Any money to be made?

It sounds too low on the expenses to me. My projected costs for a lease operation is 1.30 CPM. Wait, maybe we are close. I consider wages as part of costs and I include income taxes.

Have you checked your PMs.

 

You are right, insurance and payments should be part of fixed costs. If you think you will be mostly pulling heavy haul your fuel costs will likely be higher. Your haul rates should also be higher when you get into more specialized loads.

 

OK. I would take another look at your fuel consumption, even on the lighter loads.

 

Most people to whom I talk with who own W900's get about 4.5-5 mpg. I had a Peterbilt that never got more than 5 mpg loaded or empty. Part of the problem is that flat hood and the air filters. It catches a lot of wind resistance. Some people feel that the lower fuel economy is worth it. I prefer the higher mpg.

 

You could have the seller or a garage to connect to the truck's ECM and check the current fuel consumption. The truck's computer won't be as accurate as checking the odometer, but should give you a ballpark on the fuel mileage. Keeping your speed down should help your mileage and if you are deadheading 40% that should also help keep fuel mileage up. When I am calculating my operational costs I always go with the lower fuel mileage. My trucks get over 6 mpg, but when I do estimates, I use 5 mpg. There are times when fuel mileage will be low due to where you run and what you haul. A load could be light, but catch a lot of wind. I had an over sized load on my truck a few months ago. It only weighed about 20,000 pounds, but it was 13' wide and 10' tall on the trailer. That put me at 13'6" tall. The piece was also designed in such a way to create a lot of wind resistance. Running in the western U.S. will usually result in lower fuel mileage than some areas of the eastern U.S. due to the mountains and wind.