A need to be Owner Operator

Well - you can read over @double yellow 's thread - or mine. He went from company driver to O/O under his own numbers -

I leased on to LS running flatbed with an old pie ce of junk KW.

 

You need to find a company first. Find how much they pay. Will you sign on or get your own Authority, DOT, Name ect...

Then comes the truck. WARRANTY is a must. If you buy a first truck without a WARRANTY you will be rolling dice with your entire business every time you turn that key and put that sheet in gear.

I know guys who purchased trucks as is and went out and made 12k in 3 weeks. On the 4th week blew a 23k engine and was stuck with a 65k loan on a down truck they couldn't afford to fix. Helllll No!

So aside from reg and permits. You need to determine your truck and insurance payments per month as well as how much it cost to run your truck per mile as far as fuel efficiency and maintenance.

Compare that to what you will make with whatever company or broker.

Go get yours bro!

 

Buying your own would be WAY BETTER than to sign a lease deal. Depending on your particular credit worthiness, you may wish to start with a very good used truck, build up your credit and some equity on the used, then when the time is right, buy new. ALL from a BANK or dealer financing.

I do believe however, a used truck requires more of a down payment than say a brand new one.

 

If you don't think people are going to make decisions that cost you money when you're an owner-operator, you need to rethink the path you're looking to walk down.

I run heavy haul and oversize as an owner-operator, and though my current gig is good, things will always happen, no matter how good the company you work for is, that will cost you money. And, when you own the truck, that costs-you-money mistake doesn't mean that you've lost revenue, but, likely, are paying out of your pocket for something.

That being said, if you can buy a truck outright with no payment, that's a lot better. Most lease-purchase plans are a joke. If you can't afford outright, finance through a bank, not a trucking company to get the truck. A bank doesn't tell you what freight can and can't go on the truck until it's paid off.

I disagree that you need a warranty. You need to know how to work on your truck. Half of that $23,000 overhaul price on an engine Leon noted is shop rates. You save a lot of money turning your own wrenches. There are some things beyond the necessity of knowing how to do, but, you should be doing your own tires, brakes, grease jobs, oil changes, suspension, etc.

However, it is true, find work, then find a truck. Don't buy a truck and hunt for work, that's putting yourself behind.

As to what sort of truck you should buy, it depends on the work you're doing. Sounds like you want to stick open-deck. Are you planning on OTR, regional, local? Percentage, per-mile, hourly? What sort of freight do you plan on hauling mostly, do you need a little extra-rail for nose overhang? Short wheelbase to get in and out of clusterf*ck locations?

Most here wouldn't even consider running what I run. Mechanical Cummins, 6x4 set of sticks. But, I run local, which means my fuel mileage is bad either way, and I run heavy and the gearing is important to me. Trust me, my 6x4 on 4.44s outguns an 18 on 4.11s by a country mile.

A lot of considerations before you even look at trucks.

 

I'm noting a strong resentment toward your employer - which may or may not be the best motivator toward business ownership.

Your last statement on planning is the best self advice. I planned thoroughly yet there was more gaps, this forum and it's members helped me out thouroughly.

Get searching and reading om here, I still go back searching for lots of different issues. If you have difficulty finding the answer, try google searching the question, and then select it from the 'TTR' results - 9 times out of ten I find the answer to my truck related query is on here.

Agree with @ColoradoGreen on warranty and truck.

 

Although I am not entirely sure of today's banking and finances, years ago when I had wanted to get my own truck (thru a bank loan) I needed signed "letters of intent to haul" from at least 2 companies.

Then I need a business plan as well all written up.

Today's bankers may require more now than when I tried going the o/o route.

Please believe me too, that I also made SEVERAL inquiries to companies that did lease/purchase deals.

They ALL sent me driver settlement sheets.

After ALL the deductions were made, I saw what was supposed to be the driver's pay for that week.

I was shocked to se that for me as a company driver, I made MORE MONEY each week, and had NO headaches.

Everyone has their mind made up about lease-purchase deals, so be it, so do I and would NEVER recommend such a joint venture.

Back then I must have spent nearly 3 months gathering information, from the various companies (many now long gone) about lease-purchase deals. And this was a time when not too many people had a home pc, so much was done on the phone and snail mail.

The banks that I had spoken to were more (to me) honest, if not brutal at times in telling me how it is.

The trucking companies, tell you ANYTHING you WANT TO HEAR.

The banks are in business to grow, and help you grow,

The trucking companies are in business to grow, and watch you wither away.

Since you are obviously younger than me, you may recover faster from a financial disaster. As for me, my money is tied up in savings, stocks, bonds, etc, and I wish NOT gamble getting my own truck, since retirement is so very close for me now.

Again, do this on your own, seek out "letters of intent to haul" for the bankers to read thru, and have some down payment money.

I would recommend a good used truck only because if you decide being an owner is not for you, you still take a hit on the purchase of a used truck, but not as BIG a hit as on a new one.

But that is just from when I did MY homework, many, many years ago.

In fact one funny note, back then, I wanted to get into buying what they called then, a Pony Pac or genset, which are APU's.

SO many truck stop counter experts said I would be nuts in buying such a device as they will NEVER be any good.

2 things,

1) I wonder how many of those experts are still in business

2) I wonder how many of those experts went out and got one..????

 

JOker, driving life is better if you own your own rig. One thing, among many to think about, do a lot of background work before writing that first check. You'll need to have some cash available - AFTER you buy the truck. Blair and DY are posting direct, realtime experiences, and others have as well. Look around, OOIDA, NASTC, others. Ask around. You've driven quite a while, shop carefully for a truck that will run. This whole enterprise depends on having your truck running down the highway with a payload. All the best, JOker.

I went from company driver to I/C. I've plateaued (?) my income, but to move upstream I'll have to go full independent, so I'm researching that direction while making good money as an Independent Contractor. I'm an old man, and I can't afford to make a move that drives me backwards, so I'm being very cautious. Well, as cautious as I can be at 125k/annual in a tractor trailer.