O/O Advice Needed

If you want to make a million in trucking, start with two... Seriously. Anyone can buy a truck and lease it to a carrier and throw a driver in it... That is the easy part. I am in Detroit, I own the truck and haul automotive freight... Carrier of the year for GM... Good luck.

 

To fail? Idiots at the helm that have no clue of the business. Easy. Go get your CDL and drive for a year, you will still be beyond wet behind the ears...

 

I just noticed you're in Canada; my advice may not help much.
@gokiddogo probably can help.

 

I started my business in 2005, been in automotive for more than a few years. This is not easy work, and there are few out there that can pull it off, mainly due to the people they hire... Lost contracts are the norm, as the industry does not pay enough to employ solid people. And the costs dictate that. You will need 3 million in insurance liability, and then throw in the costs of drivers. I know you are in Canada, so you have to figure in all of those costs in compared to the US. I work for an outfit out of Windsor ON, I will not state who they are, but everyone around here knows them, and in Ontario too... Let us just say, a fool is easily parted from his monies. Have at it.

 

Dry van based out of Ontario could work. As long as you live somewhere in South western Ontario you have a chance. If you live in Sudbury or Timmons or Dryden etc. you will have a heck of a time.

The first thing you need to do is figure out your expenses. How much does it cost, per mile or per month, to run a truck and a trailer? How much revenue can you generate? Can you find a driver who will fuel at the places you want him to and also not beat your equipment up and also arrive on time for pick and drops and also be an amicable person in general to your customers? Drivers wages are going up right now. Companies are advertising in the .50 and .60 range + lots of accessories pay for waiting and border crossing and whatever else have you. I think because of expected electronic log productivity cut. Now, the short loads, as in say 500 miles and less, pay more per mile than the long runs. You can make good money if you run the short stuff, but if your driver is being paid by the mile and you're only running 1600 miles a week he will want either more miles or more pay by time rather than miles. Which drives your cost up.

The dry van market is the most competitive market there is, because it is easy, and generally your entry level trucking for most az drivers. Drivers can make a good living as company drivers pulling dry vans. The margins are razor thin. When people say if you want $1m start with $2m they mean it. Plenty of folks do this racket and make good money, then their truck starts acting up. Maybe the engine goes and now you have a $60,000 engine to buy. Or their driver has an accident. Or someone backs into you or takes your hood and radiator out. $10-20k right there. Tough to swallow it you were only making MAYBE 15-20k a year profit. Don't forget, driver still wants his money on Friday. Fuel guy pay immediately. Mechanic same thing. When it comes time for you to collect? Go home be quiet and wait 30 to 60 even 90 days at times. Whine and complain too much? They may not hire you again. It really is a cut throat game.

It is not a business where you could run it on the side. Be very hard to if you were still in school and run it. Lots of phone time and doing paperwork. With 1 dry van you may find a shipper that has just one lane for you to cover. Not very likely especially if you are the new guy on the block. They want a bit more capacity than that most times. Which means you will be dealing with load brokers. The bane of many people's existence. Do some reading around and you should quickly notice the disdain from some people over them. The shipper pays them to find a truck, they pay the truck. They often want to take a large cut (why shouldn't they) leaving you with a difficult time to pay your bills. All the while you are the one with the equipment payments, insurance, liability on the road, and...waiting to be paid. Great isn't it?

The TL;DR version:
This business is competitive as hell, you can make money in it, you won't get rich in this game, has a 95+% failure rate. Still want to play?