O/O's

Fuel is paid quarterly except for OR on your first year as a carrier. OR requires monthly filings whether you drive through or not. OR is not part of IFTA either. Business taxes are filed quarterly and at year's end.

As for paying yourself...you have to find your break even point.
Break even is finding the rate that will pay your fuel, your maintenance, your insurance, your permits, and lastly your salary. Profit is anything above that rate. Profit should be used to grow your company, to save up for major repairs such as in-frames, or buy a new rig down the road. Also part of that profit should be invested in a IRA for your retirement.

Remember that an old truck makes the same as a new truck or until Obama decides different.....

 

I once had dreams of working for myself,....I worked my a55 off lining up a customer base,..and researching everything I would need to know. I went out and bought a 10 car hauler and got my own authority...I was the owner of my world!!!!...Things went really good at first,..I had never made so much money,.AND I was having fun doing it!!!!
And Then everything fell apart,..fuel prices went up,..My customers couldn't sell enough cars to keep buying at the auctions,...I went back out pounding the pavement looking for new customers,..those dealerships were not doing well either.....I went Bust..

I failed....I lost everything....And I had a customer base before I started,.I had friends in the industry when I started,...And I still failed.....There is nothing easy about owning a truck,...let alone making a go of working it..

Don't invest anymore than you can afford to lose,.there is a very good chance of that happening in this enconomy...

 

A good place to start is by just buyinga truck and leasing on with someone till you get to know the ropes.

What Ron and Walleye are telling you is all true but thats with having your own rights, ins. and all the other headaches that go with it.

Anyway if you wasn to make a million dollars start with 2mil...

 

Honestly,.It sounds like you have a-lot to learn about this industry...As do I..lol...

Maybe the best thing would be to go to work for someone and learn the ropes before you decide to risk losing everything...

 

its kinda funny, you remind me of me. i was in the army for 4 years as a heavy construction equip operator, then became a truck driver(the army exp didnt help at all) went to truck school drove w/ schnider for 1 year, then worked for jb hunt for 4 yrs, got my own truck and leased on with a company for 6 months before getting my own auth and trailer. i was good for about 4 months but it was very hard because i didn't do much research and went balls 2 the wall. then my tranny went out. i almost lost everything.emptied my 401k. got it fixed and ruined my credit

i am playing catchup now, and trying to lease on to landstar right now.i am learning a very expensive lesson.

 

Thats is how many people get into trouble reguardless of the type of business. If you think of everything left after exspenses "YOUR PAYCHECK" you won't last long in business. Rather than think of yourself as a business owner it is best to think of it as a business you work for and set yourself with a specific paycheck. Case in point. A friend hauls logs and was making $2800 to $3000/ week after exspenses and he spent that and more each week. New house, new pick-up, new car for momma , boat, 4 wheelers, jet-ski's............. when fuel went up he was making between $1100-$1500 per week and wound up in bankruptcy. A company has to be run exactly as it is, A COMPANY you work for. Something has to go back into the company. Your truck and trailer won't last forever and its far better to pay more cash down than to finance everything.

 

hey Harbin, i remember you from earlier this year, thx. for the little update i was wondering what happened to you when i run across some older threads.