Buying a new truck this week, should i buy new or used?

Just checked in, been a busy couple weeks... thread seems to have died. Basic, what's going with new truck. You were getting the Mack and asking about prorate so where you at now in the big adventure?

 

Keep this thread going. I have learned a bunch of stuff I didn't know and I been at it 30 years.

 

You will do well. You definitely have the right attitude.

 

It is a tough road that is for sure.

I have experienced a lot of what you are going through right now. I just started had my first anniversary on August 15th. It is great to be able to look back and know I have gotten this far relatively unscathed. About 5 weeks in I was getting worried as the money just flies out door for the first few weeks and I hadn't received anything yet for the work I had done. You will look back and be able to pick out those milestones. Right around that point I was thinking oh my god, what the hell was I thinking. It gets a little better then I hit winter and am like well this is going to sink me. But it keeps on going and eventually with enough hard work and determination you will be able to get over it all and look back and see that you made the right choice.

I had a pretty good chuckle when I signed a personal guarantee for my fuel account. There wasn't much they would be able to get from me if it all went bust, but sign away like everything else.

The one thing you can at least be happy about is that you don't have to deal with any employees. They seem to think that as the owner you have no skin in the game, especially when it is slow. As I have to remind them all too often, I have much more at stake than they do. They can pack up camp and leave whenever they like. I am married to it, good or bad. But that is how it goes, you are the boss, you have to take it and just shake your head afterwards. Or they wont want to work when it is busy and there is money to be made, yet complain that they aren't getting enough at the slow points. Some people just can't grasp how a seasonal job works which they were all warned about. For me being in cement the winter slows down but they all want to take vacation in the summer. Then again, I am the one that hopes to have beautiful weather during the week and all the rain and snow and crap on the weekends.

 

Basic,it is very simple.
Either stay O/O or go for a big fleet.
Anything in between is asking for trouble.(you are paying full price on everything and have to pay wages to employees that aren't allways thinking off your best interests)

Remember when you started this thread?
Some said that the biggest change you would have to make was attitude.
You have made that change,you will make it.
Just try to keep a close look on the money.
Spend when there is a return on what you spend,for the rest..............save.

If all goes well ,and you save,in around 4 to 6 y you will be able to do bussiness without the bank being able to get any off your personal finances.
But for that you need to be inc before.

My first truck i bought and the bank had me sign a paper which gave then control off my house if things went bad.
When it became time to replace that first truck,i payed more then half cash for it.
Borrowed the remaining part from the bank but without any garantee for the bank.
And still they lend me the money just on numbers off the compagny.
Meaning if you can show year after year off good profit.................they will lend you the money without a personal garantee from you for then.

 

Congrats on the new dog Basic, hope it all works out well for you as I'm sure it will!

 

Good for you Basic, you have went into it thinking straight and asking lots of questions so you'll be ok. Attitude is half the game and the right one will make all the difference between coming out on top and just being another guy that couldn't figure it out.

There is a lot of intelligent comments posted right here in the last few days. I've been on my own 15 years, had the ups and downs but the employee thing is correct; added a couple trucks trying to grow safe and sure but all in all, not worth it. The head aches and extra work are not worth the little profit that you make compared to what you have to put into it. Most money (profit) I ever made was just one truck and me in it, you can't really expect an employee to work as hard or take care of things same as you would yourself and if you do and you're banking on it, look out, trouble will be coming. I'm sure there is a point if you keep adding trucks that it becomes worthwhile but I'm sure it is well north of two or three units. I remember after everything crashed in 2008 the personal guarantee thing pretty much was added to any credit app and 30-45 day terms that were common all the sudden became 15 days. All part of business though, lots of companies got burned so they made adjustments, can't blame them can you. As far as incorporating, I don't think it'll ever save your bacon if you do something really stupid and get sued for it, more of an accounting thing. It will open up more option as far as distributing profits with shareholders, etc. and creating your own business year as opposed to the calendar year, good accountant is very important. Above is just my 2 cents worth but I take any info someone offers, mull it over, then decide whether its worth while or not.

Good luck and keep posting updates about your progress Basic. (when you get a spare moment, LOL)