Starting Dump Truck Business

I'm new here and trying to get as much information as possible. I'm looking to get started in the Dump Truck business (tri axle), owner operator and will be the driver. I'm in the Philadelphia area and there's always steady road construction and quarries all over. I've heard the money is decent in this area whether driving for quarries (tonnage) or hourly. The one person I know he area doing this says he's busy everyday mostly and average gross is $600/day and average daily mileage of 120/day. Seems pretty good even with all the expenses one has (fuel, maintenance, truck payment, insurance...etc), obviously there are always unforseen maintenance costs that one needs to take into account.

I know some days will be better than others and some weeks work will be called off due to weather. Also not sure how the winters are, my friend is pretty new in the business and hasn't worked the winter yet. I could imagine when it snows things slow down for days. I also heard about getting plow equipment and driving for Penndot. I'm trying to do as much research as possible and from multiple sources. Any and all insight would be appreciated. My plan is to get my CDL now during the winter and train with my friend during the winter without quitting my day job. So by end of winter (Feb/Mar) I can get started on my own. I'm not getting into this with expectations to be rich, but to earn a better living than I'm making now.

I know maintenance is high on Dump trucks with all the abuse and driving with max load. I can do the basic minor maintenance myself (grease truck, oil/filter change..etc), even larger jobs but will take double the amount of time doing them. I don't want to get started in the 'slow' season now with winter since I don't know what to expect, and also rather start as an owner operator instead of driving for a company to start.

Any insight, tips, suggestions is much appreciated.

Thanks

 

Thanks for the input guys. Would you mind listing what expenses? The hourly rate here is I think around $70-80/hr. And working a full day will average gross around 600 by doing that. His average miles were 120/day. Obviously some days are better than others, and some days put more miles than others. But if I could run $1000+/day would be much better. If I could net $1000/week, I would be doing better than I'm doing now. Any thoughts?