Owning but not driving

You won't make any money for yourself with only one truck

 

It can be done but only if it is the right situation.

I recently started my own company and have two trucks hauling cement for me. There are a couple reasons why this is going to work for me (knock on wood). Cement hauls are far more profitable than regular hauls which means there is something left for me at the end of the year. The other is that I am able to haul more than most of the other cement carriers around me. I am averaging around 44.5 tonnes (and if I could get the axel weights right I would be over 45.5t) compared to most companies which are at 42-43 and some are down at 36. This has to do with buying new equipment more than anything but keeps my driver expenses the same while increasing my revenue.

What I did in order to make sure that this had a chance to work was create a spreadsheet to plan off of. Use formulas as it will make this much easier

I apologize for doing this to Canadian standards but its where I am from. My spreadsheet consists of revenue, variable expense (driver pay, driver overhead ex. Workers Comp, Employement Insurnace, Canada Pension Plan (i use 25%) and fuel costs (my approximations for this year are diesel at $1.10/litre and fuel mileage at 5MPG) and fixed expenses (insurance, truck repairs, trailer repairs, licensing, office/professional expenses financing, . I am able to adjust it to see how higher fuel costs, poorer mileage, fewer loads etc would affect my revenue and profitability. This is easier to plan for based on consistent locations that I haul out of. But you can still work through it to determine what you daily fixed costs are and your variable costs by the mile are.

If you can make it work and not just in the best case scenario then I would say it could be worth a shot. You do need to have enough money set aside for the unforseen repairs as well as enough to get you started through your first two months as you will be incurring expenses but wont have any revenue coming in. Here you have you pay your fuel bill 7 days afterwards but you wont get your revenue from any of the trips for another 3-4 weeks.

The biggest challenge you will probably have is finding a driver that you feel comfortable and that will also be willing to work for you when you are not in the industry. They are more skeptical when they konw you are start up and not a driver yourself and will be testing your knowledge to make sure you know what you are doing. When you meet with them you have to have all of your numbers figured out. What you are paying if its by the mile or percentage, your wait time, un/loading time. If you don't have this figured out before it becomes a negotiation rather than an interview which you don't want. You also have to know everything about your equipment and how you want to run things, you can't be figuring some things out while you are answering their questions.

 

The guys that drive their own rig and lease onto a carrier barely make it and if they do it's because they are the driver and try to be as efficient as they can. Now leasing onto a carrier and having to pay driver .3x/mile and you'll be working for free if not putting money in. So this option doesn't even make sense.

Your biggest worry shouldn't be getting a driver, that won't be a problem as there are several looking for employment. What will make or break you is how good the freight you book pays. Doesn't sound like you have much experience in that department but just hang in there and give it time. You can't be successful if you don't take a few chances so give it a shot. Pick your truck wisely as the last thing IOU want is to deal with repairs on the road because you will get bent over on just the minor repairs. Good luck.

 

7 days a week with 80+ hours for just 1 truck? Exaggeration is an understatement here.

 

Get a loadboard and see if you can find a driver who is willing and can disptach himself, My drivers dispatches himself and loves it.

 

Funny... My buddy bought a used Freightliner and hired a driver. He hauls frac sand in Texas. Truck is making $4.50 a mile. Driver gets paid a percentage and is averaging about $1500 a week.

My buddy puts very little time into this as he owns another business that takes most of his time. Right now he only has one truck and is doing very well. He is looking to add another 2-3 trucks soon.

Another one is where Im working. A guy bought a new Chevy flatbed dooley with a 4 car trailer. This guy has never been around trucking before and has hired a driver with no experience. I have been told by my boss that this truck is currently making about $700 a day but should be making over $1000 a day.

I dunno... I see two owners here that have no experience and only 1 truck each and are successful...

 

I know a few guys who own a few trucks and don't necessarily drive them...but still make decent money. It's all about knowing/trusting the drivers and getting good paying freight.

 

Not at all. Someone marketing themselves and working to actively learn this business will put in really long hours. At the rates most drivers seem to expect and tend to think is as good as it gets I could likely keep 2 or 3 trucks really busy on sub-par rates with big miles in less than 40 hours a week. Anyone can do that. What seperates the men from the boys is booking load, after load, after load, after load, after load, after load and every single one of them turning a profit with zero "fuel money" or "insert other excuse here" loads in between. You think THAT comes easy and with less than 40 hours effort a week? If it was that easy everyone would be doing it and no-one would be crying about all the cheap freight out there. When I see someone looking to start up a one truck show, hire a driver to drive it, and think they are going to make a profit with less than 40 hours a week of effort I see a failure in the makes. Although I suppose they could get lucky and hire a professional who would never call them at 2 or 3am in the morning with every SNAFU imaginable. Yeah that is some fringe benefit overtime there they likely havent thought about.. Or maybe they will get lucky and always pick spot loads from a desperate broker every where they go. Clock in at 7am clock out out at 3:30pm, right, that's how single truck operations do it....

 

Not to shoot down your vision but trucking is a 24/7 365 job if you own one.

Just being honest you would need to put far more into it than that even with a good driver and good freight.