"Are you sure you wanna do this?", said everyone. 6 month update.

I'm in full agreement with everything you guys have said here and welcome all comments. I hope that this info will be helpful for anyone looking to take the plunge. There are a hundred niches in the trucking game. The trick is to hang around long enough to find the right one for you.

And speaking of timing: When I got this thing started, I truly felt like I had nailed the timing. Rates were where they needed to be for me to be able to afford to run for 2 1/2 to 3 weeks and then take a week off if I wanted to. It was great! I'm still glad that I did it and don't regret it at all.

Gonna run for now, there's a golf course calling my name.

 

I may do some work for this guy in the future but he's not having to rely on the spot freight market to live. He does household moves and trade show stuff. There are hundreds of niches in this business and his is just one of them. This guy has been going since 1991 and has never waited on a Lumper ever.

I hope that everyone comes to this site and others like it to learn as much as they can, it's an ongoing learning process for sure. Before I bought my truck, I considered tons of ideas: Company driver, leasing on, renting or buying a trailer and so on. However, after talking to a lot of different folks and hearing so many horror stories associated with this industry (and there are a million of them), I figured that if I was going to do it, it would have to be under my own flag. I have a much higher tolerance for risk than most and will reiterate to all that you do not try this the same way I did it. This ain't for everybody and that's ok.

As was mentioned earlier in this thread, I came in during a peak in rates and demand, perfect timing maybe at that moment. But, it was unsustainable for the long haul. The folks that are able to make money in the lean times are in a much better position to bank money when the good rates are happening. And they'll be the guys expanding or updating their fleets while other guys are barely breaking even or getting out altogether. Think Tortoise and Hare.

That being said, I could have continued to run and make enough money to keep going and just get by. However, that was just not going to cut it for me. I enjoy the heck out of trucking and will continue to do it in some capacity. We'll see where it goes from here and I will keep ya'll posted.

 

Bingo