Wonder how far newbies have made it?

I know owners of 2 small companies . Two started 6 years ago. One now has 30 trucks, another one has 15. The guy I started to work for 3 weeks ago after getting my CDL, has 6 trucks, he started 3 years ago. After hiring me he immediately went out and bought another truck. Said he has work, but its very hard to get drivers now, because everybody is hiring.
Saw the thread when a guy took over somebody's else thread. He just bought a truck, trailer,got an authority and had his son drive the truck. After two years he has two trucks and I saw him posted couple of weeks ago that he is doing well and decided to stop doing business with factoring companies.

 

what rates you were getting? Everybody and their mother I know is getting at least $1.80-$3

 

I was getting at least that.Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.Repair,maintenance cost were never ending,many related to mandated regulations such as APU cost,EGR,sleep study and it was more than I could bare.My cost for the period came out to around $1.13/mile and that doesn't leave much for pay and replacement.

 

I always had the dream of owning my own truck being my own boss then I started reading this forum. I realized I make more money at my current job doing welding,construction, running rolloff, dump truck, flat and lowboy. I was having a casual conversation with my boss and told him that I had been researching trucking as full time job and he was surprised that I enjoyed driving. I mentioned it would be nice if I could drive more and i did not care for them hiring random guys to do something I enjoy. Worked out well so far.

I have many friends that are O/Os never asked how they do it, just figured I would get a bunch of bs on how easy it is. My research showed me I do not have enough reserve funds, a real business plan, and I am not good at planning business wise.
I still love driving truck and will keep the dream, but why make my family suffer on a whim. I will wait until I am prepared.

 

I bought my own truck 2.5 years ago. Never been a company driver. Found this site after the fact. Ran my own Authority pulling my own freight for a year and a half before leasing onto a company. I knew what worked, what I needed to make, and how to get things where I wanted. I posted on here my intentions and guys crucified me. No matter. I truly don't understand why guys fail if they have a half ounce of sense. Maybe I been lucky. Sure are tight spots but if you budget the good times, the bad times aren't so bad.

 

Do you have and idea of what your operating ratio is?

 

I bought my tractor in Feb '09. One of my first questions about it here was "guys what can I expect from this MBN single turbo CAT?" which was the first of many costly lessons where I hadn't done the homework lol. I got out of the company truck in Aug '09 and started driving mine pulling their trailers. Flat rate per mile. I knew it was lousy and no way to make any profit but I used it as a stepping stone. Run the truck for a year or two and learn the truck, how to keep it up, and keep going. They were good people and kept me busy it's just their rates were the same low ones as every other flat rate company out there.

And so I survived a couple of years in difficult circumstances and decided to step it up. Free market trucking. Set your own rates a manage your own operation with no dispatcher to answer to. All on me except for some incidental regulatory and payroll stuff. Sink or swim. For the first few months I thought I had made the mistake of my life but i kept a positive attitude, learned from mistakes, and persevered. It turned out I had a knack for twisting the arms of these people needing a truck to move their freight at the last minute. I liked it. Liked it a lot. I learned the basics from this very forum and took a lot of inspiration from many of the operators who post here. I try to pass on what I have learned and encourage others.

It has not been easy street. There have been a lot of bumps along the way. It took me over 3 years before I stopped losing money. I don't know everything and am still learning. But i do know how to hustle a rate. That is my drug of choice now. The excitement and challenge of a good score. Putting together another week, chalking one up as a victory. That is why i do it. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love driving these big trucks and enjoy everything about the job. Even the bad stuff gives me something to chuckle about later when it's all said and done. I do it because it's my passion not because of the money. But the fact I am able to shake some of these broker hustlers down that is just icing on the cake. When I can't shake em down cause it ain't happening I just park at the house and circle the freight like a hawk waiting to dive in. Haha!! It's the only way to truck and it's a lot of fun if you can make it happen.