CALCULATOR / FREE
Lease-purchase deal analyzer
Enter the weekly numbers from a truck lease-purchase offer to see your real weekly take-home, everything you would pay for the truck, the interest rate hidden in the payments, and what you lose if you walk away.
How it is calculated
Weekly take-home = gross paid to you − fuel − truck payment − maintenance escrow − other deductions. That is before income tax and your own living costs.
Total paid for the truck = weekly payment × weeks in the term + the balloon. Dividing it by the truck's value today shows how many times over you pay for it.
Implied interest rate is the annual rate at which those payments and the balloon would exactly repay a loan equal to the truck's value. We solve it by trial, the same way a lender would. Then we compare with a normal loan at the rate you enter, over the same term.
Walk-away cost = payments made until the week you leave, plus escrow only if the contract keeps it. Under a lease covered by 49 CFR 376.12(k), escrow is returned less valid charges, so it is excluded by default.
A worked example
Every number here is an EXAMPLE. A driver is offered a three-year lease-purchase: $800 a week for 156 weeks plus a $5,000 balloon, on a truck worth about $70,000 today. Weekly gross paid to the driver is $4,200, fuel $1,300, escrow $150 and other deductions $450.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross paid to driver | $4,200.00 |
| Fuel | ($1,300.00) |
| Truck payment | ($800.00) |
| Maintenance escrow | ($150.00) |
| Insurance and other deductions | ($450.00) |
| NET | $1,500.00 |
Take-home is $1,500 a week. Over the term the driver pays $129,800 for a $70,000 truck, 1.85 times its value, an implied rate of about 45% a year. A 12% loan on the same truck would cost about $46,000 less. Walking away after a year forfeits $41,600 of payments.
What a good or bad result means
Treat these as warning lines, not laws. Total paid above about 1.5 times the truck's value, an implied rate several times a lender's, or take-home that only works in your best weeks all say the risk sits with you. A short term, a fair value and a balloon you can afford point the other way. Read our guide to lease-purchase agreements and the checklist on lease-purchase trucking companies before you decide. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Three checks before you sign
- Ask for the truck's VIN and price similar trucks for sale, so the value you enter is real, not the carrier's figure.
- Ask who pays for major repairs during the lease, and what happens to your payments if the truck is down for weeks.
- Ask how much freight you are promised and whether you can refuse loads; take-home depends on both.
If you finish a lease or buy a truck and run under your own authority, see how dispatch for owner-operators works, or apply when you are ready.
Calculator questions
Q01Are lease to own trucks a good deal?
Some are, many aren't. Run the numbers: if total payments plus the balloon come to well over the truck's value, the implied rate is far above what a lender would charge, or the weekly take-home barely covers your living costs, the deal works better for the carrier than for you. Read the contract with an attorney before signing.
Q02What happens to my escrow if I leave a lease-purchase?
If your lease is with a motor carrier under the federal truth-in-leasing rules, 49 CFR 376.12(k) requires the lease to explain the escrow, give you an accounting, and return the balance, less valid charges, within 45 days of termination. Payments you already made toward the truck are usually lost if you don't finish the term.
Q03Commercial truck lease purchase or a loan: which costs less?
Compare the implied rate in the lease with what a lender would charge on the same truck. A loan builds equity you keep if you sell; a lease-purchase builds nothing until the last payment. A loan is harder to get with thin credit, which is why many drivers start with a lease-purchase.
Q04What about lease purchase trucking companies with a Peterbilt 379?
Peterbilt built the 379 until 2007, so any 379 offered today is close to 20 years old or more. That doesn't rule it out, but put a realistic truck value in the analyzer, raise the maintenance figure, and get an independent inspection before you sign anything.
By Daniel
UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Thinking about your own authority instead?
We dispatch owner-operators on every equipment type. The rate con goes to your company, and you sign it or say no.