Yearly Profit After Expenses...

Man,so much negative from o/op's. I hope when you get going your not a prick and as negative as these guys. Just keep your goals in focus and it can work. I have a buddy that drove for a company for 3 years,they pissed him off ,so he bought his own truck and started pulling brokered loads. That has been 3-4 years ago now. He started with a $12000.00 international and now owns 5 trucks with 4 drivers and pulls all brokered loads. Does he pull some cheap freight? Yes! But he lives a really nice life with very nice things.

 

Yeah there are alot of negative people out here but they also have information so I will shift through the crap for the little bit of gold. I have heard of people making it as well if they do it right. It is nice to see a bit of encouragement every now and then. Thanks guy and I would not be as negative as these guys, realistic? yes but not negative.

 

But when you have no experience driving or otherwise in the industry....

How do you know what is crap & what isn't?

 

Its called referencing and cross examining information. Any thing I hear on here I ask a few other drivers questions relating the subject and use that plus information I can find on the internet to make an informed desicion as to what sounds like good information and what sounds like an old wives tale. Not everyone out there is gullible or dumb enough to just accept everything they hear.

 

And "Normal" people would just accept a company position & get real life experience while tracking their costs on someone elses dime.

By doing it that way, you won't have to rely on second hand information cause you will have first hand experience.



But then again, what do I know. I'm just a stupid truck driver.

 

I understand that more first hand experience would be very usefull here. However as has been stated before I have already looked into that option.

 

I am posting this again because it took me so long to write my edit that there were many posts afterward and I want to make sure you see the full version:


Wow $300.00 per month for food for two people? I think you need a reality check. My family of three spends about $600.00 per month on groceries and we are frugal. We have everything we need and most everything we want. This is buying groceries at chosen locations and cooking at home and covers none of the costs of cooking. So I'd calculate 600 + 40% / 3 people * 2 people if I wanted a realistic number and that is $560.00. If I wanted a real number I would figure I wouldn't have enough time to cook and buy groceries and I would figure 125 per person per week * 2 * 4.333333 (weeks in a month) which comes to $ 1083.33 per month. That would give me a little for unexpected incidentals. Trust me the learning curve will be far too steep to have time to work at saving money on food. If you save $500 on food you'll lose $1000. on something else that you should have spent that time on. You will need every waken minute to run the business end of things and keep the truck up and paperwork and maintenance and and and.

With the money you are spending on a truck and trailer you will not run for three monthes without major repairs and breakdowns. You will be lucky if you run three weeks. I made it almost two days before my first major breakdown.

Somewhere I posted about my first trip in a brand new truck many years ago. I never recovered from that first breakdown and eventually lost the truck. It took me nearly ten years to payoff the startup capital that I borrowed against my dad's house.

What you are talking about is a big gamble against the worst odds possible. Are you ready to lose everything because that is the worst case scenario?

Do you know how much it costs for a shower? To send in your paperwork?

I have owned two trucks and I would not use your calculations even with my experience.

Do you know how to adjust your brakes? What it costs if you get caught with them out of adjustment?

Do you know what speed to start off the top of the Grapevine or Cabbage Mountain? Do you know what conditions you would consider taking the runaway ramp? You need to know these things and have a plan. I almost killed myself and no telling who else on Cabbage because I started the decent 10 MPH too fast (jakes were a luxury in those days). Yes I started off the top at 25 instead of 15 which had worked many times. When I made the last right hand corner I used all the brakes I had and made it somewhere around 85 and had to kick it out of high gear before I hit the bottom. The truck figured out 102 MPH on paper and ran out at 98 MPH on the dyno at the cat house in Cheyenne. About two round trips and every time I applied the brakes a drum would explode. This was an expensive lesson. Yes I was careless but I was not malicious. I was just plain in over my head and too busy fighting aligators to tread water. Man was God looking out for me!

With your history of speeding it is almost a given that you will get a speeding ticket. How much will that cost? With the cost of your insurance and your driving record you will be one ticket away from failure for a long time. One or two tickets and they will cancel your insurance, then what? With your driving record one incident that they pay out on and you get cancelled. That is why a company will not take you on. If you get cancelled and can get insurance you can figure 2 -3 times for insurance. Can you afford $20,000. or $ 30,000.? In 1979 I was paying about $3,000. when I had a crash with just myself involved. Llyods of London was the only company that would insure me at $ 10,000. So three times is a real possibility with any kind of claim. In today's business climate I doubt you could get it for even $ 30,000. if you have a claim.

Now I'm just a negative old man, I know that. But on the speeding thing I know based on my own experience when I was a young pup like you. Back in those days when you got a ticket for 83/70 they laughed when you told them they should have waited a couple of minutes because you still had two gears left.

What about logbooks? I have been out of this for a while and I can tell from the posts I read, very few drivers out there, that aren't old hands, have any idea how to legally maximize their available hours even using loose leaf logs. Most of them think 2500 miles a week and a 34 hour restart is trucking. I doubt if you will make it like that starting out.

What about bad weather? Do you go around, go through or wait it out? I can tell you about some of my expensive learning experiences. Back in those days I never owned a set of chains and I never stopped for weather. Not once in three years, mostly running the Northwest did I let weather stop me. Police setting there making you chain up, just wait till they go home and go to bed. If the gates were closed I went around on the two lane roads. I lost money several times thinking I was a real hand.

Now this is just a few of the things I could think of. I don't think there is a single person on here that doesn't want you to be sucessful as long as you aren't a rate cutting operator that just adds to the problem that they are fighting every day. The two biggest problems are you don't have a grasp on the true cost of operation which almost insures you will become a part of this rate problem and you failed to figure the cost of your learning experience which will most likely run hundreds of dollars a week. I assure you I know because I did it like you want to in 1979 and it cost a bundle then. It will cost at least 4 times what it cost then. Not to mention it was a much more forgiving climate then. I was lucky money was all I lost. One serious mistake and you end up in prison. The accident could be someone else's fault but with your experience and driving record a good attorney will find something that could put you in prison. All he needs is one little thing you did not do, did not know about, or did not understand and he will build from there. You have spent alot of time working the numbers but there is so much more than numbers and driving.

I am trying to get you to understand what the others on here are trying to tell you by explaining a few of the things that they are putting in the equation without explaining to you. I've done what you want to do and it wasn't pretty. I won't even tell you everything that happened to me on a public forum. My pride won't allow me to do that. I was lucky I never hurt anyone and I survived. I wouldn't do it again in today's world. And believe me there are few things in my life I would do over or different even given the chance. I did learn enough to be sucessful with a second old worn out truck and turned it into something to be proud of. But I pampered that oil burning POS till I made enough to in-frame it. I was lucky too. One breakdown and I would have been borrowing again. A major breakdown and I would have been on a sinking ship in a sea of aligators again.

Now all ######## aside this is what I think:

Best case you survive and go on to be successful.
Most likely you fail and recover in a few years. You're young and you will shake it off. You might even try again and have success.
Possibly you end up in a situation where you lose everything and it takes 10 years to recover because you rode the sinking ship down.
Worst case you end up losing your freedom and the possibility of ever owning anything in your name again. Read big civil judgement.

Now if you understand and are willing to accept these real possibilities and you still want it, go for it. But please be a little more realistic in the possibilities of success and what is really at stake. And by all means do not haul cheap freight. I can't see loading anything for less that $2.00 a mile and I would have to do more research before I decided that was acceptable. This would depend on the lanes and the trailer type of your choice. What they will pay and what they offer are two different things. Since I owned my first truck fuel has quadrupled and freight has only doubled. Minumum wage has increased from $1.55 to $7.25 which is about 4.67 times. Whats wrong with this picture?

Also you say food for two. Make sure you have not figured that second person into the success of your business venture. This is another mistake I made. My best friend and I quit our jobs and hit the road. Now we had been best friends for many years. After that first breakdown in Gallup, NM, about 1300 miles after I left the dealership in my new truck, my friend got a ride home and was done with trucking. Over the duration of my ownership I tried two more times and neither lasted more than a trip and I had grown up around all of the guys I tried. In my town you had few choices for a future: 1) truck driver, 2) steel plant, 3) military, 4) prison and 5) career alchoholic. In one instance we almost killed each other with our fists and in the other we made it about 250 miles with me in the sleeper before he got us pulled over and a ticket for no Kansas permit ($250.) because he flashed a thanks to a driver he was passing and left the trailer lights off. Now mind you I never once bought a Kansas permit and that was the only time I got caught. You can't run like we used to, I'm just trying to get you to see how often and how much the unexpected is just around the next corner.

I was young and dumb and did not even have a business plan. There were nearly a dozen old outlaws in town and if they could make it I could too. This was stupid but even if I had prepared a business plan in 1979, using the knowledge I have now in 2011, it would have still not had all the contingencies covered. This is what everyone is trying to tell you. Even with the 30 + years of experience and 50 - 60 years of wisdom (which you show no respect for) that some of these more experienced hands have they know that they can't come close to predicting on paper what will happen in reality.

Now maybe some of these old hands have not shown you the patience you think they should have. Unfotunately, you sure haven't shown them the respect they have earned, deserve and that you owe them. You will find out that patience can often be in short supply, among experienced persons in any trade, when it seems like someone is thinking they can enter a trade without paying their dues. Don't mistake this lack of patience for someone mistreating you. You owe respect to those who have paid their dues that are training you. You have to earn their repect. It does not matter if you are talking about driving a truck, electrical, plumbing or hvac. As young and dumb as I was starting out I would have never disrespected the drivers that helped me get my start like you have Blackw900. And if I had they would have knocked my teeth down my throat. Why do young folks today fell so entitled? You haven't payed your dues. If you plan on taking short cuts for God's sake show some repect for your mentors so you can save yourself some heartache. Even with a good support network your chances of success are slim. If you keep your know it all attitude and your air of entitlement I promise you experienced drivers will watch you make mistakes and fail while laughing out loud. If you humble yourself we will give you all the knowlege and help we have to offer. It may not be what you want to hear and it may not be delivered as sweet as you would like but it will be more valuable than you can imagine. Now take the time to think about this. I type with three fingers and two thumbs at about fifteen words per minute. I did not spend several hours on this because I have nothing else to do with my time. I did this in hopes that you and others considering this trade would have more facts to make an informed decision with.

 

I thank you for all the information I will certianly take the time to review it all and digest it. I am prepared to accept the very real and likely event of failure, however there is a chance of success that to me makes it worth the risk. As far as the lessons I am sure I will learn a few the hard way, but hey at least I'm a fast learner. The speeding thing is a not an issue between the respect I have for the truck and other drivers combined with my fiance in the passenger seat I will never have a chance to speed. For the last part and I don't mean to sound disrespectful here but i heard those stories from my dad my whole life about how if he had talked to his dad like that he would've been knocked out and all that jazz, he also showed me more than once what would've happened to him. Before you think it NO I am not asking for sympathy. I have respect for all the people on here that are wiser than me in this field and accept that they are, however you, they, and any other person out there is no better than me and I am no better than anyone else. I will not sit by and "humble" myself or kiss ### to anyone out there. If someone wants to be an a s s hole about something I am going to tell them that they are being an #######. I learned a long time ago that if I don't stand up for myself nobody else will. I will gladly take a beating before being called a liar, or coward. That's just the way I turned out to be.

Once again thankyou very much for all the information you have provided.

On a side note to everyone else out there, this is the kind of post I like to see. I don't mind a reality check and being told that it is likely I will fail, I know that. However, this man has provided me with very real and usefull information.

 

That is what makes this country great - you can take a risk with nothing to your name and succeed. As long as you truly understand the risk, you are willing to take that risk and understand the odds of being successful are low then by all means go for it.

As far as being humble I think you are wrong. I was raised that way and it has paid off ten-fold for me. I have a 31 year old son that learned it from me and is very successful. I have a 14 year old son that I have tried to teach this but his environment renders him unable to learn to be humble. I worry about him. Everyone is not equal like you guys are taught nowdays. You earn what you get. You are not born deserving it and equal to Grandpa.

Sorry but this new way of thinking will be the downfall of this great country that offers the rich opportunity that you are about to take advantage of. By the time you have Grandkids I doubt that many opportunities will exist because the past few generations were born deserving not earning. When we stop earning we will eventually stop having. Good luck. I was as stubborn and bull-headed as you but much more respectful and it was a long hard road. It can be done though.

 

Once again I extend my thanks for your wise words. I know I am fairly stubborn but I guess it's just one of those things about being young. I agree that I am not exactly equal to the people with more experience on here in the trucking industry, however I am sure there are some fields in which I have more knowledge than them. I don't mind people poking fun at me but when they insult my intelligence by saying that there is absolutely no possible way to do this I take it personally. Again I cannot thank you enough for your wisdom sir. I will keep everyone posted on how things go. If I have to I will make a blog.