Home Trucking FAQs What is a lease purchase option for owner operators?

What is a lease purchase option for owner operators?

One option that some new owner operators take is a lease-purchase from a carrier. This is essentially a lease to own program, where the operator leases the truck for a certain period of time, usually about 3 years. You must still make a down-payment, but this is generally much smaller than when buying a new truck on your own.

At the end of the 3 years, the operator can either purchase the truck for what is left over between the price of the truck and what he has paid off in the lease, he can switch the truck for another lease truck or he can sell the truck and keep the difference between the selling price and what he still owes on the truck.

One major problem with the lease-purchase option for owner operators is that the leasing company will often control what loads you take, and besides the basic lease payments made every week, they can often take off money for every mile you drive to pay for maintenance and other costs on the truck.

The advantage of the lease-purchase option is that it allows you to purchase your truck with much less money up-front. But you can find yourself out of control of your own truck and your own business for the first years of being an owner operator, being controlled by the carrier from which you lease the truck. While the lease purchase option might seem like the fast track to success, it is usually better to wait until you have the money for your own down-payment and actually purchase the truck for yourself.

Once you have your own truck, visit our Owner Operator page for companies looking to hire in your home state.