My business plan... What do you guys think?

Ok guys.. here's what I have in mind..

I currently drive for a small company that specializes in relocating Intermodal Chassis here in the Chicago area. We go at most 60 mile trips (one way) and the truck avg's $2.50 a mile. Now I want to get my own truck and do the same thing.

Seeing as how if you look on craigslist.org you can find old tractors from $3k-8k at any given point in time, I'm thinking about doing this. Buying my first truck and get it running 24hrs a day (with a second driver). Now I understand the idea that repairs are more expensive on trucks, but the idea is that should i have a problem that is more expensive to fix than to replace with a new one, tow the broken one to the scrap yard and take the $ from the scrap yard and put it into another truck.

Now the $2.50 cpm is when hauling one chassis at a time, we normally haul them in stacks of three to five. The rate is done per chassis not per trip so when we haul them in stacks (yes the cost goes up slightly for the stacking) but it cuts down the total time and fuel costs for the same amount of chassis. So 3 chassis pays the same whether they're hauled 1 at a time or in a stack.

The reason I want to go with cheap trucks is that if you've ever been in a train yard... most of them here in the chicago area aren't much better than a scrap yard (case in point.. I picked up an allen wrench in my back tire the other day in one of the yards) so I don't want to put a Nice truck into them. Used tires are also part of the idea, at $350-$500 a pop for new ones, used tires would be legal and alot cheaper (yes i might have to change them more often.. but if they get tore up in the yard.. i'm not as worried about it)

So as long as the trucks last me 6 mo.. they've made the money that I would have put into them back and made me quite a bit of money. I'm not looking to get rich, just get started. (I have a goal of having a fleet of 10 trucks within 10 years of getting my first truck, 5 local daycabs and 5 OTR trucks) But I want to hear your feedback as I've done the math and the numbers are there, (assuming I haven't missed too many expenses)

Thanks guys...

 

Sorry about not giving any backround info. As for the contracts, I've already gotten a commitment from my current boss to keep me busy as an owner-op, doing the chassis moves. Secondly, he is going to give me the contacts when I get my own authority to get my own work also. Not to be his competition, but to take up the slack, as he's been turning down work on a daily/weekly basis due to not having enough trucks/drivers to meet the demand.

As for the getting 10 trucks before 10 years... well... I know I could do it faster, I however, want to do it a little bit slower, get my first truck by October of this year, then a second one by October of next year. I want to have at least $10K in the bank for EACH truck after paying for the truck. BEFORE i buy each one.

As for the guy who said it's not a business plan, but a business idea... it is a business plan... might not be as detailed as you (or any bank on the planet) would like to see... but it is still a plan. And yes, I do realize it needs some more fine tuning/work but it's a rough draft.

 

Ummmm.... the cmpany is caled Xexpress lines.. and as for hiring... they might be as I put in my 2 week notice theother day.. so who knows..

They're a tiny company. Only 2 trucks... they're a good company to work for. The owner is an amzing guy. I'm only leaving because I got a beter offer up by my home in lake geneva wi.. so I'm putting the o/o thing off till I have funding to do it right..