Once in a Lifetime Opportunity for me.

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by cooley525, Feb 16, 2021.

  1. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    No it ain’t, it is a lot less regulated than trucking.
     
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  3. Bossplayasonly

    Bossplayasonly Bobtail Member

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    Since no one else really wants to answer your question, I'll give it to you raw. Most container companies have deductions between $250-500 a week. That includes insurance, occ acc, eld, and escrow. All containers have to be returned where you picked it up. Most runs pay between 175 (short) to $650 (long). A $650 would be Charleston to Charlotte and back (remember gotta return the can). All cans are heavy, we talking 40k+. They do pay for Overweight and get you permits, but you will be dragging that dead body. A short trip would be Charleston to Goose Creek. Now remember these will most likely be live unload. So don't think you are going to fit a lot into your day. Me, I am too lazy for all the getting in and out and hooking and unhooking for container work. But on a lazy week (8 loads) I could clear $1200 in my pocket. If I got to grinding and did a lot (15 loads) I could clear $2500. But I would also do pre pulls at 50-75 each whenever they asked. One day I prepulled like 5 cans from the rails on top of a port run. That is the key if you wanna work you could clear 3k take home. But, most guys don't want to run cause it is a real grind. The only other option is to make twice as much but sleep in the truck. Hope that helped. Ohh, and don't hire someone else to drive your truck, because the cans don't pay enough to support you and another driver.
     
  4. Darklance

    Darklance Bobtail Member

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    Man, I always thought those guys were doing drop & hook. Figured you could pull 5 a day at like 200 a pop. That's a ####ty life if these guys are sitting in traffic and at docks all day for $1200 a week.
     
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  5. Dave_in_AZ

    Dave_in_AZ Road Train Member

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    Open an Ambest truck stop with some real food, a decent wrench, and a cat cafe.........and they will come.
     
  6. Dino soar

    Dino soar Road Train Member

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    Honestly the best home daily that you're going to do is a good LTL job. Is the responses here are accurate. You're not going to make a lot of money pulling cans at all. The person that said $1,200 a week or something like that $1,500 a week that's probably about right if that. Loads are heavy, there are big delays often at the ports that you don't get paid for, many times the chassis is in really bad shape, they try to back charge you for tires, and the rates are really kind of lousy, like bottom of the barrel.

    To give you an example I am an owner-operator, and I don't go very far but I'm not home everyday. Sometimes I crisscross my house depending on just the luck of the load, but it's not something I try to do- it's not where the money is. You really have to follow the money.

    I remember years ago I spoke with a recruiter at Mercer. And even though I wasn't eligible for them at that time, he spent some time talking to me. I told him that I wanted to be home daily. He said that is possible but you really leaving a lot of money on the table because the way to really make money is to make a triangle.

    I never forgot what he said and he's correct. There really is no home daily owner-operator that you're going to really make a lot of money. And I don't know what you make at your job but between the benefits and the pay you most probably would do better than a local owner operator.

    I don't know what your Market is like there, but it would be a lot more realistic to figure being home every other day or every 2 or 3 days, if you seriously want to make money.

    I don't know how much you despise your job or your boss's or what it is that you are doing, but really as far as being an owner operator it's best to realize that most people are not doing this because of the money. Yes you can make money but you have to really like what you're doing and like the lifestyle of it. The freedom of it. You have to accept the additional responsibilities and paperwork and extra work in general, because if you just try to do it for the money itself you will be disappointed.

    So I guess my answer to you is if you really have to have a home life and be home every single solitary day like a 9 to 5 person you're not going to do better than a good LTL job. If that is the case you would do better to just take whatever amount of money that you have there and really wisely invest it and just keep working as you are.
     
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  7. Brettj3876

    Brettj3876 Road Train Member

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    Thank you for that. I figured right around 1.50 on the higher end.

    Like @Dino soar said. Some places are just not possible to be home daily. All about location. He brings up a good point with running in a "triangle". That's basically how we run it. We're fortunate enough to live on the 81 corridor and stay within 150 miles most days.

    If your dead set on doing this, read read and read some more before you pull the trigger. The broker section has a lot of valuable info, start there. Imo stay at the local job.
     
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  8. mud23609

    mud23609 Medium Load Member

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    The first thing you need to do is to write a proper business plan. Do not spend a dime until you do that.

    Second consider other investments as well. For instance the average stock market return is approximately 10% per year over the last 100 years. Drop 100k into some index funds with no further contributions and in 20 years you will have about 700k in the bank. That's with very little work other than balancing your portfolio once a year or so.

    Do that while working a decent job and in twenty years you will be sitting very nicely going into retirement.
     
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  9. Dave_in_AZ

    Dave_in_AZ Road Train Member

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    Home daily if you don't want to open a cat cafe, I think I'd have to go fuel hauler for the win.
     
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  10. Dave_in_AZ

    Dave_in_AZ Road Train Member

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    The only people more regulated than we are, are surgeons.
     
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  11. RStewart

    RStewart Road Train Member

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    Norman, OK
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    Personally, I would put the money to work somewhere else that is more profitable.

    Like others have said, home daily work will pay better running for an LTL outfit almost always. I'd rather pull an end dump hauling rock than pulling cans but that may be because there really isn't any can work where I live. The one run I know of, and have done, pays $720 to the truck for each run on 410 miles round trip dropping and hooking on both ends. Empty one way and up to 35k lbs the other way. I will run these if I get a chance cause I can make that work and be home everyday. It's not great money but it pays the bills.

    If I had liquid cash in hand I definitely wouldn't be buying a truck. I'd be starting another business.

    Good luck in whatever you decide
     
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