Looking for advice.

I have a decent credit score, about $20k to put into a truck and figure about another $20k (which I will have in another year) for operating expenses. Looking to BUY my own late-model truck and lease on with one of the better companies out there doing reefer/Hazmat/dryvan.

I have all my endorsements plus TWIC and a passport.

Been OTR for a year, will have 2 years under my belt before I even consider taking on the debt.

I figure on a one-year-old repo, at $120-125k, for a debt load of 100kish.

I'm trying to do tha math and make it work.

I have ZERO mechanical aptitude. As in, I STINK at doing my own repairs beyond fluid/filter changes and bulb replacements. So I will have to account for maintenance, because I want a truck with warranty on it for at least two, if not three years, otherwise I'm going to have to depend on someone else to not rip me off on repairs, and that's not something I am good at nor have any interest in. I know someone good, but I'm not sure I trust him to not blank me over.

I'm really GOOD at sales and Cust. Service. And paperwork isn't intimidating to me. I can do time management and multitask pretty well. I can reliably make 600+ miles per day barring insane weather.

Is this even doable? I've had a couple of guys urge me to buy a 25k truck, put $5k into it and run for one-2 years and hope for the best with no payments and trust to luck that that truck with 600k miles on it will perform.

I would be all over that except I cannot do my own maintenance so a $15k repair will put me under.

Just looking for some guidelines here. I have the cash. In a year, when I want to do this, I will have operating expenses of $20k and a down payment of 20k. I'm just looking to see what you guys think of this. Am I nuts? Would I be better off waiting another year year and just working for Walmart?

 

I would be leasing, rahter than GETTING my own authority.

 

I'm doing all my research before I jump into this with a pretty huge investment. I'm 52 in June. I started this journey a year ago and already know I like OTR. I'm looking at getting a small company started in about ten years so I can sit home and dispatch and sell instead of driving til I'm 80. My retirement just walked off with my ex-wife, so now I'm scrambling. Because there is no way n Hell, even saving $20k a year, that I can retire at 67 and not be dirt poor.