Starting a trucking COMPANY worth it?

I forgot to say that if not for the wealth of information on this board and the people who freely share their knowledge, I surely would have failed.

 

Glad you were able to get the help you needed seapup!

 

Hey, I lived hand to mouth for more years then I care to remember before it turned around for me.Thank God.So good for you.Hang in there.

Did you find out why those drive line components failed?
New drivers often shock load the drive line.Not saying it is the reason but if you haven't isolated cause the problem it will return.

 

Pretty sure it was related to the rear input shaft being worn. I think in all these repair issues I may have found a good shop. And also within 20 miles of home. Without going in to too much detail, when the input shaft tanked the truck was 200 miles from home. Had it towed to a local shop and got an estimate for repair. It was a shocker. Called my local shop and he went to where the truck was, towed it back to his shop, installed all the parts needed and the bill came to 1/2 of the other shops estimate.
If that wasn't enough the disassembly charge from the other shop he knocked off his bill.
I won't say where the shop is because I don't know if it's permitted here, but if it is I will gladly share. If not pm me.

 

Hello everyone I really enjoyed reading this thread because I'm on the same boat my uncle owns a business and everything you guys said was correct my uncle told me the same thing he started with his own truck and my father which is a o/o and within a year and a half my uncle now owns 8 trucks. I plan on one day opening a business of my own with trucks. I'm learning the business part at school and I go see my uncle in the week just to see how he runs the company and what to expect. He is in the container business out here in nj again thank you very much for everything.
Jose

 

You want it short and sweet? You need to first know everything there is to know about running a regular business. Second you need a good chunk of money in the bank along with a little good credit. Third you need to have a CDL and about 5years driving experience and mechanical ability. Walla! Good luck!

 

I am told it costs about $10,000 to get your own authority to run a truck or trucks... most guys start out as a driver and build their business...and they need or have found customers that want to pay him to haul their stuff. You can't make any money trucking without customers...

I dont' see it as a way for a rookie to start up unless you want a lot of debt and have a good banker...being in the business with your name on the door is all about taking care of the licenses, the insurances, the road tax, the this tax, and the that tax....you will spend a lot of time doing office work to get started....that is why o/o will lease their rig to a company that has the authority to haul from the feds, and that same company then provides the loads to haul--- how do you do that -- I don't know, as I have not tried...but you could have your name on the door that way and not have the $10,000 expense to get your own authority, but you still have to deal with the license, taxes, insurance, etc,

I am not sure what part of the business you think is wheeling and dealing? Getting the loads? You take the crumbs doing that on your own, unless you have an inside track to freight...buying the truck? a one time deal...

 

$10,000 to get your own authority? No. $300 for the authority. There are other things, such as the Heavy Highway Use Tax, state authority, insurance, vehicle registration, IFTA, IRP, etc, but the fed authority itself is only $300.

 

Thanks for the info on the cost for just the fed authority....I meant to say it would be about $10,000 to get everything set up to allow you to roll your own truck down the road as a o/o, plus the cost of the truck and trailer.

 

Once you add everything together, yes, it does come to about $10K. Not cheap, that's for sure!