New O/O Here - Seeking Accurate Maint. Figures

The problem is that you are imagining trucking as a simple industry. Buy truck, hire driver, make profit.

There's more to it than that as an o/o. A LOT more. Especially at the level of a company owner with more than one truck.

 

Not to offend you but if you are with my comments, too bad, I am trying to teach you and others SOMETHING.

Because of a lot of reasons.

The number one reason is under capitalization.

The number two reason is thinking they know how to manage the business.

The number three reason is that they think that they HAVE TO PAY THEMSELVES FIRST.

Well you don't own the truck and work as an employee. This is number four reason for failure - mentally unable to think like an owner.

AND there are thousands of failures out there too. A few of us here know the real numbers, there is a whole repo flipping sub-industry in the larger industry, and those trucks are sold to people who want to get into this and make big bucks.

It is a highly risky business because of a number of reasons -

1- it is too easy to get into

2 - rates are dependent on overall capacity of the industry, we are seeing high capacity right now and slipping rates.

3 - competitiveness is high, mainly because of the #1 reason, it is too easy to get into and this causes what I call crap owners/carriers trying to capture every penny they can, forgo maintenance and if they have drivers treat them like crap. YOU can't be on the margin of failing and compete with someone who is willing to take a load for less than it costs them.

There is a lot of owners who are sitting looking for loads, and not finding crap. There is a lack of work in some segments of the industry and in some areas of the country.

It takes time and open mind to get what's what. It is complex and it is rather a secret for some of these things - why?

I don't know but a lot of successful owners won't share the time of day, let alone how some of this works.

Because of the failure rate, those who listen, prepare and use all the info to prevent a failure become successful.

Start with four or five years of driving in different segments and go from there.

Remember the hardest thing about fleet ownership is to find drivers, it is not like you just hire anyone and BOOM you are making money. This is reason for a lot of fleet failures.

Oh and another thing I expanded in a tight credit economy, the only reason I had been able to is my reputation with several lenders. Others will his a brick wall when rates drop and margins too, lenders of fleets are not the same as those of an Owner operator.

 

I started after 5 years driving someone's truck I dealt with brokers was familiar with paperwork ifta the whole 9 yards. The guy I worked for taught me to be a owner operator. So I had 5 years real knowledge. Guess what I did not know what I did not know. Bought a truck used cash. Had $25k in the bank. Within 6mo repair bills and not knowing what I did not know all but had me under. If I would not have got help from individuals I would have never made it I was sunk. I wasn't some idiot that never drove a truck. I was taught and thought I knew enough. The thought that people have that they can jump right in and I hear it all the time 6mo to a year they think they know it all. Ever have to call your father in law begging to keep your house from foreclosure? I have its really not fun. Then a few mo latter ask your sister in law for money for mortgage or call your parents needing $18k because your great reefer wasn't so great? Truth is they should have never helped me keep going. I blew through 80-90k in no time. Now 15 years later most is paid back and I'm doing ok to good. My father in law refuses to be paid back.I would have been a lot farther ahead staying working for a guy making $70k a year. The guy I learned from was busy going bankrupt and I never knew it. He ran his buissnes in the ground and walked out a millionaire somehow. Trucking is very cut throat and unforgiving for all that make it there is probably 1000 that don't. I've never even thought to hard about adding trucks and drivers. The horror stories I hear is awful. Then you find a decent guy only problem he don't run hard enough to pay for a truck. I always try to tell want to be new owners the truth of owning your own truck but another guy told them that if you work hard and stay busy you will be fine. Staying busy is not always making money. Want to buy a truck so you can dictate where you run? Or stay home when the snow flys? Don't work that way you go where the freight and money is. I spend the better part of the winters running loads in and out of upstate Ny why? Because people stop going up in the winter and freight pays. I hate the ice and snow love to stay home in it.but you can't.

 

Yes. Motivational speeches by Dr. Kevorkian

 

Nice.......However the those rates are from 2018...