The cost of becomming and Owner Operator.

When ever anyone wants to be an O/O but make the comment about dispatching themselves, they need to be company drivers.

you don’t dispatch yourself, you find work.

 

Still need a trailer in there too. They can be harder to get than the truck at this point.

 

These are such loaded questions it’s really hard to say, someone driving a dump truck 30,000 miles a year will be completely different then a reefer team running 300,000

 

Well…..

I just put all new tires on, I have super singles on the drives and 315/80’s on the steers as I have a big bunk truck
Before my discount the drives online were are $1600 each and steers around $1000 - $1100 each
With my discount I paid $7200 for 6 tires and a 3 axle alignment

Like mentioned a loan may be pretty hard unless you know the banker or have history
I’ve been with my bank long enough they just ask what I need and how I want any loans set up as well as lower interest rates than normal

I figure a truck and trailer payment whether I have one or not
I base my numbers on around 110-120,000 miles per year

My insurance is $.08 per mile
Truck and trailer $0.31
Fuel was $0.34 now it’s like $0.70
Maintenance is $.10

My break even is $1.19 per mile but to be the owner you need to average a lot more than that. Sure you are buying the truck but they wear out. Break. Etc it’s not like land that goes up in value so that truck $ is just like air. You will need it at some point
If you can run for $2.20 all miles then be a company driver as the juice won’t be worth the squeeze and some companies are paying close to that extra $1 per mile with experience

Now if you can average close to $3 per mile. All miles then the math looks better but I doubt that will happen on day 1

 

And if that idea he has comes to be make sure he doesn’t look at total numbers for a load

Had a friend do just this and he would grab loads in Florida for $5-6000 going to Seattle
I would tell him he was nuts
His reply would be. I’ve never made $5-6000 in a week

I told him. And you still won’t and you can’t afford to move that truck for that
I personally wouldn’t have hauled a picture of that load in my car for that money

There’s a lot to learn. Especially if you’re not business minded

Said it before. Getting in is as easy as signing up for Amway
Sure there’s money in both but way more get in and out than make it

 

Its going to very widly and those startup costs can be deceptive. Whats being listed here assumes everything goes perfectly. Go read my thread here. New owner torn on a new truck. its a pretty comprehensive list of things that can not only go off the rails in a hurry, but have those self same rails slam into the back of your head.

That being said if you get a new truck expect to pay around 220k-300K depending on features and models due to the current state of affairs. Used you CAN get a decent 30k truck all the way up to 500k depending on so many factors its hard to list them all. Intrest is going to be 10% for perfect credit upto 20% for #### credit and everything inbetween.

Insurance is 20-40K a year depending on state, limits set, experince, truck value and so on.

Fuel is varabile but budget 7500 a month for your first 6 months. Even if you dont use it all, you need to be aware that prices can go up and tons of long hauls and current fule varaibility can affect this widly.

Maintaince is around $2000 a month on my 17 pete (tires, oil, ect)

You also need to budget 25k a year for breakdowns and tows and have that in cold hard cash. MINIMUM.

And these are only SOME costs and a few things to consider. Others have listed other costs and items.

Im going to level with you here. While trucking is one of those rare professions that doesnt have any requirements and literally anyone male, female, short, tall, fat. Skinny, white, black or even a #### space alien can do. However, its also a profesion that is not for everyone and many find a horible experince and hate doing. Not to mention just how many things about the job are hard to explain to someone who has never done it. i always recomend people start as a company driver long before they go O/O.

There is a reason many of us recomend it and why something like 8/10 drivers go bankrupt their first year and more then half the rest do so the second year. There is also a reason we recomend old iron to new O/Os not messesarily because they are better trucks. In many casrs they arent or are worse. But unlike a plastic truck you can limp a damaged ailing old iron block for quite a long time and buy yourself time. New plastic trucks like mine? One error and your looking at a $2500 tow and weeks of downtime if its one of hundreds of things you cant fix yourself.

 

yup thats another 50 k for a 2015 or 2016 dry trailer . That will prob need brakes and tires in a year .

 

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With a brand new CDL, he's going to pay an outrageous interest percentage, for a so-so truck at best. And he's looking at 20% down at least. No one is going to give it to him for 0.

He's also going to pay THOUSANDS of dollars a month just for insurance.

 

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