going to do the owner operator gig...

Want me to buy a truck for you too?

 

He ain't hostile. Just busting your chops a bit. Says you got 36 years in as a trucker. Seems you'd be familiar with that kinda ribbing. And after 36 years of being a professional truck driver how is it possible you don't know the answers to the questions you asked? You should know 12 grand ain't enough to "get up and running". Best of luck to you driver. You got some homework to do even though you've been in the business 36 years.

 

Dont mind them, poke around the 0/0 and truck finace threads, they do that to everyone on the first few posts. I think its a weed out the trolls and liers thing.

 

If you lease on the Landstar, they have insurance available to at least get you started. I take it for convenience. As far as 12,000 goes, that's anybody's guess. I know I started with a lot less and was lucky. You probably need to get a tax ID number, but it's free and you get it fairly quick. As far as a rate goes that will depend on so many things but primarily your truck and trailer payment will determine most of that. I wouldn't think you would have to incorporate. Just my $.02 worth.

 

check the O/O section here and also OOIDA site;

http://www.ooida.com/EducationTools/

good luck to ya. neighbor.lol

 

If you plan on leasing to Landstar or any other carrier, then you will have their name and numbers on your door. You could still incorporate, if that is what you want. There could be some tax advantages to incorporating. But, there will also be some additional costs. It can take Landstar several weeks to approve drivers and owner operators. They may not give you final approval until they inspect your truck. They don't have company drivers.

If you lease to a carrier you will only need comprehensive on your truck (if it is financed) and bobtail. Landstar requires unladen liability instead of bobtail. They will also require either workers comp or an occupational accident policy. I have found the occupational accident policy is usually cheaper and they both do pretty much the same thing. Landstar offers some insurance to their BCO's (owner operators). OOIDA offers these policies, but at one time Landstar didn't want to lease on anyone who used OODA insurance. You can also check with Lancer, Northland and Progressive for rates on truck insurance. If you can find a good agent who writes multiple lines of commercial truck insurance, they should be able to find a good rate.

Leasing to a carrier will require less up front cash than if you get your own authority. Most carriers will give you fuel advances once you are loaded and most pay within a week, so you won't need a lot of money unless your truck has some major mechanical issues. It is a good idea to have enough set aside to take care of an overhaul, but most will start with much less than you currently have saved.

It is nearly always better to finance locally than with those who don't know you. Class 8 equipment is not always easy to finance. Not all banks do class 8 loans. A bank or credit union who knows you will often offer more competitive rates than a stranger. You need to know your breakeven point in order to understand where you need to be with rates. What may seem cheap to one person may sound like a good rate to you. Check the OOIDA website. There are a couple of spreadsheets that you can download and play with that might help you to better understand some of the costs associated with running a trucking business. Remember, if you can't make more owning the truck than driving for someone else, then you may want to consider selling the truck. Many new owner operators find it difficult to make the transition from being a company driver to owner operator.