LTL 48ft Or 53ft Trailer

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@Admin please remove

 

In response to @Freeway48

“Don’t put the carriage in front of the horses”
or
“Ready, Fire, Aim”
(I had a boss who did that one all the time)

Do as much research as possible!!!

A 53’ is going to be a top choice for most BROKERS, and you might be a MAGNET for heavy cheap loads on pallets. A 48’ is more likely to keep the heavy cheap loads away from you.

Don’t just think that the 53’ will get you the most loads, you’re looking for the most money.

Anybody can stay loaded with cheap loads, the bottom feeders - not enough money to cover expenses, and fuel, and a good wage and health insurance and don’t forget about taxes, and all of the fees that states want from you. And a hefty amount for maintenance, especially with lots of miles.

Big investment to make (taking cheap loads with a 53’) with the possibility of making about same you’d make as a company driver with no worries. Why do OO and not company where all the risk is on the company, not you. Yes more company BS. But you’ll sleep better with someone else worrying about their investment.

Having your own authority is no advantage these days, used to be until everybody heard about the big money they could make with Landstar etc. Result = market is flooded with OOs with authorities.

Do a search here for “authority” and read the latest results,

Also what is the age of your tractor? What specs? Mileage? Paid off or amount of payment and how many payments left?

Think about it, think very carefully, before taking the leap!

 

Great equipment, and your experience is definitely there. Am I to understand that Grandad wants you to start your own company? The best thing that you could do, is buy him out and transfer the authority to you. I obviously don’t know the size of his operation, so if it’s out of reach for you financially I can understand you want to start your own. He probably has shippers that are loyal to him, with or without brokers. I would do research directly with shippers, you might find a good one, but sometimes you have to knock on a few doors, and sell yourself and what you can do for them. Don’t shoot a price right then and there. Time to go home to work up a professional quotation.

Dealing with brokers can be a tough road, you need to be able to negotiate the rate up to where you can make the money. If they call and ask for a favor, hold their feet to the fire for a good load in return for the favor of taking a bad load. You can’t wait for the phone to ring, if you’re not comfy with doing that - no shame. Some great OOs don’t have that ability to negotiate, and leave a lot of money on the table.

Networking is overrated in my opinion if it doesn’t result in getting loads. So networking meetings can be a waste of time, but try putting something together with networking, you just never know what you’ll find.

And someone to help you with the back office stuff, unless you can do it all.

You just never know

Someone with their head on straight like you. Hopefully a good reliable truck. Refrigerated seems to be where it’s at right now, people always gotta eat! You have green check marks ✅ in all the right boxes. Go for it!!! Remember like all freight, reefer can be feast or famine too.

And don’t get pushed into any good deal on the trailer, until you figure out which trailer will serve you best. Then you have to make decisions for the trailer too. Suspension, brakes, doors, insulation, seals, lights... get educated.
Wish you the best!
Ziggy