Starting a small fleet

If you’re wanting to get into the trucking business because you see dollar signs, you’re in for a rude awakening. You can find articles called the “True Cost of Trucking” that are a survey of a large group of companies and gives you an average cost. If it costs 1.60-1.75 a mile just to cover costs and your rate is 2.10 mile, you can do the math. If you've got company guys in the truck, expect your costs to be 1.70-1.75 and that’s if you’re hitting 7.5 mpg. These figures are on all miles averaging 10k miles a month. What if you want to get your guys home every weekend? For every percentage less than 10k your costs go up per mile by the same.
I can tell you from experience that those 500k mile trucks are going to hit you in maintenance and downtime, costs go up from the previous example and your revenue decreases. With just 2 you can’t afford to be off the road. In my opinion, you need at least six to support yourself and the business. Who is going to manage it? Again, from experience, if you’re planning on doing it all and still driving for yourself or someone else, it’s very stressful.
If you’re one truck, leasing on is a good deal, multiple trucks and company guys, you need your own authority, no question.
There is no grey area when it comes to paying drivers on a 1099; they are employees, unless you put them on a lease purchase deal for the truck, in which case, you need a lawyer involved.
I would flip those trucks and get rid of them. Get out on your own and learn how to run the business before you involve other people and their families.

 

It is not regulated on a federal and state level, it is usually regulated on the local level.

The problem is that everything from how the contracts are formed with a carrier, broker and owner to how you qualify a driver to drive, is all regulated by both federal and state regulations.

This is beside labor laws that govern what makes a contractor and what makes an employee.

 

This guy might actually get somewhere. He has ATM business, money in stocks, owned a Taxi business, now he wants to open a trucking business, when everyone says NO. Some great businessmen were from the same type as him.
The only thing what throws me off, is that he is a Swift driver...
Again, how about jumping yourself in one if your trucks and go work for Nafa Trans?

 

I would highly recommend leaving drivers/contractors/employees or whatever you want to call them completely out of the equation until you have personally ran one of the trucks for at least a year. You will end up with some very nasty enemies if you fail. Do the right thing and get this all up and running smoothly with yourself as the driver then expand/grow when you're more stable. Besides, the only people you'll most likely find willing to drive for you will be losers anyway. You won't attract good drivers until you yourself have some really sweet bait to draw them in with like benefits and it will take time to get to that point.

 

Dude, I looked at your numbers, and they are very skewed.

A couple things.

Stop thinking about what the carrier takes as their cut, it is what you gross that matters.

You don't base the drivers pay on the carrier's gross of the load minus their cut, you base it solely on the gross to the truck. The carrier's cut does not matter in any way shape or form.

Your 27% sucks, bump that up to 40% of the gross to the truck, that's an attractive income.

Don't plan on weekly numbers, use monthly or annual, weekly doesn't work right because your depending on someone to work high mileage without resting right.