SCHNEIDER CHOICE PROGRAM - FREEDOM AWAITS " YOU " by JAR-HEAD

First you'd have to have 18k in cash to buy the truck plus another 10-20k in the bank for emergenies.sure that would be the way to go if you had those kind of funds most people dont or good enough credit to purchase a truck through a dealer so sfi on the choice program is the way to go.most l/p programs are bad and only favor the company and are setup for you to fail.At sni on the choice ive talked to too many guys who are making good money on it.If you fail at sfi you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

Jar-Head... I think you have a very nice thread going on here... Don't let your temper on a negative post get the better of you
and having your thread closed..

I do think that miles do play an important part of your plan..

It comes into play with knowing what your costs are per-mile to turn the wheels.. this should be known before your adventure into becoming a L/O or O/O.. That is what time in the seat as a Driver needs to learn before jumping into L/O...

I ran for over two years, learning before making the leap to O/O even thou I had the money set aside to buy my first truck and even then, it wasn't a cakewalk..

Not only in the operation of the truck, but your salary, taxes, return on investment or replacement value..
what you are striving for, money for retirement..

Operation of the truck..
Payment, fuel, insurance, maintenance, replacement of parts, like tires, batteries, brakes, etc..

Even if you have no payments, figure setting aside that money for replacement of truck or major expenses if keeping that truck ..

You are correct, this becomes a business and must think of it like any businessman.. A truck is just a tool in reaching the goal..

Trucking gave my family a good life, even being away from home.. Was able to retire at 55 with a nice nest-egg..

When I was in the Navy, I served two years on a ship stationed out of Guam... Gone a month or two, in trucking was easy compared to that, plus we didn't have all the electronic ways to stay in touch like you do today... Speaking of cell-phones and computers..

Many will still fail in trucking, as a driver, L/O or O/O.. Just the way it is.. But, we do have the opportunity in this country...

 

Instead of cpm what if you broke it down by hourly? Like for every hour I run this truck it cost me X amount. To do this load is gonna take X amount of time and in order to make a profit I'll need X amount of money.

Only I reason I ask is sometimes miles are misleading. It might only be a 150 mile run but it's ending in Chicago during rush hour during a holiday with a sporting event going on. That 150 mile trip just turned into a 6 hour trip with lots of idling in traffic.

 

I'll have to edit my statement again. I had meant financing an used truck(If I could). Yes, under Ideal circumstances, a paid for truck and 10k-20k in the bank would be the perfect way to start. I'm not at that point.

 

Why would someone buy such a old truck. More hassle then it's worth.

 

New to o/o stuff... retired out MC in 1992 started driving for very good contractor with several different companies ( no names but we did dry van, refer, end dumps, and finally liquid smooth bore tanks and LPG )... retired last may... now sons (also marines (( no such thing as former )) want to start OWNING trucks... i could really use a good and current brake down of cost per mile to operate. i'm out of touch with insurance costs, tire cost, ect on a per mile basis ............ education and information is always good before jumping into this... i'm the test subject... if we find we the boys can own trucks pay their drivers well and make a small profit they plan to hire only veterans.. i am comparing Landstar, Mercer, and now SNI... didn't know they had self dispatch available... this looks to be an informative thread... subscribed ....SEMPER FI

 

I am not trying to be argumentative, just observing from 3days each way- 3 weeks worth days of travel the FedEx ground drivers, on the I40 love Kenworths, just curious how those trucks worked out, cause the main trucks I saw on the side of the road were FL and not the Kenworths after 5000 miles worth of driving from Tennessee to S. California and back. I know its insignificant, just observations.

 

On some blogs you have to double space the paragraph to get a space inserted

 

You start at zero unless you want to put something in there they do cover you on a case by case basis
especially if you have some time in