O/O or lease

Not right now wait 6 months and you will be in alot less pain . The money is not there. You will be paying out of pocket for fixed expenses alot of times . You will drain your savings .you may survive but will be in bad shape financially. If i was a new o/o jumping in i would do it like this
1) wait till march or may and grab a 2020 or 2021 truck with low miles for under $80k to $90k. grab a trailer too for a discount
2 )start running in june and make sure you can cover fixed expense for 6 months and have a $20k to $30k saving for a breakdown .
you will come back here and dedicate a thank you thread to me

 

At this times I would go and lease to Landstar or continue as a driver until the crisis is over.

 

Well If you are asking these questions you need help.
1st how much is said truck? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say 80-100K and if so not worth it.
2nd how much money is in the bank? Right now with these parts shortages we are still facing you better have enough to pay all the bills for at least 2-3 months.
3rd have you figured out a rough CPM ur gonna be spending?

 

You don’t need a glider get a new truck with warranty will serve you better

 

I’m surprised this guy doesn’t already have a 500k mile $150k freightliner.

 

Truck prices are already falling. I'd stay a company driver and pack away as much cash as possible. If trucks get back down to around $50k for one with 350,000 miles or so and it fits your needs then consider jumping in. Of course that's only equipment prices, you still have countless things to keep an eye on. Freight rates and volumes, fuel prices, parts shortages, upcoming new regulations, etc.

If you have enough to pay cash for a truck, 1 years insurance up front (to get the steep discount), finance a trailer, and get the whole enchilada of plates etc to get your authority AND still have at least $20,000 for breakdowns then pull the trigger. Really, keeping debts low and having enough capital to cover the worst of emergencies or breakdowns will be key.

 

It’s a great time to be a Company Driver. Not a good time to be an O/O, definitely not a good time to start the venture. It’s the truth. No conspiracy to discourage you. It might change soon, may not for a while. Nothing lasts forever, especially in Trucking. Nows a great time to get Jobs that are normally hard to get. I think nows the time to get the best paying job, with the best future you can find. Hang onto it. Meanwhile keep doing research, you can always buy a Truck and find somewhere to work it, someones always willing to make money off of your hard work. A friend of mine is about to retire. $5000 a mo. Pension plus his SS. Considering his pay last yr. was $102k plus all the benefits he has, including health, dental, $140k life insurance, short term and long term disability insurance, there’s no comparison. All he has to do is show up Mon through Friday. Punch in and out every day, leave the job behind and go home to his life. They’re hiring, requirements are low. I never had an opportunity like that. Requirements were always high, and Drivers with more seniority had precedence for the Jobs that were available. If I could have found a job line that, I’d never have bought a Truck. Now the aging Drivers need to be replaced, and there’s some real good opportunities to be had. More secure right now than being an O/O. Just my opinion, but your energy will be better spent finding a good Job, at least for a while. It’s just not worth it right now.

 

Pre emissions isn't necessarily a bad idea but even if it's recently had an inframe there is still a whole mess of other components that can go bad. You're also going to be spending more in fuel than modern trucks, have to avoid certain states, and remember the older these trucks get the harder time you might have finding parts.

The good thing about the gliders is you will save a bunch of money and headaches not dealing with emissions garbage going bad. Then there is the obvious logging advantages of being on paper for as long as those last before the fmcsa gets its fangs in it.