Lease-On Candidate Guide
You want to drive a truck and make good money — but you don't want to run a business. And that's completely fine. Owning your own authority means dealing with insurance ($12,000-18,000/year), compliance paperwork, IFTA filings, drug testing, CSA scores, broker disputes, invoicing, and a hundred other things that have nothing to do with putting miles on the road. Some drivers thrive on the business side. Others just want to drive.
The lease-on model lets you do exactly that. Through FF Dispatch's partnership with WonderEX, you operate under their authority with a 75/25 revenue split — you keep 75% of every dollar the truck grosses. Out of WonderEX's 25%, they cover insurance, compliance, and back-office. FF Dispatch handles the dispatching, load finding, and rate negotiation — all included in that 25%. No additional dispatch commission. No setup fees.
This isn't a lease-purchase trap where you owe $200,000 on a truck you'll never own. This is a month-to-month arrangement with 30-day cancellation and no forced dispatch. You own your truck (or lease it on your own terms), you choose your loads, and you keep 75% of gross revenue. If a dry van carrier grosses $7,000/week, that's $5,250 in your pocket — before fuel and your truck payment, after everything else is handled for you.
Common Pain Points
Challenges lease-on candidate carriers face every week
Insurance costs eating your profit — $12,000-18,000/year ($230-345/week) just for liability and cargo coverage under your own authority
Compliance headaches: IFTA filings, drug testing consortium, UCR registration, New Entrant Audit, CSA monitoring — each one a potential fine if you miss a deadline
Spending hours every week on paperwork, invoicing, and broker communication instead of driving
Uncertainty about what you actually net after all deductions — insurance, dispatch, compliance, factoring fees, and admin costs blur the real number
Risk of losing your authority over a compliance mistake — late IFTA filing, lapsed insurance, or failed audit can shut you down
Want to focus purely on driving and earning without the stress of running a business
What FF Dispatch Does for You
FF Dispatch's Lease-On Program through WonderEX is for drivers who want to earn like an owner-operator without running a business. You keep 75% of gross revenue. The 25% covers everything: insurance, compliance, dispatch, back-office, and broker communication. No dispatch commission on top. No contracts. No forced dispatch. Month-to-month with 30-day cancellation.
The Math
Under your own authority: $7,000/week gross minus insurance ($300), dispatch at 6% ($420), compliance ($25), factoring ($70) = $6,185 net before fuel and truck payment. Lease-on: $7,000 x 75% = $5,250 net before fuel and truck payment. The difference is $935/week — but the lease-on includes zero admin hours, zero compliance risk, and zero surprise bills. If you value those 10-15 hours/week of admin at $50/hour ($500-750), the real gap narrows to $185-435/week. Many drivers find the simplicity worth it.
Your Lease-On Candidate Checklist
8 steps to set yourself up for success
Understand the 75/25 split
You keep 75% of every dollar the truck grosses. The 25% covers WonderEX's authority, insurance, compliance, and FF Dispatch's load finding and negotiation. No additional dispatch commission. If your truck grosses $7,000/week, you keep $5,250.
Compare your current total business costs
Add up everything you pay under your own authority: insurance, dispatch, compliance, factoring, IFTA prep, drug testing, UCR, BOC-3, and your admin time valued at $50/hour. If it exceeds 25% of gross, the lease-on may actually save you money.
Confirm your truck ownership/financing situation
The lease-on is for your operating authority — not your truck. You need to own your truck outright or have your own financing/lease. Truck payments remain your responsibility and come out of your 75% share.
Review the WonderEX agreement terms
Month-to-month with 30-day cancellation notice. No forced dispatch — you choose every load. No non-compete — if you leave, you can start your own authority or lease on elsewhere immediately. Read every page before signing.
Gather your documents for onboarding
You'll need: CDL (front and back), medical card (DOT physical), MVR (motor vehicle report), truck registration, truck title or lease agreement, W-9, voided check or bank letter for direct deposit. Most carriers complete onboarding in 2-3 business days.
Set up direct deposit for weekly settlements
WonderEX processes weekly settlements — you get paid every week for the previous week's loads. No waiting 30-45 days like factoring. Have your bank account info ready during onboarding.
Understand what the 25% covers
The 25% includes: commercial liability insurance ($750K+), cargo insurance, authority and compliance, IFTA filing, drug testing consortium, dispatch services through FF, invoicing, and broker communication. Fuel, truck maintenance, truck payment, and tolls are your responsibility.
Plan your first-week logistics
After onboarding (2-3 business days), your FF dispatcher will have loads ready. Tell them your current location, preferred lanes, and home time needs. Most lease-on drivers are loaded within 24-48 hours of completing paperwork.
Common Objections
Questions carriers ask — and honest answers
“25% is a lot to give up — I'd rather keep 100% under my own authority.”
Under your own authority, let's add up the real costs: insurance ($300/week), dispatch service ($420/week at 6% on $7,000 gross), compliance/IFTA ($25/week), factoring fees ($70/week at 3%). That's $815/week — about 11.6% of gross. The lease-on 25% ($1,750 on $7,000 gross) is higher by $935/week, but you have zero admin work, zero compliance risk, and zero surprise bills. For many drivers, that peace of mind and time savings is worth every penny.
“I don't want to be forced to take loads I don't want.”
No forced dispatch, period. You choose every load. If you don't like what's offered, we keep looking. This is a month-to-month arrangement with 30-day cancellation — if you're ever unhappy, you leave. We earn your business every week.
“Is this a lease-purchase? I don't want to owe money on a truck.”
This is not a lease-purchase. You own your truck (or handle your own truck lease/financing separately). The lease-on is just for operating under WonderEX's authority so you don't need your own MC, insurance, or compliance setup. Month-to-month, cancel with 30 days notice. Zero obligation to buy anything.
“I already have my own authority — why would I switch to lease-on?”
Some experienced operators switch because they're tired of the business side. If you're spending 10+ hours/week on admin, paying $15,000/year for insurance, and stressing about compliance, the lease-on eliminates all of that. Run the numbers: if your total business overhead exceeds 25% of gross, the lease-on actually costs less. And you can always reactivate your authority later.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do lease-on drivers actually take home?+
Is this a lease-purchase deal?+
Can I leave the lease-on program and start my own authority?+
Do I choose my own loads or are loads assigned to me?+
How is this different from working for a mega-carrier?+
What insurance is included in the 25%?+
Other Carrier Guides
New Authority
You just got your MC authority and you're staring at DAT wondering where to start. The load board is a wall of numbers, you're not sure which brokers are legit, and every YouTube video gives you different advice. You're not alone — most new carriers lose money in their first 90 days because they take bad loads, get ghosted by brokers, or sit empty for days waiting for something to come through.
Building Authority
You've been running under your own authority for a while now. You know the basics — you can navigate DAT, you've delivered loads without incident, and you haven't gotten scammed (or at least you learned from it). But your income is all over the place. One week you gross $5,800. The next week it's $3,500 because you sat empty for two days or took a low-paying load just to keep moving.
Established Operator
You've been in the game long enough to know what you're doing. You can spot a bad load from a mile away, you've built relationships with a handful of brokers, and your truck runs tight. But here's what's wearing you down: the 12-15 hours every week you spend on the phone with brokers, processing paperwork, filing invoices, and managing the business side of trucking. That time adds up to 624-780 hours a year — time you could be driving, resting, or being with your family.
Scaling Fleet
You've done the hard part — built a successful one-truck operation and decided to grow. You bought a second truck, maybe a third. But something nobody warned you about: dispatching doesn't scale linearly. When you had one truck, you could manage the loads, paperwork, and driver communication yourself. With 2-5 trucks, the workload tripled but there are still only 24 hours in a day. Drivers are sitting empty because you can't find loads for everyone fast enough. You're bouncing between phone calls trying to cover trucks across different states.
Helpful Resources
Tools and guides to help you make smarter decisions
Rate Comparison Tool
See how FF Dispatch rates compare to self-dispatching for your truck type
Deadhead Calculator
Calculate the true cost of empty miles and find your break-even rate
IFTA Estimator
Estimate your quarterly fuel tax by state — no spreadsheet needed
Freight Corridors
Explore 8 major interstate corridors with rates, backhaul strategies, and tips
Freight Categories
Seasonal patterns, handling requirements, and rate premiums by freight type
Trucking Glossary
45+ trucking terms explained in plain language with real-world examples
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