Opening up a trucking company. Limited experience. What could go wrong?

It isn't the point of telling people it won't work but it is the point to tell people how to make it work if they really want to and show them how it does work.

Many ignore advice, go ahead and only listen to those posts that agree with them and then get into it only to fail sometime down the road. having an idea and having yes men tell you that it is great and it can be done means nothing. but when you have people spelling out where the failures are and what to do to mitigate them, and listening to them, it increases the chance of success.

The other half of this is not having enough money to run it as a company and hedge against hard times, many will be marginal operators and grab every thing they can to make some money, not knowing when to quit. This drives the rates down because we can't have someone saying "sure I'll take that load for 80 cents per mile" while most of need it to be above $1.50 a mile.

The only thing I can see wrong here is that the OP needs to do his due diligence, that is check the truck out in a standard way - Dyno, ECM dump, OA and so on. It doesn't matter if the truck has a billion miles on it and has an inframe done or completely taken care of like a baby - it can have a failure the first day it is on the road.

 

How much will deadhead cost? No-one ever lists deadhead as a cost. Is there a reason why?

 

Especially Brokers!

 

.45/mile on 1099.
Do you also help your drivers signup for welfare and foodstamps?

 

He is the driver. Some people are able to live comfortably on little money. I know that I can.

 

That's the worst reason to accept sub standard pay I've ever heard. If he isn't getting some kind of incredible quality of life boost out of this job it's horrible.

 

Are you too dense to think that his money may be going elsewhere? That is what he pays himself, not what the truck makes. Maybe he is building up a huge maintenance account. Might be he is working to pay the truck off early.

Those numbers are breakeven numbers. In other words they are the bare minimum. Just because youake money does not mean you have to spend it.

You would probably have a coronary if you knew what my bare minimum was to survive.

BTW, at 100,000 miles that would be 45k a year. Hardly substandard living.

 

@cnsper... problem is...most people project their own cost of living on others...

They presume that "living below your means"...implies being poor, which is hardly the case...lol