Dear Driver,
By now you probably are thinking about the opportunity to make lots of money driving a truck. No doubt you have been to truck driving school and heard all the rah rah about leasing your truck through various companies. Sounds really good huh?
Well I was one of those drivers that did just that. I decided to take my career and go through CR England. I started with CR England on 12/20/07 and went out for 3 weeks with a trainer and 3 weeks with a leasee. The leasee is the one that is supposed to make sure you are comfortable with your decision to lease and not be a company driver. I mean, why would you if you can make over $100,000 per year, right? Probably what they told you. The truth is that if you don't have any business or financial sense (which sorry, most do not), this is not the position for you. Less than 1% of the drivers that lease actually make it. Want to see the math? Keep reading and I will show you why you don't want to do this. Did I do well doing it, yes I did. Why am I on here? Well the truth is because after everything I did for CR England, they pretty much screwed up my career like other drivers (which I didn't listen to) warned me they would.
I drove dedicated from Allentown, PA to Wilmington, OH within 2 months of working for the company. I happened to be at the right place at the right time and doing a DHL run seemed like a dream. I was getting plenty of miles, but the problem started when the trainees (CATs) started givning me issues. I actually had one threaten my life (yes, it's on a police report in OH as well as a company report). By the way, that driver still got a job with CR England.
Anyways, when it came time for the demise of DHL, I found out that my wife had cancer. It was inoperatable and she was slowly dying. Since after 10 months of running non stop for the dedicated run, I asked if I could take some time off and take care of her. I received permission from my Driver Manager not only by phone but by Qual Comm (wanted to cover my ass). Well to make a long story short, she passed away a few weeks later and CR England decided to come and pick up my truck and charge me with an abandoned truck. To add to it, they even said I was under a load... NOT!!!
Well obviously my DM doesn't work for the company anymore and the Qual Comm message suddenly vanished so I don't have proof anymorer about what happened. To add insult to injury, they even placed it on my DAQ report and now I cant even get another position. They even took the last of my maintenance fee of $8,000 to cover expenses that were bogus! So if you work for CR England, you will leave broke and not a chance to really go elsewhere. Oh by the way, both my trainers that worked for CR England, well they screwed them over too! I can provide the names and information if you don't believe me.
So here is the TRUTH of leasing a truck:
1800 miles solo at 90cpm= $1620 (don't let them lie, this is average)
Truck payment= -$450 per week
Insurance= -$140 per week
Fuel=-$750 (I figured low at 6 miles per gallon and $2.50 per gallon)
Fuel rebate= $270 (this is at 15cpm which they are not generous at all)
Maintenance=-$126 (they take out 7cpm which you will NEVER get back)
Fuel Tax=-$18 (1cpm)
Truck fee=-$270 (15cpm additional to your truck payment on all miles dispatched!!!
Total= $136.00... Yes, this is correct!
Now they will try to sell you this great program called (CAT). Basically, you drive with someone with 3 weeks of experience and train them to lease. You will get more miles IF you are accepted to the program and they actually have someone for you (very seldom do). Is your life really worth an extra $400 a week??? DON'T DO IT, DON'T DO IT, DON'T DO IT!!! Let me say this again "don't do it"!!! If you do, you will regret your future in the business. If I can at least keep 1 driver from making the same mistake I made, well I did my job. Thank you for reading, and good luck on the road.
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