Change my mind

Go ahead and do it. Driving is the easy part. You can easily get authority on your own (I did ) or you can have OOIDA or NASTC do it for a fee. Justtruckin follow this guy on you tube, he went straight from trucking school to owner operator with his own authority. Join Taylor and Martin auction service they sell trucks and trailers and if you are a member you can review sale prices. Also check out facebook marketplace lots of older used trucks advertised there. Good luck!

 

Your’e right - I reread your post and realized I comprehended totally wrong.

My full apologies. Must have been a bit tired that night.

 

I watched about 4 hours of the last live Taylor and Martin auction on YouTube and I was pretty surprised at what some of the lower mileage recent trucks sold for.

Some decent older trucks also. Of course it is buyer beware big time but they do allow viewing ahead of auction in enough time to get oil samples read etc. would still be very very leery. Was also some real POS in here.

I can not remember the YouTube channel that hosted it but he did two hours in two vids of him walking around looking at the trucks. Then posted 4+ hours of live auction. They have one here in Ft Worth coming up.

One thing I found interesting (and I am not advocating these trucks) was a group of 2016-18 (I don’t remember exact year) of international lone star trucks. Some with 200-300K miles selling for high $20s. Those things have a 700k factory warranty. During the walk around a couple of the, had the def filter areas torn apart lol. However, seems you could flip those or run one with a warranty for awhile for that price.

 

I watch his stuff and do appreciate his channel. I wonder how much he is making off the channel, off his grill business etc. he is spot market and seems to be home all the time, has all sorts of toys etc. I do like the actual cost he lists. His first two years he was paying like $24k a year for insurance. Starting his third years it goes down over $1k a month. Also tries to run a little triangle area instead of all over the country.

 

Okay, after reading the previous 8 pages I started thinking about what I'd say to you about your business idea. I'm not here to persuade you from anything, you're an adult with an intelligent mind, you can make up your own mind about whether or not now is a good time to go in business.

Here's my best advise: Don't make ANY decisions based on something you heard, ever. That experience was that driver or O/O and not yours. When you hear " That's what I heard" it does not correlate to "That's what I EXPERIENCED" ...there's a difference. You learn to make disciplined financial business decisions based on experience and facts not fiction.

Don't be a billy big rigger, those types have ego problems and they usually have little to no business acumen. Lot's of truck stop gear jammers out here who walk out of the truck stop and climb into a $12,000 dollar freightliner with different color fenders, rust everywhere and bald tires. I casually walk to my 325 inch wheelbase tractor (see avatar) you would have to re-finance your house to purchase while keeping comments to myself. Confidence is everything in my opinion; confidence I don't need to explain to anyone to be validated. I've made it in trucking and that's why I'm secure knowing I know what I'm talking about. It's often insecure people who have the most to say.

I started my own trucking company in 2008 right when everyone was going out of business. Like you I had little experience, next to no money, but I had a Father who was an O/O for 32 years and he taught me to operate a business instead of driving a truck. I haven't been much of a "trucker" my entire career but I've been a successful business owner who learned to make decisions based on my experiences instead of truck stop jibberish from nasty, fat, disgusting idiots who drool over chrome like kids in a candy store. What made me think I could make it back in 08 as large trucking companies were going out of business? Intelligence and a dedication to succeed. It worked. You can do the same thing today, it's your decision. I've find the best time to run into a burning building as everyone's running out. I find the best paying hauls and best contracts because the other guy listened to a rumor and I didn't.

Now you have an general idea about the business side of things, great. Personally I spec out trucks for the haul they operate. See my avatar? That truck hauls commercial air conditioners and aircraft parts, light freight that pays very well. I shower daily, cook my meals, watch TV, have internet and surround sound for movie night!
Think about what kind of freight you want to haul. Are you going to swing doors and do reefer or dry van? Reefer loads are generally heavier than van but require a different trailer type. I hauled stepdeck freight with my big green truck and found a niche market where I can stay loaded year round, out of the snow and cold and make a comfortable living. I'm allergic to tire chains anymore, LOL. Some people like to haul heavy loads, in that case you might want to look at a truck that weighs 18,000 to 19,000 lbs so you can scale out 44 or 46k if that's your thing. I'm just the opposite. My freight markets are the lightest, shortest and easiest hauls I can find. I generally haul loads that are around 11,000 to 15,000 lbs on average and I don't tarp. Sounds very restrictive right? But, that's where I'm skilled. I find loads that fit my capacity and trailer type and I've had no problem making it work.

If you're going your own authority route you have a few decisions to make. Are you going to pay someone to calculate IFTA and pay it? How about accounting? Who's going to bill your customers?
I tried, early on, to do everything myself and found myself working 20 hour days everyday, with no breaks for little more money than leased on O/O's made who had everything done for them and they could relax at home. I held on like that for three years then leased on with an outfit. Best decision I ever made, but, then again, that's MY experience, yours may differ.

I'm also a competent mechanic but I stopped working on major repairs myself a long time ago. I change small things like lights and stuff, but I leave heavy repair work to the shop. It's a part of operating a trucking business.

Hopefully you can use some of this info to help you guide your operation. If I've helped, great, if not, it's been fun pecking at the keyboard!

All the Best,

Robert

 

Great post.

 

Your pretty young looking in your profile pic. Both you and Buddyd, except buddyd hair is blonder, lol.

 

I need to dig up a picture of it.

I was at a dairy in Cleveland and came across a really Sweet Lonestar unloading there.

Struck up a conversation with the driver.

Owner had bought it off the dealership after the mechanics put it on the dyno after hours and blew up the motor .

They bought it for nothing and custom painted the body and boxed in frame.

Than put in a Crate ISX with no def.

Sharp truck all done