Owner Operators whom take extended Winter Vacations

What do you'll do with the insurance payment when you park the truck??

 

same thing I do with the truc payment,pay it

 

Who, in their right mind would run in the snow anymore if they didn't need to? Too much traffic nowadays and more and worse de-ice chemicals.

Keep your expenses low and enjoy winter at home. Plenty of deer to kill.

 

That's where the money is at if you want to dictate rates. Because of all the dummies will run into and out of Texas (down south in general) for nothing because they're afraid of a little snow, might have to slow down to 55mph or slower from 70+, etc, etc and get taken advantage of. And laugh at you because you might drive in a little inclement weather when they're generally always complaining about rates, etc. Now that might not fit you but it does a lot of the "I want to stay south of I-20 in the winter" crowd.

 

It is cheaper for me to pay insurance annually so I don't actually have a payment until June.

(My insurance is $7903 if paid all at once, or $698/month which is $8376/year -- you can't get a riskless 11% rate of return in today's interest rate environment).

 

I took most of Jan and Feb off. Rates dropped off like I'd expect but seemed to be much lower than I thought they'd go. I got sick of hearing "fuels cheap" from brokers. I would probably still be sitting, but I found a relaxed dedicated run to keep me busy during this down time.

 

I meant do you guys reduce liability or reduce radius to make insurance cheaper for the months you take off. It doesn't make sense to pay for two months of insurance 2000$/truck for insurance for JAN and Feb.

THANKS

 

Keep the insurance for all 12 months. You need to be able to roll out at the drop of a hat. What I have found is that saying to myself and acting on it that "I'm going to take all of Jan and Feb off" ends up being a losing proposition. But I watch freight even when i'm off whereas some guys maybe don't. But, even when freight is down there are last minute desperados who will pay whatever it takes to move a load. You need to be able to roll out on that at a moment's notice. Insurance cost over the course of a year is what it is. Figure on having to pay it and don't miss out in the big scores during slow periods.