Is it worth? Please advice

$31k gross or net?

 

There are quite a few folks trying to discourage you from this venture. They are doing so honestly and with your interest in mind. However, they could be very wrong. What you are wanting to do is hard but not impossible. Trucking is a business where there is a specific need. Competition is cut throat. Do you have business experience? I have 30 years in different businesses and one of my degrees is an MBA. I only have 9 years in trucking and I have just ordered my first two trucks and trailers. I have no doubts that I will be successful in the business. None. I see a niche that is overlooked and very profitable. I will attack that area first. Having only two trucks allows me the flexibility of quickly adapting into new areas. The trucks are new and the trailers are new. So maintenance should be less. No debt as the trucks are being purchase for cash. I will have to hire a driver but that should not be a problem as I plan on paying well above the market rate.

First thing I did was write a good business plan. I had it copyrighted so that I could show it around without worrying that the ideas would be taken. US Bank approved it almost immediately but I am paying cash for the first two and they will finance the next 8. I should be up and running by the fall. Until then, I am bored so I am going to drive for a company that I have never heard of before. One the Chinatown doesn't seem to know about. Adventure awaits.

You need to write a business plan. Putting it in writing will allow you to see what your problems could be. Learn all you can. No knowledge is wasted. If OOIDA doesn't teach you anything look elsewhere.

I went to West Africa and took over the running of a bank. 1 bank. I had never worked in a bank before. When we sold the banks to Hong Kong Shanghai Banks we had 189 banks in 18 countries. I became a success before I learned that what I was doing was impossible. Don't listen to those who tell you, you can't. Listen to that voice inside you that says, I will.

 

My dad was a trucker, and I sniffed too much diesel exhaust growing up. That's the short answer.

When family oriented young people looking for a career ask me what to do for a career; I tell them what my dad told me in a way. Except he said go to college. I finally did that, but really too late. Today, I think being self-employed in a skilled trade is better than getting a 4yr degree and working for other people. Too many of my friends who got into trades right out of high school and stuck with that trade are self-employed. They are making more money than most MBA graduates.

The key is to start early in something and stick with it. Make connections, build a local reputation, and learn as much as you can to master that trade.

That was my error and why I've had to drive trucks mostly. Because that's where most of my experience pays off. When you are young and single and adventurous, trucking is cool. Then later on, after you lose contact with family and friends. You realize the money is really limited while family and friends are missing.

Your stage in life and your own personality make a lot of difference on whether to go trucking; but I really envy my old high school friends who have families, get home every night, and are their own boss making 2 - 4 times what I do. One is a auto mechanic, one is an auto body guy, and the other is a plumber. Only one got a college degree, which he didn't need. They started in their fields working part time in high school. They all stuck with it.

 

To Roberto,

Keep in mind that you are looking into getting into a field in which the median annual salary is only 30% more than what you currently earn, and that you will be working the equivalent of 2 jobs just reach that level. And as another poster mentioned, when you take into consideration the high cost of living on the road, you will be right back to making what you currently earn in your two part time jobs with the only difference being that you seldom go home to visit your family.

As far as purchasing a truck and going the O/O route right out the gate, I wouldn't recommend; not necessarily because you need some exposure to the industry first, but rather because you don't even know if you will enjoy driving a truck yet. And if after sometime you don't find your job personally fulfilling, you will be stuck with thousands of dollars in equipment and or truck payments.

It seems to me that you're a family oriented person who wants flexibility by becoming an entrepreneur. If that's the case, have you ever thought about starting a business in a field that you're currently in? or one in which you have a talent or passion for? It's my belief that if you pursue this route you will have more freedom than you will ever have driving a truck.

If you do something you love you will never have to work a day in your life.

On a side note: rockyroad74 made an excellent point about how your stage in life affects whether you should go into trucking or not (or any field for that matter). I'm in my late twenties and I'm already thinking about whether I should continue driving for the next thirty years. I see too many drivers at the truck stops who are overweight, walking with limps or suffering from various health problems and it makes me wonder "is it worth it?". It makes going back to school and becoming a nurse much more enticing.

 

On a side note: rockyroad74 made an excellent point about how your stage in life affects whether you should go into trucking or not (or any field for that matter). I'm in my late twenties and I'm already thinking about whether I should continue driving for the next thirty years. I see too many drivers at the truck stops who are overweight, walking with limps or suffering from various health problems and it makes me wonder "is it worth it?". It makes going back to school and becoming a nurse much more enticing.

I happen to work in the largest gray iron foundry in the US, it is also a very demanding job. 12 days on, 2 days off with 12 hour shifts about 2-3 times a week..yes I get home every night but only see my wife for an average of 4 hours when not working 12 hours. Everyday I see people that are overweight, walking with limps, missing fingers and a host of other problems. "Is it worth it?" I say no and after 21 years of working in a factory and making $95k last year I am walking away and starting a career in the trucking business. I personally have known 3 guys that have worked there their entire lives only to retire and die after 2 years...I'm getting out. My point is that it really doesn't matter what profession your in...the question "Is it really worth it?" will always be asked.

 

Roberto,

trucking is not easy but it is worth it. If you have a supporting wife, things are a lot easier. Go to driving school and when you are done, find some good companies you can work with. Started companies have their issues but most of them try to keep their drivers happy because they know drivers are the key to their success.

 

You can do good at this but you need to buy your time I got my class B in 2000 and class A in 2005 I'm now doing the best I have ever done. And it's local And it's a Monday- Friday job 5am start time. I make around 60k a year
I have 0 deductible medical insurance dental vision

In 4 days I get 40 hrs whether I worked it our not + over time if I do go over 40 in the 4 day. 5th day is guaranteed OT at x 1.5 when there is Saturday work its payed at X2 pay.
All major holidays off and pay 10 hrs for

Them good Jobs are out there good luck bro