Should I invest in a trucking company?

First the Business 101 part:

Can you think of any legitimate business that offers a 50% return in 14 months + 3% equity? He must really need that $40k, problem is he's trying to work with someone who has no knowledge of the industry to get it. Lucky you! Wonder why he's not sharing this opportunity with someone who has knowledge of the industry? It's a real head scratcher.

Now the trucking part:

He's one good accident from being put out of business. After another 6 months of the Biden occupation his fuel costs will rise by 20% - turning his profit margin negative. Of course, his insurance carrier could drop him and force him to shop around for a more expensive policy. All very real possibilities that mean kissing your $40k bye, bye.

Most of the majors retire their trucks after 500k miles. Low mile trucks require less maintenance and suffer less down time. He's doubling-down on the cheaper, used trucks wanting to dump cash into a shop. He'll save money on routine maintenance but the trucks will still be breaking down on the side of the road requiring a service truck or a tow and then still going to another shop for repairs. Meanwhile, he's going to need a pool of trucks on standby to salvage loads.

 

"some of the trailers had bald looking tires", are you investing in Werner? lol

 

then who is driving the trucks?

 

What you should do is invest, partner with a small pharmaceutical company. That’s where the moneys at , you cannot lose.

 

stay away from trucking these owner operators are doing stuff for free . you will not make any money lose lose lose

 

Talk to your financial advisor , that is the best path to go. Stay away from trucking you will lose all your money

 

You are in Utah? STAY AWAY from anybody associated with the names Moyes, England or Knight!

 

The numbers don't add up,

 

Take your money and invest in Schneider and Marten stock. If you want to support this venture, buy 1 tractor and trailer, lease it to him and see how your profit margin works out.

 

Don't walk.... RUN. Doesn't seem like a good investment and there are some red flags. The trucks have 500,000 - 1,000,000 miles on them. What kind of trucks are they? are they used fleet spec trucks that were bought from a mega carrier? if so they don't have much life left. Don't get me wrong, some trucks in that mileage range are perfectly good and are just getting broken in. There's plenty of users here who have trucks in that age range that are in immaculate shape.
You said he can't get a loan due to bad credit and wants to expand by another 8 trucks. Depending on his equipment, he may want to consider the 12 trucks he has now and start replacing the older or more problematic ones. Just my opinion though.

In the grand scheme of things, it seems like he's too anxious to expand and see how big he can get in the shortest amount of time possible. In my opinion, your money would be better spent elsewhere. Again, just my opinion and it's your money and you can do what you want with it.