 to 2739
How would you rate the company’s overall support system, in assuring your success as an owner operator?
Excellent - 2.6%
Very Good – 15.4%
Good - 7.7%
Poor – 59%
No Support at all – 17.95%
Overall, how mechanically sound was the truck you were placed in?
Excellent - 7.5%
Very Good - 22.5%
Good - 27.5%
Poor - 27.5%
Piece of junk - 17.55%
Once started, how soon thereafter did you experience your first serious mechanical/safety issue with the tractor?
Overall Average - Within 4 months
Based on your experience, what is your overall view on these “No Money Down – No Credit Check” Owner Operator Lease Purchase Programs?
Legitimate - 11%
Scam - 57%
Don’t Know - 32%
Our survey for the trucking industry’s owner operator lease purchase program will remain open. If you have been involved with one of these lease purchase deals, please take the survey. We will continue to update on its progress.
Furthermore, we are working “behind the scenes” to move forward with our Stop False DAC Reportingpetition. Signatures received thus far: 1,243. An update to this important issue will be noted at the appropriate time.
Land Line Magazine, the OOIDA business trucking magazine, reported on the recent Dan Rather Reports TV Show in which I was invited to as a special speaker from the audience. In the article they wrote:
Rather turned to an audience member, Allen Smith, who has spent 30 years in the business. Smith claimed he has received thousands of responses on his site, askthetrucker.com, since the “Dan Rather Reports” episode aired featuring Wood. ( misquote)
“The schools are still taking their money. They’re wasting their time in the truck knowing that within a couple of weeks they’re going to be thrown out of the truck anyway,” Smith said.
Although I’m sure Land Line would never admit to receiving the volume of emails we have received from all of you since our site began, all of you CDL students and new drivers out there who have experienced these abuses you have shared with AskTheTrucker over the years, should consider also sharing your stories directly to OOIDA and their Land Line Magazine.
In fact, here is an email we just received a few hours ago from a gentleman who wanted to share his nightmare story of his Owner Operator Lease Purchase Program, which I have discussed many times. For Land Line Magazine and OOIDA . . . this is just another one of the thousands we have and continue to receive:
Dear Sir:
I have settled down a bit, so let me put things into perspective and give you some more info:
I am near the end of my 5th week with ********. I will get my 4th settlement statement tomorrow. I am a rookie driver – all my experience is these 5 weeks, plus ******** driver training program. My driver trainer was a lease op, he convinced me that I would make much more money as a lease op. I was convinced by many ******** people that leasing my truck would provide me more income, more flexibility in various aspects of the job. I got back to the yard, tested out, and one of the instructors talked to our group about leasing. He pulled me aside, and of course I had already made up my mind to do it…long story short, he gets $300 bonus for every one he can get to sign up. And I did so. It has turned into a nightmare. I was making more money ($330 a week) with Georgia unemployment than with this company.
My settlements so far during my short career have been: $755 for week 1, $305 for week 2, $56 for week 3, week 4 comes out tomorrow, and of course here I sit broke down from Sunday Nov. 8 to probably Sat. Nov. 14, so when I get the settlement for this week, it will be deeeeep in the hole no doubt. Those figures
are before taxes and Soc. Security, which I have to pay quarterly. I probably wont have to pay anything as I had worked in the corporate world in my old job for a half year in 2009. I have to drive 1800 to 1900 miles to “break even”.
I am told that ******** Trucking receives $30,000.00 from the US Govt. for every new driver it trains and puts on the road. At the same time, this company has a 120% turn over rate, and it’s because the lease ops are making the truck payments on a fleet of lemons (Cat C-15 engines with problematic Regen systems), and the Drivers (lease or company) are not getting enough miles to earn a living. What do you think, is it a scam? Or is aall of the trucking industry just like this?? This is a “$30,000 a head personnel factory” funded by our tax dollars.
Five weeks is not a very long time, perhaps it reduces the impact or legitimacy of this story, you know, here is a guy just whining or whatever, but to me it is very big… I did this as my answer to being laid off from the corporate world, my big career change, a new beginning.
I am planning to complete my 90 day obligation to ******* and then give my 2 weeks notice to break the truck lease. At least there is a 2 week walk away clause. Today is Nov. 12, and I have been broke down since Sunday Nov. 8th, and I have to continue making lease payments, pay my own hotel bill, and basically just wait until it is fixed. Yes I signed a contract, I knew what I was getting into, but I did not expect I would be issued a lemon. My truck had 238 thousnad miles on it – just broke in, they all said. They do offer a truck rental at *******, but I wont be down long enough for it to work out – it would be time to come back up here & get my truck after only say 1 run in the rental (from back at the yard in *******), and by the way, there are no rentals available right now anyway. I checked yesterday (Nov. 11). So, my truck will be issued to the next victim, and this puppy mill will continue to generate $30,000 government payments.
I guess I am a complete idiot. Trucking has turned into a nightmare in only 5 short weeks, I have gotten a real education. I think it is God trying to tell me something. I await some kind of sign from Him, or maybe its that simple: that he wants me to go home and not be a truck driver?? I know this has hurt my wife badly, and I am lonely as hell. What can I say? I can do this work, I know it, but I cannot survive at the abysmal level of income. If I had some other source of income, it would be OK to stick with it and learn the ropes, get the experience, and so on. I believe trucking has a chance to come back like the old days, I believe that is why the old veterans are hanging in and running on.
I cannot afford it.
If you can use any of this please do so. Bear in mind I still have to work with ****** for 4 more weeks or so to fulfill my 90 day obligation – that covers training expenses. They say they can charge me with it if I leave early.
Very Best Regards,
***********************
MY REPLY:
Hi ******** :
I’m really sorry this has happened to you and is the reason we are working so hard to expose these scams and abuses by the trucking industry, from those companies and schools which are allowed to operate in these abusive manners.
I don’t have to tell you that “yes” in many cases, these lease purchase plans are nothing more than scams. There are good companies out there with good lease programs. I cannot really say about the company you mentioned, but again, this lease purchase programs show to have an 87% failure rate.
They are simply designed for a driver’s failure by many companies. Understand, you ARE NOT AN IDIOT! Sounds like you are just another victim of the abuse and scams of the trucking industry that we are working to expose. I cannot verify the $30,000 you mention – that sounds very high to me – but I will look into it.
Industry leaders will always say that it’s YOUR fault … but trust me … it’s not. It’s their fault for allowing these scams and abuses to continue.
I’m sorry that once again, another newcomer to the industry who only wanted a new career and a way to support their family, has been victimized by this industry. We will keep fighting to expose the truth.
Sincerely,
Allen Smith
So here is ANOTHER story shared by one more victim of the scam and abuses of trucking. We maintain all emails within our system, so if OOIDA wants to say that I “claim” to receive . . . we will be glad to start posting more here on AskTheTrucker including the names of those trucking companies within the emails.
Everyday we hear or read about the lack of jobs for truck drivers, especially for the new CDL student just coming on board. Although things have gotten a little tighter, the truth of the matter is . . . there are truck driving jobs available, and many trucking companies are hiring. This fact comes from one of the best truck driving schools in the country - Eagle Training Services, Inc. out of Illinois. In fact, Eagle Training is doing so well at not only training new CDL students, but finding them jobs once their training is complete. In fact, today, September 1st, 2009, Eagle is celebrating their new move-in to their new location at R.L. Leek’s Building, 2210 Harrison Avenue, Rockford, Illinois. The new facility was needed due to the increase they are experiencing with their class sizes.
The main factor I see with recent CDL grads unable to land that driving job, is that they had some kind of negative mark on their MVR or something to this affect, and the school took them in anyway, knowing they would not be hireable. Eagle Training is showing a job placement rate within the mid to high 90 percentile rate. Other excellent CDL schools are reporting the same stats. The importance of choosing the right CDL training school goes without saying . . . the school you choose can make you or break you in your truck driving career.
Tanya Bons of Eagle Training provides valuable information about what CDL students can do to increase their chances for getting hired. She also gives an excellent insight into why so many believe that truck driving jobs are scarce and hard to find. In today’s market, Tanya explains that trucking companies are seeking the cream of the crop. She also discusses why we have been led to believe that trucking jobs are falling by the way side, and why unemployment offices are seeing such a high rate of out-of-work truck drivers. It is a great article that you should be sure to read:
The economy will eventually turn around for all aspects of industry. Furthermore, as Tanya explains, when that happens . . . trucking is going to come back stronger than before.
There are almost 200 posts about schools and companies that could help you in this post. Also, it is an opportunity for you to post to others and help them out, as there could be a question about a company or school that you have experience with and would want to share.
This is Truck Desiree’s Journal, where she gives a daily description and trail of events of her life in CDL school and trucking company training. Desiree has become the favorite of many throughout the trucking world as she shares her life experiences in the hopes to help other students and trainees. Some of her posts have stirred up quite a bit of contoversy and we suggest you read this if you want to know the “behind the scenes” of what really goes on.
Looking for a truck driving school in Kentucky? We would recommend Truck America Training, located in Sheperdsville, KY. Classes start every Monday, and they offer Job Placement Assistance – before, during and after training. Considering a career in trucking?
Their CREDENTIALS :
Licensed by:
Kentucky State Board For Proprietary Education
Indiana Commission on Proprietary Education
Check out their website and give them a call. They offer excellent training by qualified instructors. Recommended truck driving school in the State of Kentucky.
As a new year for trucking approaches and you contemplate your choice for a truck driving school, here is a reminder of important questions to ask and facts to keep in mind. There are plenty of truck driving schools across this nation…know what to look out for…what questions to ask…and as always, read every line in the contract before signing on the dotted line.
Hello everybody . . . I wanted to let you know about a new show on Blog Talk Radio, hosted by 20 year trucking veteran, Larry Stafford out of Arizona. His new show – Independent(R)ealist, will give quick talks to enlighten people on the trucking life, and the many opportunities and challenges of truck driving. He will be broadcasting every Monday at 10:00 AM – MST.
As you know, our main goal here at Ask The Trucker and the Truth About Trucking, is helping to assist students and new drivers with the information they need in order to be successful in a trucking career. Mr. Stafford’s show is another avenue you can utilize to learn more about the in’s and out’s of trucking. Let’s show him our support! Check out the Independent(R)ealist talk radio show…..
If you missed his show today, you can give it a listen right now:
Today we released the 4th edition of “The Truth About Trucking” book for trucking students, truckdrivers and trucking career seekers. Most people who know me ( Allen) as telling the truth…no matter how unpleasant that may be. I don’t candy coat things and I sure don’t want to give false promises…BUT…when you are equipped with the truth, only then can you expect to have a chance at being successful.
Today I released “The Truth About Trucking” with the hope to educate and inform as many students and new drivers as possible….equipping them with as many facts, info and knowledge I could find useful and necessary so they may achieve their trucking goals. It’s taken a few months to gather the added information, but I feel the information given will provide the tools for a successful trucking career to anyone who is truly serious about having one. I believe the extra 5 chapters will benefit everyone. As always, all past clients receive the revision and it’s sent automatically to their e-mail.
Here is the new Table of Contents to explore. I hope all those who have received the new edition are already seeing the benefits.
We would appreciate all comments, input and opinions….and most of all…your success stories.
When considering a career in trucking, there are many questions and concerns a newcomer will have when searching for the best truck driving jobs. Join Allen, Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 7:30 P.M. EST, for the popular Truth About Trucking “LIVE” internet talk radio show.
In this segment, Allen opens up his email vault and answers some of the hundreds of questions he receives on a weekly basis. Listeners are encouraged to call in with their questions for this special Q&A broadcast. Questions answered . . . “live” . . . on Blog Talk Radio.
By: Allen Smith
: dac report, false report, lease purchase, owner operator, petition, trucking
