30K saved and needing advice on becoming Owner operator by 2024

All of your questions have been answered in this forum 100 times over. I suggest you spend the next year reading through this site heavily before spending a dime.

 

Good job on saving $30K. Buy a spiral notebook and on the first page write down your start date as an o/o and stick to it. Until then, continue to save cash and learn about credit and use what you learn. Write down the goals that you want to achieve for your business and search for companies that will partner with you to achieve your goals, take notes on each company, and write down what you like and dislike. Go to the Mid America Truck show in March, in Louisville, KY. Start searching for and talking to repair shops, mechanics, parts dealers, insurance companies and other owner operators from now and establish relationships.

As far as purchasing a truck - buy the one that meets your needs for the job you want it to do. New or used it's got wheels and its going to break at some point. If new - stick to the maintenance schedule! It is cheaper to maintain a truck than it is to repair it, especially with parts being difficult to get. Pay a mechanic to inspect any truck you're interested in. Get a rig dig report and demand the maintenance and repair history. If used - I would suggest a truck that has less than 300K miles on it that is not a repo. I would also look for a truck with a manual transmission and at least one year of remaining OEM warranty - and the option to buy extended oem or dealer warranty. Not a fan of third party warranties.

Be wary of people who are very negative or too positive. Do your own homework and confirm everything. Own your mistakes and learn from them. Enjoy the fruits of your labor and share them.

Remember - Calm seas do not make us good sailors. Godspeed!

 

Especially the threads from the member “doubleyellow”

 

Perfect example and brimming with great information.

 

Cash in the bank is losing value everyday. Need to park it somewhere safe and readily available. i bonds seem to be best. So I’ve heard. Only tied up for 1 yr. Limits on how much you can invest. Able to exceed the limit, when filing taxes. Buying more bonds through the tax filing. Worth looking into.

 

Before part shortage I would say go for it. Now with parts missing I would be scared to go to work without 3 months of pay and being able to still have at least 20K in bank afterwords.

 

Currently going through the process as I type this and believe me it is not easy as I figured it wouldn't be. I have $30k plus another $15k because with the shortage of trailers I plan on renting I haven't a choice should buying one makes sense. Since your looking at 2024 & inflation I would add another $20k and call it $50k needed.

 

^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Put that money down on a four plex, rent three of it out while you stay in the 4th. Go get a another job.

30k is a starting maintenance fund. Then you need another 30k to pay bills, while your using your maintenance fund to wait for parts and someone to work on your truck, because everyone is currently booked out for 2 weeks.