Owner operator opportunity advice

hey guys Im a class A driver been driving rigs for about 9 years now since i was 24 and I always wanted to get my own truck and venture out on my own. Whenever Im talking to another driver and mention i want to become and owner op most of them have said do not do it its not worth it etc. Most of them have tried and failed when they went out on their own so I feel its a sore subject for them. I have a couple buddies who do low boy and some heavy haul work and own their own trucks and they love it and make a great living doing so. I have researched a bit over the last year or so and have looked at owner op jobs online and whatnot and locally they say $2500-$3000 a week. After expenses for the truck and putting some off to the side for taxes and for emergencies or fees it doesnt sound like $2500 for example would be enough to really have a profit every week or even $3k like the ad says. Now idk how many hours you have to put in to make the $3k a week, are you basically running the entire clock of 60 hrs a week? the work is intermodal mostly which I understand can be long wait times as well as Ive heard most of the trailers are crap and can cause pre mature wear or flat spots on the tires of the tractor and can be hard on the truck itself. Ive never hauled intermodal so Im not sure how true that is. Some of the other work Ive seen also pays around the same maybe a little more for local companies around here. If I went this route would local driving with my own truck be worth the money their offering? Im thinking of getting something like a volvo day cab to start with. But the big opportunity I have is from a friend of mine who Ive known for a few years now and works at a local grocery distribution center whos expanding their center to a 1 million sq ft warehouse and will hire sub haulers to haul their grocery products to local dist centers around the area in reefer trailers. He mentioned probably by next summer the new warehouse will be completed and will need owner ops. He also said he has a good friend whos a broker and has a ton of work doing similar work as well as dry goods and he pays very well $300 a load locally and the guys who work for him do roughly 3-4 loads a day. The friend who mentioned all this to me always asks me if Id be interested when i see him and says its a great opportunity and has friends that are making a great living sub hauling for him and his buddy. Its always been on my mind since he first mentioned it a few years back but i wasnt ready financially at that time because i was helping my girlfriend put herself through nursing school and wasnt working and now shes graduated and has been a nurse for the last year and is making some pretty good money and Im in a good position in my life to make this jump to owner op. I have her full support if I want to make this jump and she would do what she could to help me financially if I needed help. My question is what is everything I need to get this going? Im wanting to run locally no regional or OTR and Im based out of central California. I know I would need a business license and DOT number as well as a CA number. Is there anything else Im missing in order to get started besides getting a truck? The broker Id be dealing with has his own trailers that Id haul so I dont need a trailer right away. And if anyone lives in CA and is an owner op what is the cost of these licenses and permits to run in this state? I thought id ask any owner ops on here first before i make my way to the licensing center here where I live and start the process. Sorry i know this is a long post but just thought id say what my exact situation is and what my goal is as well. Any advice is appreciated and thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

Cool thank you for you’re input sharky88 I do have an insurance hook up as well but even with that I know I’m still looking at a good amount of $$. Do you run up north or Southern California?