Owner Operator here no debt

If you have the reserves than sit a while and see what transpires. I'm not a long in the tooth O/O but 4 yrs with my own Authority I can tell you now isn't the best time . I think most will tell you the same but if you decided your course of action already than you really dont need our advice.

 

I lived through the epicenter of the housing crash and worked in valuations here in SW Florida at the time. .

It was brutal not even referring to the houses lost.

All the construction jobs, excavating jobs , paving , dumpster, crane ,concrete and steel fabrication, not to mention the appraisal business my wife and I were in.

It got rough, friends of mine that had large well financed construction and excavating companies lost everything.

My best buddy down here went from making a 140 grand a year as a head construction superintendent for Toll Brotheres to running a weed wacker for 10$ an hour for a buddy of ours in the lawn business.

The recession of 2008 won't even begin to compare to this era even if we get half the country back to work by May 15 th.

I ain't worried about starting a new trucking company in a few months, I am worried if there will be a job out there by fall .

 

There is one issue with trying to chase money not miles when rates are low... In order to chase the money when rates are low you need to chase the miles. It's very simple when rates are high you chase the money per mile because you will have a lot to choose from. When loads are sparse and rates are low you chase miles...

 

You already have a truck picked out (hopefully not bought yet) and you haven't called anyone about insurace for a new MC? Insurance should be the 1st call you make...

Just a thought, but yes loads have dropped drastically its officially 39% less loads on dat right now.. My suggestion is to work for someone and wait this out a bit. I'm a new MC of 6 months now and I wouldn't go into it today in this current situation..

Also.. no debt is not always a good thing.. making a truck payment early on is better than spending your much needed cash..

 

If you do that , In a short period of time, most likely you will not have your business anymore.

 

Not true... how do you think most guys at Megas run? They run miles. They profit by bulk not quality.. This is the mindset you have to take when rates are bad like they are now.. You might sit 2 days trying to find that perfect $2/load that pays $2k for 900 miles.. but you end up on that load 4 days because you sat 2 just to get it... it all depends where you are sitting vs where you will be sitting when you get to the next stop..l

 

The only advice I have is don’t expect to see 3000 miles a week beginning your first week, Better plan on 2000 to 2300 miles the first few months, you won’t start out as fast as you think. Best rework your numbers to fit lower miles.
Go on your own or lease to someone you are still the new kid. You will choose the wrong load, they will offer you the load that no one wants, odds are that truck will have problems to be worked out.
Remember that trucks eat money, 5 to 10k repairs bills for emissions repairs are very common.
The used truck you bought was maintained to make it the company trade cycle, not to last a million miles

 

You made a good point, however you are talking about Megas. I’m talking about 1 truck /trailer o/o. Don’t get confused.
Megas can make money if they profit .10 cents per mile. Multiply it by 500 trucks running 3,000 miles per week. Did you get it ????
Me, 1 man 1 truck 1 trailer . 2500 miles x .10 cents ????

 

Well what I'm looking at is the basis that the economy is screwed and you are in survival mode, which might be what is coming. Now when I say MEGA's I don't mean how they run their company drivers. I mean the lease guys or owner ops who run at MEGA's.

The lease guys pay out a fortune for their expenses and if you run right you can still make money doing those crappy $1.40/mile loads.. Trust me I did it.. No it wasn't fun and yes I busted my ### but yes if I could pay $1,5k week in expenses before fuel and still make money at a MEGA than I can still make money running $1.40 loads for myself if I have to..

Granted I'm running my MC as a hot shot right now not a semi, but even in a Semi I could pull a livable profit off $1.40 loads if I had to. I'm not taking this should be your business plan, but I'm talking if the economy keeps going down and it become survival of the fittest for a while... Yes you always want to aim for $2+ but I'm not gonna go broke if I can't get $2/mile..

Again when I'm saying this I'm saying assuming we are being faced with a recession.. If we are in survival mode you #### sure better believe I'll run my ### like I did at a MEGA if I have to because I'd still be making more than if I worked for someone else and if it's that bad anyway then jobs would be hard to come by..

Of course this all is relative to your expenses.. what your insurance rates are, truck payments ect...