If you’ve been considering starting or furthering your career as a truck driver, then a lease-purchase to operate a rig may be a great choice for you. 

When you lease-purchase a truck, you gain the ability to work as an owner-operator truck driver. This provides several great benefits like better pay, flexible hours, and being in charge of what you do. 

Lease-purchases are particularly attractive to rookie truck drivers because it provides a method of becoming an owner-operator without needing to have the upfront capital to purchase a truck outright. This gives you time to make the money needed to buy the truck afterward.

It’s a smart idea to understand what you’re getting yourself into, so we’ll explain more about lease purchasing a truck below.

What Does a Lease-Purchase Entail?

Leasing a truck is very similar to leasing a car, with the main difference being that you have a serious intention of purchasing the truck after the lease.

This means that leases for semi-trucks are typically lease-to-own situations. While you can opt to not keep the truck after the lease is up, this mostly defeats the purpose of leasing a truck in the first place.

When you lease-purchase a truck, you’re doing so because you want to have a truck that is yours. However, this does mean that you’ll be solely responsible for upkeep on the truck.

Any maintenance, repairs, insurance, and expenses for gas will be yours to cover. This is all on top of a monthly lease payment.

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If you don’t plan on owning the truck after your lease is up, then you’ll have invested money into the truck with no return. The advantages of being an owner-operator truck driver happen after you already own a truck.

This is because you will no longer have a lease payment, which cuts deeply into your earnings. Owner-operators get a greater percentage of delivery because they are footing the bill for maintaining a truck by using theirs rather than a company truck. 

Who Is This Good For?

Leasing a truck to purchase it later is a great idea for anyone who wants to be a career truck driver. Over time, the earning potential of an owner truck driver is much better than a company truck driver.

This means that a lease-purchase is an investment in your career. It can certainly be rewarding, but you need to know that you enjoy truck driving and be highly motivated to work.

With that in mind, leasing a truck probably isn’t a good idea if you’ve never driven one before. There are many nuisances to truck driving that you won’t understand until you’ve been on the road for years.

That certainly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be a truck driver, because you may very well love it and not mind these inconveniences.

Successful truck drivers are people that can drive for extended periods and have a mastery for operating a large vehicle. It’s best suited for people without a family because it will require you to spend much of your time away from home.

If you enjoy the outdoors, driving, and visiting new cities, then truck driving might be a great fit for you! Many people love driving a truck and there are certainly great reasons for it. 

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How Do You Get Work?

If you’re an owner-operator truck driver, then you’ll need to find trucking companies for a working contract. You won’t be directly employed, but you’ll work as an independent contractor instead.

Fortunately, contracting an owner-operator truck driver is quite appealing for many trucking companies because it severs them from any liability to the truck. There is a huge demand for truckers in general, but especially so if you don’t need to drive a company truck. 

You must get a contract with a good company. This means that you aren’t getting ripped off, terms are fair, and you drive a route that you enjoy. 

There’s certainly no shortage of work for truck drivers, but that doesn’t mean that everyone will find enjoyable work. If you’re looking to be an owner-operator, you might feel pressured to accept any job that comes your way because your lease payments are likely to be expensive.

Contracts are legally binding so this makes it necessary to not agree to a contract that you hate. If you’re patient enough, you can find an acceptable contract to get your owner operating career on the road!  

Closing Thoughts

If you want to be an owner-operator truck driver, then lease purchasing a truck is an amazing opportunity to get you started. 

Leasing a truck entails monthly payments over a set period intending to purchase the truck for a reduced amount afterward. It’s an investment in your career as an owner-operator truck driver and can be extremely lucrative if you’re realistic about what the job entails.

Work is available in abundance for truck drivers, so you won’t have a difficult time finding a route. Make sure that you only agree to a contract with favorable terms so you can cover your expenses while staying in good spirits. 

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Many people enjoy truck driving and owner operating is a great way to further your career as a truck driver!