Possibly buying my own truck

Ok thanks for the reply, I think we all appreciate it.

Here is what I see, on this and other forums many many people just post ONCE and they disappear. I don't think this site does it but a few others actually pay people to post and this is what happens, a topic starter with no follow up.

Now I do apologize if this insulted you, sincerely do.

So at this time there are two things going on in general in this market, one is that if you are going to go after general and some specialized freight, the market is so saturated that we have too many trucks (what some of us call capacity) on the road and this depresses rates. It is so bad in some places people are barely making truck payments.

What this also does (second thing) is produce a lot of used trucks on the market to buy because a lot of owners crash and burn. These are trucks everyone here says to stay away because they have emissions on them, but great deals can be found.

So then to your question, assuming you will go into general freight, in a way it is a good time to buy and just lease with a major company - maybe landstar. Don't go the route of your own authority until you have money to cover the bills, use their insurance discounts.

if you are selective with the purchase and you put some up front money into lowering the risk of breakdown of the truck, even after your due diligence, you will make a lot lot more than $50k.

 

Now say your jumping into dump/lowbed hauling.....
Do you have great contacts that will give you work? Will they lend you a trailer to make money on there dime? What do they ask in return? How is the market in your area? I only ask because you say a family member had a business and closed up shop due to lack of work.
Trucking is dog eat dog. Your employer may like you as an employee but will not help you as the competitor. Not trying to be discouraging. But it’s very me first and everyone else later.
If pride is what you’re after with your name on a door then I say follow your heart’s intuition. But if you wanna chase the money it’ll be rough unless the work is being handed to you. With that you’ll wanna give up and sell out. I see it all too often. Guys buy a truck cause they see how much money the broker or other company is making and wants in. But then find out quickly that the deal was made through a friendship or a hook up. And now they feel starved out and mad at the industry.
If you have enough for a decent truck how about capitol? Fuel and maintenance? Can you survive 90 days without being paid?

 

One thing you got to think about is the fact that being an O/O is just an "opportunity" to try making more money. There is no guarantee. You also have to set some of your profit aside for your business. My case for example. Currently at a profit of 57k for the year being leased on. Using your number you would only have 7k to put into the business. That's not much. Something to think about. I have a thread on following my lease truck. Called my lease adventure. Read it if you like.

 

Around 14 years.

 

I agree with Ridgeline. As to which truck... I don’t see any clear winner out there. They all seem to have their specific issues. From my experience, stay away from trucks just off warranty. That’s the mileage when everything starts falling apart. Most will just be nickel and dime parts, but the downtime and reliability is what hurts most to your bottom-line. From then on, it’s a vicious cycle of never ending repairs. Once you’ve fixed the very last thing, the first thing is wore out again. You must take in consideration the condition of the drive train above all else. That’s the big $$$. Find a used truck that has been recently rebuilt (by warranty approved facility) has manual transmission (inexpensive repairs compared to auto) and drive axles are inspected. If those things look good, don’t worry so much over tires, brakes, bushings, shocks etc. Finally, don’t leave yourself cash poor. After your down payment and startup expenses, have at least 15-20k sitting for maintenance. If it’s got tits or tires, it’s gonna cost you big $$$.

 

The better question is where can't you not only survive but live will on 50k a year? Get away from the countries highest density population cities and 50k a year goes a long way.