Truck financeing

thanx dino---my thoughts exactely--i really dont want anything newer than an 03--want to stay away from egr issues---
but would the cost of getting my own authority and trailer and doing the bit more work be worth while?--that is why i was looking at landstar --was to offset some of the start up costs--and then later on possibely getting my own authority so i couold run off of more than board or broker--i hear relatively good things about l/s --but they sure take a good bite out of the revenue

 

my opinion,i will never,i repeat never! lease on with anyone ever again,when i do this again ,and i will soon i can tell you i will have my own auth! and it will take some time and i will have my own contracts,but i will work for myself, when i was at crst,they took $400 a week out of my settlements,i want you to think about this,,,,,$180 a week was for a tore up skate board,,think about that alone,that was $720.00 a mth for a trailer,and thats $8640.00 a year, i could if i had the money put 3 grand down and paid the trailer off in two years,or less,you can find trailers(depending on what type your looking at, but i have found flatbed and stepdecks as cheap as $8000to 12,000,,,,,so why give them almost 9 grand a year when it can be yours, and when you have your own auth like crst they almost will let you haul or anybody there are some brokers the wont let you haul for ,and i had this happen haveing to deadhead 600 miles to go get a load that realy didnt pay sqwat after it was all said and done,,,,,see crst after i could get the load got 25% of the gross,on already cheap frieght and landstar i think gets 35%,not includeing what it cost you for fuel,plus their gona take out for your tags, canuk, it just seems to make it easyer, it ends up with to many hands in the cookie jar,and your the one out there busting your hump to stay moveing!!!! and iv sat here going over my bols,alot of o/o will give the brokers 30 days to pay ????why all my bols say that the load has been prepaid????they makeing money off your money that you need for fuel ,tires,breakdaowns,and to pay your home bills, i'm sorry if i sound bitter, but it falls down to,do i want my own company and run it my way, or do i let someone else play with my hard earned money,till they get good and ready to pay me?????? once a gain everyones situation is differnt,and i to believed i could have done better this time last year, canuk i am a man and i made mistakes,i'm not perfect, i just didnt like the end result,i have learned thru a few on this fourm it can be done and nothing happenes over night,and money only gos so far,,,think about it thats all im saying, i just wont do it the way i did last time,,,,,,,,,,lol yah cant teach me ,but yah can learn me,,,and iv been learned and no canuk i 'll be the first one to admit i dont know it all,,,but i #### sure know what direction i choose to go

 

Interesting you're in almost identical situation I was in January. Reading your questions/inquiry brings back memory.

I too had $20k available to start myself. I've always been a flatbedder, but I figured I'll start pulling a dry van at Landstar to offset the start-up cost, but those dollar-loads I saw in the information packet turned me away from it.

I got my lucky break when I found a $7500 flatbed trailer that came with 80% of tie down gears and tarps I needed (and the seller turned out to be a member of this forum also). I borrowed $6k from one of my plastic cards using a promotional check at 2.9% APR, and bought the trailer.

I ended up leasing to Mercer, and I've been doing all right. I had option of lease-purchasing a trailer from them, but I didn't want to.

By the time I got rolling, all of my $20k, and then some, was long gone. With no cash reserve and no shipper contact whatsoever, I'm not sure if I'd have made it this far had I gotten my own authority. But then again, maybe I could have been doing better. I'll never know.


I see you're pulling either a dry van or a reefer in the pic by your name, so chances are your start-up cost won't be as high as mine (buying flatbed equipments amount to a good chunk of money).

But let me tell you, $20k disappeared very quickly after I put $10k down for the truck, and as mentioned, I ended up borrowing $6k+ from my plastic cards on top of it. Although I leased, I wouldn't be surprised if I spent about the same amount as getting my own authority, with fuel/temp permits to drive the truck from Tulsa, pick up the trailer and head out to Louiville for the orientation.

After leveraging myself outside my comfort zone, I somehow made it to this point. All my cards will be paid off by the year end, and never to be used again. I'll probably be able to pay off my truck next summer, and I'll own a nice truck & a nice trailer outright.

It can be done with borrowed money with no cash reserve left. But it could get stressful sometimes. If I were to do it all over again, I'd try harder to find a way to get a truck with much less downpayment than $10k so that I could have some cash in the bank to fall back to. And that would be especially true if I were to go straight into getting my own authority.

I hope this little story about my experience will be useful to you and other aspiring O/Os. Crunch numbers and come up with a workable figure before you make the commitment, because once you do, there's no turning back. Good luck to you whether you choose to get your MC# or lease to someone.

 

thanx guys--very good words of wisdom

 

Southern and Katz..... some very good feedback in this post.

Thanks alot.

R/

Frat