It’s not unreasonable to still pull down $30k/month net, you just need to find the right niche. I pull a stepdeck owned by someone else. They also pay the cargo insurance. I average right at $30k after fuel and paying the truck insurance. But I don’t have to pay trailer rent or dispatch, I drive slow and typically get 6.5+mpg and I get paid on every mile I’m dispatched, whether I’m loaded with 40k lbs or bouncing 1,000 miles to pick up 20k lbs. Hard work and a good attitude are still rewarded by some companies in this industry. Buy an older truck so you don’t have to run that ELD crap, get it paid for and enjoy the ride. Still not a bad occupation in my opinion
I am both, the driver and the company. So I don't separate the driver pay, at least in my personal calculations but still pay myself as a part of the S-corp set up and the payroll costs some money. I agree that it is a good practice to see the entire payroll as a cost, in case you were to hire someone, you would know what the costs of that are but in practice, solo o/os with S-corp try to pay themselves only what they have to, which meets the "reasonable" requirement to save as much as they can on taxes. They rarely pay for self worker's compensation, health insurance, 401K contributions, etc. So it is different for a solo owner-operator and owner who hires on a legit basis.
I'm an S Corp as well, and my wife and I receive paychecks just as our other employees. Nonetheless, you wouldn't work for another company free of charge, why would you work for your company for free? I know it is symantecs, but for the sake of the "net" discussion, your net should be after your pay has been taken out.
Because I have a #### ton of phones. Wife, myself, two kids, I even pay for my mother and father’s phone and two air cards.
As a new young guy on here out of New York, what do you recommend hauling that would give me the best rates/ return ?
I'm still at $3 a mile. Last year at this time I was getting $7-9 a mile. At 3 a mile you can still make 7-9k a week gross and 5k net a week.
I’m not leased to anyone. My authority. I pull their trailers every week, hauling only their product. I get paid a base rate, plus 100% fuel surcharge. 2 weeks ago I hauled a load to the NW. 1600 loaded miles with only 20k lbs on the deck. Then they bounced me to SLC to pickup to go back to the yard. 1,000 mile bounce that paid full rate. My base rate pay isn’t super high, but it’s paid on EVERY MILE I DRIVE, plus I don’t have to pay dispatch or trailer rent. I know a few guys who were hauling reefer loads that paid $5/mile+, but at the end of the day I still made more per running mile because of the way my deal is structured. It works pretty #### well