Wonder how far newbies have made it?

I beg to differ,if you are taking in $5000/week it is very relevant if you are spending $4900/week.
No offense.

 

I just pulled up an ottoman to the sofa, gonna sit back , eat popcorn and watch the show.

I just have add that making 5000 and spending 4900 is what one would call" a plan not being working very well".

 

I'm pretty sure Investopedia is in someones browser history.

$5000 weekly income with $4900 outlay is not a bad thing if you paid yourself $2900. I would look at your numbers, you haven't accounted for $100(A=L+OE)

When I was the CFO at a 250 truck company, pretty much the same 2 months of every year we would have a negative Net Income on the P&L. 10 seconds later the owner would rush into my office proclaiming that there is no way it was correct. We would play the "what about this?" game for a little while, then I would ask him what he wanted it to be? Of course he would reply "that the bank wouldn't be happy, I would have to deal with them and that he just wanted it to be right" to which I would reply "well then I guess we are going with what we have"

a couple of points:

-Fixed costs are just that- fixed...sometimes you will loose money in a given snapshot. Take 2 weeks off at Christmas?
-You can lie to yourself about how your company is doing (they are just numbers on paper), but you will pay the price in the long run.
-The bank doesn't care that much about 1 monthly P&L. They understand all business's are cyclical. Cash is king, and cash flow forecasts your ability to meet your obligations.
-99% of all business don't fail from a single occurrence or month, but from repeated negative occurrences over time. Seek out those negative occurrences and don't let them slide.

Carpe Diem- seize the day. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not yet here. Today is your only chance to seize an opportunity. Learn to identify positive opportunities and capitalize on them. They add up quickly.

 

Its no secret the most common O/R for trucking is in the 90-95% range. The tone of this thread seemed to lean towards the one truck operation. In my own experience I found these numbers to be pretty close to reality. Just as Hurst said, a truck is more needy than any woman I have ever known. And will in fact thousand dollar you to death.

 

I think the hardest part of today's industry is the new trucks. 04 and above trucks have so many issues. 08 and above are a total nightmare. In California where I operate, that seems to be the make or break factor for most small businesses. if you get one that has problems right out of the gate, your chances of success get very slim. Rates can't keep up with the maintenance on some of these newer trucks. I run into guys every month turning in there brand new truck, that CARB gave them a $40,000 grant for the old truck for. I read on one of the websites a few months ago, it's something like 5 out of 10 trucks 2010 and above will have emmisions issues, and that will break your back if your just starting out. I have one now that has a check engine light that comes on all the time. It's been checked 8 times at about $1000 a pop, in the last 3 months. Nobody can figure it out. All the shops know what to do is throw money at it.

If if just starting out, my advice, stay out of California, buy a pre emmisions truck for cheap, and chances of success will greatly improve. Learn the rate game in your area. Pick a lane or triangle you want to run, and learn it before you buy your equipment. Rates are great in a lot of my places, you just have to find your customers or s great broker to load with. Starting on load boards is a tough place to start out.

 

I got a brand new truck and oil cooler went out at 29,000 miles. I'm not a mechanic so have no idea if this failure has anything to do with the new emission crapola.But I did see the invoice and the bill was $5,600.If it can go out at 29K it could fail anytime.Who would budget such and expense.Who has ever even heard of such.I had no idea I was cooling oil as I went down the road.LOL

 

That explains a lot.

 

And then some...

 

Who doesn't have a shf fund?

 

Seems like for many operators their shtf fund is their next settlement. The sort of plan that will put you out of business in about 6 months or less. And of course expecting to profit right out the gates just makes it feel even worse when reality bites.