Purchasing trucks

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by stark21, Dec 13, 2014.

  1. stark21

    stark21 Light Load Member

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    Jul 25, 2010
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    I am in the process of purchasing 3 trucks and leasing on to a company, I plan on driving one of the trucks and will be hiring 2 other drives for the other trucks.. I will be getting paid 70% of load which will be Van and Reefer. My plan was have one truck do west coast runs, one truck midwest and south and myself do east coast. I am just seeing what would be a good starting salary for the other drivers, I was thinking 23%
     
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  3. barroll

    barroll Road Train Member

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    Running three trucks in three markets will be three times the work. You'll never have a truck to rescue a load if a tractor or driver goes down. You'll have to work with three times as many brokers. You'll never get a shipper being impressed by your service, and paying your other drivers back in like.

    Also, old-timer wisdom suggests you need to buy three times as many trucks to have much luck at this.
     
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  4. Allow Me.

    Allow Me. Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Yeah, 23% sounds decent, however, spreading your trucks around the U.S. could be a problem. As an owner, you need to see your equipment at least monthly and also get it serviced at home, not at some fly-by-night mechanic a 1000 mi away.
     
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  5. stark21

    stark21 Light Load Member

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    Virginia Beach
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    ok, thanks for the tips and advice right now I am just running thoughts and ideas do best run the trucks so that they are profitable.
     
  6. FLATBED

    FLATBED Road Train Member

    Get an idea of your operating costs per mile and the true value of the loads , 70% of $2.20 / mile freight is sort of ok but $1.50 / mile freight is useless
     
  7. generallee

    generallee Medium Load Member

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    3 trucks could work under the right circumstances. Maybe not as profitable as more but it could be done. The biggest issues would be finding 2 good drivers you trust to take care of your trucks tho. I'd for sure want them all running the same lanes. Preferably all 3 on the same dedicated gig would be best. Everything would have to be ideal tho to really make any $$$ worth the hassles involved tho. I've thought of this myself and I'm definately not sold on the idea by any means. Way too many variables that could go south in a hurry and would require way more capital than I have to survive any number of things that could easily go wrong.
     
  8. Hurst

    Hurst Registered Member

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    I would start with 1 truck. Drive it yourself, get to know the truck. Get to know the market and the brokers your dealing with. Once you feel you have a grip on things and money is good, then find a driver for that truck. Watch how he does before you get the 2nd truck started. If he quits or you have to go rescue that truck in 2 weeks, you need to make sure your driver is stable and reliable 1st. Rinse and repeat until you get to where you want to be.

    To me 3 trucks means 3 times the trouble, 3 times the expenses, and 3 times as easy to go broke.

    I'm still getting my feet wet as an O/O so please do not look at my example as gospel. I just like to err on the safe side. I've already failed once. This is my second go around. So I have reason to be paranoid.

    Hurst:smt111
     
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  9. barroll

    barroll Road Train Member

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    I don't see how he'd find 2 good drivers when nobody else can find one.

    If he has three trucks, and one driver abandons a load while the other is running, then the owner has two trucks down while he goes out to find and retrieve the abandoned rig and load. One bad driver puts 66% of his fleet out of commission, possibly for days.

    If he has 9 drivers and himself in the same scenario, then he only loses 20% of his capacity to get the truck, and there is a high probability there is another driver closer to the truck than he is. Even if he has two other trucks in the shop and two empty trucks due to turnover, he's still taking less of a loss than in the original situation (especially if he can put the drivers of the trucks in the shop in the empty trucks).

    You don't have to rely on the crutch of ideal situations when you have volume on your side.
     
    cnsper Thanks this.
  10. spyder7723

    spyder7723 Road Train Member

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    I'm surprised no one has commented on how he plans to get by with such low pay. 23 percent of 70 is garbage.
     
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  11. crzyjarmans

    crzyjarmans Road Train Member

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    Especially with no benefits, sorry brother, doesn't sound good to me
     
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