Owning but not driving

Hey guys, I have a question. I have been reading for a few weeks off and on and have not seen much (if any) topics about this. Here is a short story about my situation. I have a great job, great pay, am young (30 years old) and plan on being at my job forever. I am running a business of a relative, about 30 employees so I stay busy most of the time. My wife is a stay at home wife, and we have a young child. I cant say that I have ever wanted to be an OTR driver, my grandpa drove forever but I knew it was never my calling.

We have saved up a decent amount of money, around 50K, and are looking to start a business that she can run/oversee that does not take 50+ hours a week to manage. Is it possible to buy a nice used tractor for around 30K, a flat bed trailer for 10K, and get the permits, LLC, insurance, and still have a money left for fuel/repairs? I am not looking to jump into this tomorrow, and we save money every week so in a few months can probably have enough to have a nice safety net. So my main question, is there enough profit in this business to have one rig that is driven not by an O/O to cover costs and make a little bit of money? I am not looking to get rich quick, and I know there are always wrenches in every plan, but it would be nice to have a business and maybe even buy another truck every few years and keep growing.

 

Finding a trustworthy driver is one of my biggest concerns and then the benefits side of it I didnt even think about. Someone who is a driver that is worth having would probably not want to drive for a startup. As far as getting loads, load boards was going to be my first thought, then working with a few brokers and finding ones who can throw me good jobs. I guess my best bet would be to start looking for a driver, and talk with him/her honestly about being a start up and having a pretty decent rig. I would not want to run a driver to death unless they wanted all the miles they could get. But for 40K, can I get a decent, newer model tractor and trailer that should (I know even new rigs have problems) give many trouble free miles?

 

I am in Oklahoma BTW, dont think that matters a whole great deal though