Need help making it work

Just tryin to save you some trouble, odds are theyr retired from misuse and not maintained throughout the years.. good luck!

 

My trailer is a '97 with air-ride and I paid $5800 for it. Very good condition with 2 rows of e-track and new rear doors. Was used by raymour and flanigan to haul furniture. It IS possible to get a good older trailer but you need to really look because I've seen some real junk out there.

 

Before you start taking stabs at it, you really need to take the time to do a cost breakdown analysis. A spreadsheet that breaks every dollar you spend on your operation into cents per mile. That is a sure way to spot high impact items you can address for fast results. Just don't forget to forecast a profit while you're in there.

For example, playing around with fuel cost gives me a difference of 2¢ per mile for every 10¢ a gallon in price. That equates to $20 increase in my break-even rate on a 1,000 mile haul. Insurance? Another scary number. Due to some personal reasons, I've gone into business paying nearly double what everyone else is. The monthly payment makes me suck in when I see it, even worse than when the service writer at the shop calls me. Cost per mile on the excess? 7¢. That situation will settle in 2-3 more payments and I can take that straight to the bottom line. In the mean time, I just need to quote seven more cents a mile to cover costs. Since you're on a lease, you don't have the flexibility to negotiate much on the income side.

Surprisingly you've gotten some very thoughtful answers (nobody suggested barber school yet LOL) that I'd tend to agree with. However, your number one problem is low revenue and all the variable costs that are negotiated in, taking it lower. You say you're getting FSC, so that ought to take rising fuel prices out of the cost equation. Aside from fuel, your big costs are payroll, with insurance and equipment coming in tied for third. You can pull those levers only so much and the benefits are limited.

There's no upside for you in the scenario you described. All the pennies you can carve off your costs as an owner operator go out the window when you hire drivers. I also agree with others that your team operation is a loser under 5,000 miles a week, no matter how you figure the team's payday.

 

I've noticed that you seem like a nice guy, maybe to nice 30% is way to high for a team... When realy they are not a team, 6000 gross is very close to what a sigle driver can bring to the truck, so you are paying them to sleep at night. Every team i know runs both night and day. So your main problem is that you are givinga away money for them to run like solo's. I know you don't want to fire anyone but someone would have to go.
Contact big bad bill on this forum and talk with him about leasing onto him. He has some good connections which would allow you to make more than 1.60pm. There are others that you can talk with but i don't know them so just ask around.

 

big bad bill is going to rip this thread as a troll thread!

I've got popcorn waiting for the show.


Teams at 3600/week.....bahahahaahahah

 

hahaha Thats just funny

 

I'm a new o/o my expenses are low, I get an average of 1.65-2.00 a mile. My problem is fuel. I'm making a net, but fuel is keeping me from full potential earnings. Is driving 55 or 60 MPH the best way to lower fuel cost? I have no mechanical issues yet. 2009 Volvo 730 465 Hp 3:42 rears 13 speed.

 

No, you cannot do that. He just hasn't been caught yet. If you hire a driver to drive your truck, they are an employee and you must pay them as such....meaning in most cases (depending on state law where you are based out of) you must carry workers comp & unemployment insurance. You also must withhold taxes, and pay the employer's 1/2 of the employment tax (social security & medicare).

If you ever get audited, and the IRS determines that your "contractors" are really the employees that they are, YOU will be responsible for the back taxes that you SHOULD have been paying on their behalf.