How are you doing it ?

paid $15,250 cash for truck & $9,200 for trailer. a 95' intl cabover in 99' would I do it differently ? not a chance. the success & luck ive had is unbelievable & a bit rare... story here...


I have wondered how 2 people can be looking at the same thing but each see something totally different ??? now I know why.

when I first saw my 1st & only truck, I saw a low mileage(412,000) very well maintained, & everything worked flawlessly, for 1/2 the price of other trucks with mileage in the 600,000 to 700,00 . I saw success, profit, peace of mind. e.t.c. some other drivers saw... that truck ain't cool.. man!! aint got no chrome, no hood, no status!!! yes it's true i don't have status, I don't have a hood or even a cat. but I do have peace of mind. along with a det ser 60 that gets great fuel mileage.

 

did I mention no payments & driving for over 11 years with the same truck? it's a nice feeling.. especially when I could better prioritize my earnings towards my family & our future. rather than a cool looking truck. there is nothing wrong with wanting a nice truck. you can get one too.. you just have to be realistic about how to get one. like a nice big home.. one day, one day... plan, & trade up maybe o.k. but don't have champagne taste on a beer budget, starting out.

 

About a year ago I asked my Dad's advice on how to best survive this economy since he has faced many downtourns in trucking and the garbage business. He basically qouted Winston Churchill..."Never, never, never, never give up..." and it is so true. The best a person can hope for right now is to make enough to pay the expenses and put food on the table for the family and any left over HAS TO BE PUT INTO SAVINGS. Don't limit yourself on loads or certain locations...a person needs to be very flexible in where and how they run to survive. Once the economy turns around the guys left standing are gonna reap the rewards of all the hard work and tough decisions.

 

The older trucks turns my head as fast or faster than a New shinny Pete or KW. Back in the 90's I seen an Old Mack B model pulling a 1950's style trailer, later I seen a news article about it and read he was hauling loads with it.

I am driving a Pete, but was not my 1st choice. Only got it cause the other trucks offered me had a Detroit engine, and I always had bad luck with Detroits. I paid the same price for this Pete as I would had for a Frieghtliner Columbia. It not a new shinny Pete but will shine some when I wash it, and I do try to once a month, but last 2 months, it gone without.

Some making it on a string and a prayer, some are going good and strong, while others are falling like flies in a mist of bug spray.

You make it by making good Business decisions, and fail when you do not correct the bad decisions.

 

Another huge factor that hasn't been mentioned here is this...How do you drive?

Are you rough?
Do you grind or bang gears?
Do you pay attention to what you are running on or over?
Do you push it for all it's worth all the time?
Do you look your equipment over carefully every day so as to catch problems before they are big problems?
Do you "close" the door or do you "slam" it?
Do you close the hood or do you drop it?


I have one of those big shiny W900L's that most guys wind up losing 'cause they cost so much!
The difference is that mine is paid for and has 1.5 million miles on it, But it has been taken care of and is in like new condition inside and out and will last for many more years.
I see one and two year old trucks that are beat to hell from abuse and ignorance.
I have guys come up to me all the time saying man I wash I had a nice new KW like yours and their truck is seven or eight years newer than mine!

That photo in my avatar was taken 1 year ago and the tractor is a 2000 model.

If you don't take care of it, It won't take care of you!

 

And that is why YOU are going to make it coastie!

So many folks seem to have a "preconceived notion" of how to run their business, that no matter what happens, they won't change. I have seen this happen in a LOT of businesses, including some that have been pretty long standing companies. You either change with the times, or you perish.

 

What keeps me coming here is to learn how to do it even better so I will make it. I'll throw in my 2 cents once awhile but mostly to learn more.

When I came back out trucking I set up goals to work for. I made one of them by getting my own truck, now I am working on the 2nd of the 3 goals I made. 2nd Goal is getting my own authority. 3rd is growing my little company so when the day my aching bones tell me I can no longer drive, I'll have a job, an Income and still be within the Industry. I already have 3 drivers standing by to drive for me, only waiting for the call. 2 of them have over 23 years experience each, and the 3rd over 5. I am not one who has not asked questions of them and I will continue to ask them if I need an answer fast. They have not lead me wrong yet. So I do have a Cheering squad out there lol... But you might as well put one of my previous bosses into that cheering squad also.

Going O/O was not a easy task for me, and it not been a bed of roses to make it as far as I have. But I have been in hard situations and survived. So can I make it? Yes, cause I will not give up, and that in it self is why one of the guys wants to work for me. Maybe I took that from my father, being a Stubborn fool.

 

The best way to make it in this business is turn the cb radio off and keep the door closed and dont listen to the negative feedback in the truck stops. I cant even begine to count the times I went past a truck stop and heard driver whinning because they cant find a load. I tell them give me their dispatch number and Ill find them one. DRove for 15 years and the only time you found me in truck stops was when I was fueling and showering. other then this no way. Its a business not a game you want to play with the kind of money you can make or loose.

 

One thing I like to see is when O/O with some real business sense chime in on these postings. Listening to most of what goes on for trucking is nonsense, but there have been some good posts on this thread on what to do right. I got a good binder for a truck, keep it maintained well, watch where every little cent of my operation goes, etc. You have to be CEO, VP of maintenance, VP of operations, VP of finance and accounting, VP of purchasing, VP of safety, etc. Act like you are running a major business and you will survive. You have to be flexible. Some idiots buy a truck so that they can refuse to haul loads they don't like, run like they are trying get poll position at Daytona, or just so they can take the truck home without approval.... best way to go out of business. You may not have an actual employer, but you have customers to take care of. And they can be harder to deal with than any employer sometimes.

You have got to have the motivation and downright desire to own and operate a business and love a challenge.