To buy or Not to buy

If you read my post, i suggested going with a company that pays .47ish/mile, not.23. What insurance company are you with? I dont know any that dont care about RECENT experience, but if you have one, I'm sure we'd all like to know since there are a lot of drivers in your shoes.

 

You need to get off your high horse or your not gonna make it. I dont mean to be rude, but you have this attitude of, ""i got experience, I've paid my dues and I shouldn't have to prove anything." Your right, no you shouldn't, but the world does not work that way. Like i said, and the other guy said....you wont have good rates or even get loaded without recent O/O experience. Thats how it works. I would never trust my expensive load to someone who hasn't been behind the wheel in years and most shippers wont either. You need a name behind you that the shipper trusts. Like I said before, its better to get a good rate and a good load and pay someone else for booking it and such then have no load or a poor rate. We all say we wont haul cheep freight, but if you end up in a bad area...cheap freight is better then deadheading. You also dont have much negotiation power. Some drivers can say "i've been accident free for X,XXX,XXX miles, excellent driving record etc." You practically dont have a commercial driving record since it was so long ago. If you want to do it alone, and just sink or swim, then go for it. but dont tell me we didnt warn you if you fail. It wont kill you to climb the ladder a bit. Just suck it up and play the game and you will be much better off.

If I were you, I'd seriously consider skipping Cali. If you go with Cali you need a carb truck and a carb reefer. That means new or within the last few years. If you don't need carb you can get a decent cheep reefer and truck for less then 35,000. (new truck cost 130k+ and reefer 40k+) Non carb equipment has flooded the market and is cheep, especially if buying in or around CA.

I bought my truck for 25K and paid it off in full. I then took out a 45,000 line of credit incase anything goes wrong. Since I have no truck payment, i dont have to be so picky on my loads. I dont have to run myself to death just to make a payment. I'd highly recommend going cheaper to start out untill you know the business. When you get goign you can always upgrade down the line.

 

Anything with a diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) weather it requires DEF fluid or not is CARB compliant. In a few years, only the ones that require DEF fluid will be complaint. Anything with an 07 ENGINE (not necessarily year of truck) or newer is Carb compliant.

 

If you don't have 4-6 brokers lined up.you will have a hard time.as for making a name for yourself. I'm leased on to small co. And have brokers call with load offers. I've pulled their butts out of the fire. You do that enough they don't forget you, and you don't have to haggle to much over money.

 

they dont do a lot but they have reefer loads check there board

and most of the dedicated hazmat reefer loads already have a primary carrier