Thinking about owning own truck--questions

Pm Then...

 

Well I was in the same boat as you sort of and I decided to buy. I have financial backing and paid cash for my rig. Paid extra to have all new rubber etc as others stated pay cash for what you can and plan, plan, plan ahead. If you don't and you buy a nice rig for say 50k cause you can but don't put any thought into what could go wrong your first year it will cost you 3 to 4 times in a late delivery, late load, etc. etc. It's not just the money you pay out it is a reputation you have to build from the ground up. All of the shippers/receivers you dealt with for your present or past employers won't remember you from Adam and you have to build your reputation from scratch. You will have to spend a lot of time surfing the load boards till you find the right load, then take it and run but never accept your first offer. Always ask for more and never settle! I have my own trailer and I have never dealt with a bunch of whiny salesmen as I have with the trailer endeavr... they all want what they are asking for it and no negotiation well, I just ticked a couple off cause I made them hold a trailer and get me info etc. then when they threw a price out, I countered and the conversation was over. Within 24 hours they called me back and accepted my offer but I said that offer was no good anymore and asked for 1k less (or more depending on other deals in the works) and they have been calling but I let them talk to my voice mail then called them at my convenience... this is kind of the same strategy you have to use when dealing with brokers. Remember you are in control, they have the load but you have the means, they can't put it in their cars so they will negotiate as well. If you feel you would be in a financial bind and cave at your first offer, that broker will have you pegged and he will do it to you every time. They play the same game with carriers. If you think you would be put in that situation with your present finances, you may want to reconsider as it will happen and in time (as long as your learning curve is) it will get better. Personally if you can start a business in down times as these and survive, apply that same strategy when freight is rolling in by the tons, you will have a great business and when it slows down again (and it will) you will have a nice nest egg and can back off till it picks up.

It's not as easy as you may think. You will need to have funds in reserve as when you start you are familiar with less than half of what needs to be done, so as with anything, you will make mistakes, you will cost yourself some money but it is not all bad losses so long as you learn from it. You need to devise a business plan and figure your expenses annually, monthly, weekly, daily etc. Mileage figures you can guess at but until you establish a pattern it will be just guessing. You need to account for fuel but only as a per cost expense as the amounts needed per job will very etc but you should base your fuel at 1mpg less than what your tractor gets. Budget yourself this way as you will start to build a reserve and not get your figures to a week by week living standard. Your reserve will be built by what you have left over at the end of the month. Spend your extras that you have left over at the end of a week and you will be short come bill time every time. Until all of your monthly fixed bills are paid you do not get anything except the bare minimum you need to get by with.

I have seen too many businesses fold due to the fact that they spent their weekly profits before they where actually theirs. It is a common thing to do and is where you need to be very disciplined in your day to day activities. You will see a lot more cash up front than you have as a C/D but you have to remember even though it is in your bank account it is not all entirely yours.

Be sure you put enough away each week to cover future repairs etc. I have also seen too many people run the crap out of their equipment and then when it breaks it really breaks. I figured my business plan to put a new set of rubber every year on the tractor and trailer whether it needs it or not. If the tires have 50% tread etc cause you took care of them and didn't run hard you can sell them and put new back on. New rubber will yield 100% chance less of tire failures over caps or tires that have gone beyond 50% of their expected duty cycle. Put enough money away to change your oil on a regular basis. I know oil mfg's can say their stuff will last 100k between complete changes etc and you only have to change your filter every 20K etc but keep in mind, you can go intervals like that with synthetics but they cost allot more. Say you decide to run synthetic but plan on a complete change at 75% of its life span and change your filters at the recommended intervals, get an oil analysis kit and get a reading at every filter change and learn what all of the information means. You keep a good record of that you will be able to tell when you are needing a valve job, injector seals etc. way before you see the obvious signs as when it fails it will always fail at midnight X-Mas eve in the middle of BFE and the local wrench is closed for 3 days for the holidays... see my point. Breakdowns occur at the worst possible times and PM will save you literally.

Old equipment, I know a lot of folks will tell you pretty don't pay the bills but a beater and sloppy appearance will cost you as well. This I know from experience working for a shipper, if a rig pulled to the dock in rough shape and we where sending time sensitive materials we would pull another carrier in. This will be a trend in freight specially as the rates go up. People don't care about your costs, expenses etc. they care about when their product will be at their clients dock and they want that warm fuzzy feeling when they meet the carrier for the first time. Now if you work for the big corp carriers the clientèle they have is sold on assurance of a carrier having multiple tractors etc and if one breaks down their load will be re powered and 9 times out of 10 if the load won't be delayed they shipper never hears about it but they know it happens. As a solo rig, you break down their freight is late. You break down, rent a truck or find a way to get it delivered on time at your expense, let the shipper know, you will be a rock star in their eyes and your stock just went up.

It's all about the details. Hope this helps. It is not meant to encourage or detour as I always feel that any man who is trying to better himself, his way of life etc. deserves a shot, but they need plausible information and facts that just don't appear out of the air, and criticism in a venture like this should be taken with a grain of salt. You need to learn to read between the lines.

 

Englewood. The more I read threads and posts the more I learn. Hours ago I was frustrated b/c I have a truck that I don't know where to put on the road. Now I turned my opinion around and see that I do have something. My truck is paid for. Has low miles. I park it for free in a locked lot.
Sure it needs some work. I don't have a payment though. If I knew where to go with my own authority I would be there already.

 

Do you have your authority and don't know where to go to get loads or you don't know where to go or what to do to get your authority??

 

englewood.....
A company in PA wants me to get my truck on the road to pull end dump for them as an inside driver. 10% of the load for trailer rental and 10% they take on the load.
but they will pay 36% fsc to me.

Another company wants me to pull their scrap trailer around DC, MD, VA, NJ and the pay is about the same.

I own the truck outright. I would probably go to OOIDA or getloaded (if I can say that) and have them process all my stuff in one shot.

Just want to do the right thing. Do I gamble all on running the truck and making a little money, or stay at the company I am at and be a dog with no raises or barely benefits to my family.
You understand

 

that's a mighty steep trailer rental

 

also think about runing on wvo lots of it for sale!!! can keep the money you save in your bank.

 

Hey Medicine. yeah. 10% is high on the trailer rental. I should either buy a used end dump and get a little more in my pocket or by a used step deck or flat and try to jump in here like everyone else.
All the end dumps haul here is bark mulch and double ground. NC to PA and north. I can't see too many good south bound loads though. Too expensive to D/H.