Getting authority......

I guess I don't quite fit your qualifications but I do have some of the information that you need.

Your authority costs $300 if you fill out the paperwork yourself. It will take 6 weeks or so to get your authority back from the government. You will need an agent in each state. Ooida will serve as agents for their members. Insurance will be the biggest expense. You will need to have enough cash on hand to operate for 30 days or more because you will be billing brokers/shippers and waiting for them to pay you. You could plan on having enough operating capital for two months just to be safe.

Your first stop on getting plates is your town/city government the same place you register your personal vehicle. Some will refer you to another agency or state office. There will be a "state department of motor carriers" or something similar that will deal with getting your DOT numbers, IFTA, and various permits. You will also have to get special permits from certain states (which I am sure you already know) like the New York HUT sticker and the Kentucky KYU number. Also your local IRS office can take care of the HVUT.

You have enough experience that insurance shouldn't cost more than $10,000 per year assuming you don't have any tickets. Look in the yellow pages or newspaper ads for insurance agents. Get quotes from several and go with the one that gives you the best service and understands your needs. Cut rate insurance isn't any good if the person you deal with has no clue what you are talking about.

There are two schools of thought here:
I personally don't think that you should factor because you are giving away a lot of money because you don't have enough capital. Having sufficient capital or credit will save you a considerable amount. Also if you are factoring that means that you are getting desperate and will take any load of freight cheaply because you need the cash flow. Cash flow does not mean you are doing well, it means that you are working hard, there is a difference.
The other school of thought came from a broker I was chatting with last week on another forum. The factoring companies give the brokers/shippers more time to pay, such as 30 or 45 days. If you don't factor you will want your money in 15 days or get annoyed. If you do factor the brokers have more time to get the payment from the shipper. Which carrier is the broker going to choose: The one who wants an advance and their money in two weeks or the one that can wait six weeks because they factored?

They don't want competition because you will probably work too cheaply. Remember that you are in business now. You don't do favors for anyone. You can't haul freight for free or less than cost. If brokers don't want to pay enough you ought to deadhead to a better area rather than take that $0.85 per mile load.

As an owher operator now are you paid on percentage or flat rate per mile? If you were paid on percentage you will have an advantage because you may remember where the good rates are and where the cheap freight is. I hope at least you kept a list of every shipper and receiver that you visited over the years so you may be able to call some shippers directly for loads rather than relying on brokers to take their 25% cut.

You have the determination, but I question that you will have any more time to spend with your children. You will have reams of paperwork to deal with all the time. If your spouse could take on an active role finding loads, billing, accounting, and other paperwork you may be able to spend more time with your kids.

Welcome to the forums, and you are welcome.

 

I don't normally send someone to another forum, but in this case I can make a recommendation that you might just find useful. Over on www. truck. net in the owner operator section are a series of posts by a very savvy guy named CaboverPete. Last year, he got his own authority, and described in great detail all the steps he had to take, the hurdles he had to jump over and what happened afterwards. If you use the search function for his name, the word "authority" as a search topic, and limit it to that particular forum, you should find some good info. He's a produce hauler in NJ, and reported in for how he was doing in his first months as an independent. take a look, you should find the info worthwhile.

 

One of the downsides to this site is that we don't have a big pool of people who have done all the steps, like getting their own authority. It will happen with time, but for right now, there aren't many sources here with first hand knowledge.

 

Hi Burky...Can I help? ...I will check out this site, and if it meets my low standards :smt046 I'll be glad to stick around and offer a little help.

 

As I am new to this site, I dont know the etiquette around here, so I'm just going to say stuff the way I always do, which is truthfully, and without regards to personal feelings.

This is about the worst time to get your own authority.
There is no leaway right now to learn as you go. Things are very tight, and if you're not savvy enough, right now you will not survive.

I hate to put a damper on things for you, but this is the truth.
Last fall was the worst that I have seen, with freight being very scarse, and the freight that was avalable, was the bottom of the barrel rates wise.

Usually the first few months of the year is slow as well, so coupled with last falls slow freight, and the usual slowness of Jan, Feb, a lot of guys are hurting, and will not make it.
I would seriously suggest to you, that if you have your heart set on this, see if you cen lease on with Landstar.

Landstar is a good place to get your feet wet, before going the "independent" route.

You will be able to book your own loads with different agents there, through their loadboard on the computer.

You will learn which freight lanes are the best to run, and which ones are the worst.

You will learn how to deal/talk with agents, which will come in handy when dealing with brokers in the future.

There are also people that are leased to Landstar that had their authority at some point, but didnt want to deal with the headaches that come with it.
They will be a good source of information for you as well.

I have never pulled for Landstar, but somewhat know how it works.

I myself have been an independent for close to three years, so if you have any questions , please feel free to ask away.
Good luck.

 

I wouldn't advise any new O/O on leasing on with Landstar. Other than their flatbed,specialized,or military freight,the rest of the general stuff is pretty cheap. I would try to lease on with a carrier that pays percentage and has FEWER trucks. Better yet,I would look at other avenues to invest money in and not even buy a truck right now. Startup costs can vary depending on the condition of the truck. I have thought about getting my authority but whenever I read a post like sixthwheel's (I hope this ain;t the same one I think it is,lol)I start rethinking it over.

 

The question was, about getting his authority, not who to lease on with.
As much as I dont like LS, that would be the best way for someone who wants to make the leap to being independent

If you would have read my reply, instead of just applying a knee jerk reaction as soon as you saw my screen name, then you would have seen, that I advised against getting his authority at this time..

 

I read your whole reply. That is why I advised him against leasing on with LS. I was leased on to LS years ago myself,in case you didn't know already. I never mentioned anything about him getting his authority. I wasn't even sure if you were the same sixthwheel from the other place. This is the internet.Lots of people use the same names for all I know. If you actually read my reply I advised him to lease on with a percentage-paying carrier with their own customer base that has FEWER trucks so finding loads won't be as much of a hassle as versus leasing on with a megacarrier that has over 8000 other O/Os. If being an independent is as bad as you say it is than going to LS won't be much better. A lot of Ls loads are brokered anyway.