WE DID IT!!

Yep we did it... we are now Lease Ops... (sort of an Owner/Operator exept we don't 'Own' the truck, but we are still responsible for it)

Talk about a leap of faith!  Well - we already leaped into the pool, now we are heading for the deep end, but we do have some idea how to swim - just hoping the sharks don't 'get' us (don't 'cha just love my metaphores - LOL)... so we now have just over 1000 miles on her (yes it is a her) and she is doing great.  The gears are a bit tight, but they will get worn to how WE shift, not anyone else.  Also since she is a 'new' truck (2012 Freightliner Cascadia) we have the benifit of the full warranties... with a used truck, we (as a team) might have run out of the warranty and we wouldn't know how the truck was maintained BEFORE we got it... that was a big concern of ours.

We are also going to use their accounting service at least for the rest of this year... 1) they are partnered w/the company, so they get a good portion of the needed information sent over to them and 2) expediency - we wanted to get started with 'our business' and we don't personally have the expertise to do it our selves (at least we realize THAT - and that's a good thing!!)

So we are just now parked at a truck stop, 11 miles away from where we deliver in the morning at 0630, and we already have a load to pick up tomorrow afternoon to deliver the next morning!  I love our DM!!
She actually called us while we were signing papers with a load for us... now THAT is a good DM!

Now this truck doesn't have as many 'cubby' holes as the T2000 did, so finding places for everything we have is a bit of a challenge - but I have ideas <bwahahaha>... I almost need a step stool though because most of our storage is on the upper bunk... this one though, the roof goes all the way up.  So it makes it seem like its roomier (and it is) which is nice.  It doesn't have some of the other 'nice' things the T2000 did - like an air bag dump (used to deflate the airbags when dropping off a trailer) which is a niceity, but not a necessity... we might have one put in later.  We got the 'company' spec'ed truck - so no fridge/side window's/left side jocky box - but to have those would have been $40/wk more - so being 'frugel' we chose not to have those things.  One of our first business decisions - and I think a good one.  I thank my Dad for teaching me how to squeek when I walk (family joke there)...

Well - I guess I should try to get something for dinner - and take my vitamins... then get some sleep - I'm driving in the morning <big grin>