Okay, so I bought a used truck from Crete Carrier.

Oh, I'm still around. I'll post an update soon. Maybe an abbreviated version like "Month - Miles - Cents Per Mile Profit - Total Monthly Profit"...

Right now I'm recovering from food poisoning that I suspect came from the Arby's inside the Love's in Houston (I-610 @ McCarty). And submitting my August cash sheet online. And installing a LOT of Linux updates on my laptop. Been sitting right where I am for over 48 hours due to a case of the puke-n-poops, and gave up a nice load from Pasadena (TX) to Cartersville, GA because of it.

Right now I'm doing fairly well money-wise. Actually, I'm thinking hard about one of those gliders from Fitzgerald's. The payment difference is about the same as what I figure I'd save in fuel costs. And I'd be driving a 2012 Coronado, not a 2006 Century

EDIT:

Oh, by the way, I've got quite a bit more in deductions/expenses now. I found out that you can deduct all costs for truck security, such as those associated with having a dog in the truck. Vet bills, dog food, chew toys, etc...so now I have a ferocious guard dog named Skip. He's part Irish Setter, part Australian Shepherd, part ####er Spaniel, part Golden Lab, and all mutt

And he's up to date on all shots - who'd have thunk that when the ad said "Free To Good Home" there would be so much money involved LOL!

 

Here's a quick numbers-only breakdown. Note, I spent a LOT of money in March. In fact, almost as much as I took in. Thankfully, most of it came from my maintenance escrow. New spring for the right end of my steer axle, new shocks for the steer axle, 3-axle alignment, and new steer tires. Long story.

I'm still making basically what a company driver makes, and these numbers are after deducting for things like buying health insurance for me and my wife ($1000/month), writing off our cell phone bills ($196/month), and so forth - so, given that a company driver still has payroll deductions for health insurance, and must pay things like his cell phone bills out of pocket (if he chooses to have a cell phone, but it's practically a necessity these days), I think I'm doing a little better than a company driver, per mile. I continue to generally run fairly low miles - mainly because I spend at a minimum, 4 full days at home each month. I do not count the day I arrive at home or the day I leave as a day at home. So, there is some lost productivity there, compared to a certain Texan I know who tends to spend somewhere around 85-90% of his time on the road

If I were willing to spend another day or so per month on the road, I figure I could break the 10,000 mile mark every month. For some reason, when it's about 3-4 days from home time, they send me to Georgia and want to either shuffle me around the deep south on short, unproductive runs or ask me if I want to go home early. At least they're not letting my home time roll around, notice I'm in Minnesota, and then tell me there's no freight headed towards Georgia.

Each line below will be formatted as follows:
Month - Miles - Net Profit - CPM Profit

February - 9110 - $3822 - 42.00
March - 9751 - $587 - 6.08
April - 9858 - $4258 - 43.25
May - 8526 - $3805 - 44.68
June - 10963 - $4254 - 38.84
July - 9389 - $4373 - 46.65

I tried something different in June. And it didn't work out. Note to self: 70mph costs about 5 cents per mile more than 65mph, and 65mph costs about 4 cents per mile more than 60mph. Did I mention that when I bought the truck, they gave me the ECM password?

 

Oh. Here's a picture of the new security system. Imagine the potential thief's shock and horror when he's confronted with this!