Getting authority

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by pilot trucker, Aug 5, 2018.

  1. pilot trucker

    pilot trucker Light Load Member

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    Feb 22, 2015
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    How much money do you need saved up to get your own authority? How hard is it to get freight when you first start up from reliable brokers?
     
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  3. Buckeye 60

    Buckeye 60 Road Train Member

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    hard to get much good frieght until you have 6 months or so running under your own authority will have to work for aholes for the most part .... and if you don't have any of your own accounts and just plan on working off load boards your better off just going through a company that takes 10 % or signing on with landstar or something like that would save a lot of headaches and make more money in the long run
     
  4. kenn2632

    kenn2632 Light Load Member

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    Nov 25, 2010
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    It's plenty of information on here about getting your own Authority
     
  5. glockwise

    glockwise Light Load Member

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    Everyone amount will be different. Payments/ no payments, age of equipment could mean you need a larger maintenance account, how far are you going to run, what are you going to pull, how much experience you have affects your insurance premiums, etc.

    How long have you been driving? Are you an O/O now?
     
  6. Dino soar

    Dino soar Road Train Member

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    It really depends on what you were trying to do and what your situation is.

    But the answer to your question and to anyone that poses that question is, you have to have enough money to weather whatever storm can come your way.

    If you buy a brand new truck my opinion is is very hard to make money. You're going to have extremely high payments and extremely high insurance and it does not insure you that the truck will never be down. So if the truck is broken down you're going to have to pay that extremely high insurance and that extremely high payment and your house payment and your insurance payment and whatever other kind of payments that you have while the truck is down. It multiplies negatively.

    If you buy an older truck, you may have money put away for repairs, but when the truck breaks down and if it breaks down often you make zero money while you have to pay out all of your insurance and your personal bills and everything else and they money after repairs on top of that. Not to mention you can have very very expensive repairs that can cost you many many thousands of dollars not just small things. Depending on the kind of truck you have and depending what happens an engine can cost you 15 or $20,000. I don't know what kind of engine he had, but one guy on here said he spent $40,000. An old truck that keeps breaking down on you even if you had the money for the repairs can still bankrupt you because the truck is down so much you have no income, you only have expense that you're paying out for the repairs.

    What if you had a string of problems? Let's say what happens if you hit a deer, God forbid. Now your truck is down three weeks while they fix it. Not only zero income but you have to pay for the repair. What if you go back on the road and a week later something else happens that cost you another three or four thousand dollars and set you back another week or two? That can happen several times in a row.

    You're going to have to wait to get paid 30 to 45 days or maybe more. What happens if you don't get paid it all? What happens if you have several Brokers that don't pay you for maybe 90 days and it's a lot of money? It's impossible to attempt to figure all of the scenarios but you have to be able to get through it.

    I'm not trying to dissuade you at all. But you really have to have this stuff figured out because the unexpected does happen and you need to be prepared however you can be.

    The answer is a little different for everyone. But if you're just beginning it's much safer and easier to lease on to a good company somewhere. And there are guys to that have had their Authority for however long and they do better leased onto someone else. It really just depends on your particular situation.

    Good luck
     
  7. Gdog66223

    Gdog66223 Road Train Member

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    You need at least $6000. It took me $6000 to get my own authority, trailer down payment, Insurance down payment, Qualcomm device, and all permits. I didnt use a company to do mine. I do all my permits and billing myself. Word of the wise DO NOT HIRE a dispatch service, they will take your money and not look back. Book your freight and do all the billing and paperwork yourself. $6000 is after you have your own truck. Dryvan
     
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2018
  8. pilot trucker

    pilot trucker Light Load Member

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    Feb 22, 2015
    Ada MI
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    Thanks
     
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