After years of driving for someone else. You’ve decided to have your own business. You want to be an independent owner-operator. You feel it is time for you to take the reigns of your own future. There are plenty of companies ready to offer you loads and routes, anywhere and anytime you want.
There is just one problem. You don’t have a rig – a tractor-trailer. You can’t be an owner-operator if you don’t own a truck to operate. So, the next thing you have to do is get a tractor-trailer. The biggest question now is do you buy your own truck, or do you lease it? What are the advantages of each? Do your financial resources indicate which way you should go or does it even matter?
Since you are planning to start your truck business here in Tacoma, Washington, it seems the best place to start your search for a truck. There are many pros and cons to each proposal based on your own circumstances. So, what is your down payment? What will your long-term finances look like?
Remember you won’t make the average salary for an owner-operator your first few years and most businesses fail within the first 5 years. Owner-operators are not exempt from these statistics. Don’t overshoot on buying your first truck and put yourself in the hole before you even get started.
The biggest bang for your buck is to buy not lease. However, there are positives to leasing as well. Let’s look at the pros and cons.
If you decide to lease, make sure you understand the terms and read everything carefully. Different truck and tractor-trailer sales in Tacoma and leasing will have different terms, different down payments and different ways to buy the leased truck if you decide that you want to.
Leasing companies or truck sellers also always have used tractor-trailers in Tacoma and available for either lease or purchase. For the most part, the used vehicles are for purchase but there are some innovative leasing programs out there with the intent of getting the new owner-operator on the road and running their own business as soon as possible.
Leasing a used vehicle has its hazards so be sure you know what you are looking at. You will want to lease a late model truck, not an older one. If you are going to be an owner-operator you either know enough to do your own maintenance or you’ve got a guy. Either way, get the rig checked out before you sign a lease. The same would be true for purchasing a used truck.
Many of the used trucks offered for sale or special leases are returned leases. These are probably 3-year-old trucks with plenty of miles on the engine. Don’t jump at the first good deal you see.
So, the decision to buy or lease is entirely yours. Make it based on the cash you have on hand, the cash you expect to bring in the next three years based on contracts you have in hand. Don’t go buy or lease a truck if you have no contracts in hand. Get contracts first. Then make your decision and go shopping.