Looking for Guidance

I wouldn't buy new but that's just me. Too much liability for a one man show, especially if you're gonna run off load boards.

With 90k I would spend NO MORE than 50 on a paid for truck and keep the rest liquid for repairs, but this is already putting the cart before the horse.

First thing's first, get your authority and go shopping for trucks. I said SHOPPING. Shop until you have a coupld of VIN numbers on ones you might like to buy, then call insurance.

This is almost guaranteed to shut you down. Insurance for new ventures is insane, and if you're unlucky enough to live in a part of the country where rates are higher they are especially insane.

If you make it this far go rent a trailer and get rolling. You can make a living. The first year or two may be a challenge.

There is one other thing that may shut you down and that's how hard it's becoming to run brokered freight as a new venture. Most brokerages have dealt with so much fraud that they will hardly offer you a chance.

Don't take the common view that 'making a living' means living in the truck and spending 34's in a truck stop sucking out your soul. It's very easy to do this job and still have a life these days.

 

You're only trading masters. You'll still be enslaved to your customers. At least as an employee you'll get paid time off and benefits. You can't tell your customers, "no" if you want to keep them and finding them as a one truck chuck is extremely difficult.

How are your sales skills? If you don't have a contracted customer lined up you'll be running spot freight. Spot freight is only really profitable during alternating periods of time compared to when they are not.

If you plan to run spot only even during the down times you will be a slave to your truck and brokers. It's not an enjoyable experience. However, if you're able to park it and do something else during those low times you can pull it off.

I'm always down to help an AFA brother. I can elaborate more in the message system for a more free conversation if you want. Too much to mention here without getting in trouble with the mods.

 

I disagree. This is a rigid mindset that will keep you from ever being happy at anything. I work for brokers everyday. I'm a one truck Chuck. I own my truck and trailer and make my own schedule. I make plenty, even in these lean times. I don't have the attitude that I have a 'master'.

By your definition everyone has a master. Even CEO's are responsible to shareholders and shareholders responsible to government regs/laws no matter the industry.

I simply don't view the world that way. I punched a clock for 25 years. Now I control the clock. Life is good and I feel as free as I want to be.

 

Contract freight don't mean much right know, everybody knows what's up with the too many trucks out here.
That's why even Swift was putting more trucks on spot as they were done dealing with direct customers demanding "unstainable rates". Their words.

 

Fertilizer isn’t to bad, but don’t expect to make payments on a brand new truck hauling grain to an elevator. It don’t pay worth a hoot. I know, I have a farm, and do some “for hire” hauling, and of anything I have ever hauled, grain rates are the worst. They aren’t too bad for a backhaul. If you have a head haul of feed ingredients or something like that that pays good you can survive, otherwise forget it

 

if you have $90,000, I would spend maybe 50 or 60 on a truck, get an older Peterbilt or Kenworth, that has a little bit of value left in it, and contrary, to what some others would say, they ARE better. They were built to last for many years, the new ones not so much. Get an older CAT, Cummins, or Series 60 Detroit engine that will be dependable, and not have a bunch of emissions malarkey that can/will keep you down for weeks at a time. Insurance will be cheaper on an older truck, although still not cheap for a startup. As far as freight, if I was you, I would look for a reefer outfit that will respect your paper logs and will let you run “outlaw” if necessary, and then proceed to RUN THE WHEELS OFF YOUR TRUCK!!! No matter how bad rates are, people will always have to eat. There is money to be made, but as a startup, you will have to work for it. Another thing, so many of them startups that fail, are individuals that start out, trying to run load board freight, having bought a brand new truck, emission system etc goes out, bang out of business.

 

If you live in corn country and wanted the best possible income I’d try and get leased on with someone who hauls anhydrous. You’ll have about 4-6 weeks in the spring and 4-6 weeks in the fall where you’ll be grossing $15k or so a week. When it’s not planting season you could do transfer loads or do something different. Dry fertilizer rates aren’t the best because anyone with a hopper can do it. And a liquid tank doesn’t pay as well as it should because it’s not hazmat so anyone can do it.

 

To be completely Honest with you these days believe it or not. That's not much to start with these days. In 2020 I was warned on this Trucker forum to stay at my nearly $100k year unionized job I beginning hating it more then anyone can imagine because of terrible Managers, dispatchers etc.. I'm still glad I left, however the timing to become a O/o was completely off because I didn't predict the recession. Coivd increased spot market volumes from the average of $2.20 to $2.45 cpm to $3.30 sometimes closer to $4 per mile. The year I bought my truck most jumped on the bandwagon figuring the money would stay around. Only if I had a time machine.

Inflation changed the entire market while Brokers will stick to the larger piece of the pie when negotiating rate cons. It's extremely difficult to earn a profitable margin. My surplus well over $100k when I began is below 1/3rd. Point being down time not because of truck issues much because my truck was brand new but issues in the truck market. I've worked with 5 different carriers in 2 years not because I'm irate but because learning today's business larger carriers know this and simple take advantage on giving you the trash heaviest loads or difficult customer locations when accessing customer deliveries etc. Other good carriers, I was lease to simple lost good contracts because of other carriers undercutting rates during negotiations etc. Freight wars amongst carriers are as real as they sound. Shippers will always go to the cheapest rate during inflation times to save 1/2 cent. It's business!. Understanding your margins will help you stay afloat possibly profitable if your mentality is based on saving and sacrificing wants vs. needs. Onboarding always takes more than 2 weeks usually a month if your signing onto a Carrier because they want everything under the sun from you but will advertise x amount per mile then pull the rug from their recruiting ploy they pay 71% to 85% (depending on the carrier) but they cover insurance etc. (Do realize from their scheming best believe your paying for that insurance..they've designed so they don't lose out). It's not when but what you will do when the shop for maintenance for your truck keeps it for a full week that $95k starts to get eaten up slowly. I've never ever worked this hard in my life, and I'm in very good physical shape. Point begin, becoming profitable in this business takes longevity and patience especially in an inflation market.

 

it will change significantly after truck purchase ....