Advice Needed From 3 to 5 Truck Fleet Owners

@RedForeman...I am nobody to declare if Kooser is "qualified" or not and I have not added any input into this thread to attempt to indicate that I am a "know-it-all". If anything I have tried to make it clear that this thread is to pick the brains of those who know so much more than me, which includes you, Kooser, and everyone else on this thread. Please note that I asked Kooser to please provide us with some of his experiences that will add value to this thread. I was being serious, not sarcastic or a smart ####. So far though his 3 posts were solely criticizing somebody else's posts. I personally would like to read about his personal experiences from his own eyes without having to compare himself to anyone else. I would respect his input whether he had 10 year or 39 years. But making others seem inferior to him is not necessary. He does not have to prove himself to anyone on here. He's already respected for the fact that he's still at it, which is way more than I can say for myself cause I'm not as devoted as he. With that said, Kooser please chime in as you please, I just hope that it's in the purpose of enlightening somebody else and providing useful guidance.

I'm far from being all about "positive" experiences or information. But even negative things can be said in a constructive or destructive way.

@BigBadBill...I fully agree. I have a mentor that is barely possible to understand cause he's so old and can speak very clearly. And he's another one of those crazy old men, but he's the kind that says "you can do ANYTHING". So his advise needs to be taken with a grain of salt and danger too. But his knowledge surpasses me by a mile, so for every 3 crazy things he says he says 1 that is absolutely invaluable information. Unfortunately, these forums don't work as well when treated as a free-flowing conversation since it's post per post. But the information learned from these threads can also be invaluable! And thank you for contributing.

@Kooser...Sorry, turns out I was typing at the same time you were and yours posted above mine I blame in on my little lady for wanting to have a mid-posting conversation Thank you for joining us and sharing your knowledge. I in no way have the right to talk to you in a smart ### fashion so please don't take it as such. I really do want to hear of some of the relevant experiences you have gone through in your business endeavors (trucking is a business to those that respect it as such...you're not just a driver, you're a trucker!) I'm sure there are TONS, but whatever you have gone through that you feel aspiring O/O's interested in building a small fleet in a couple of years time would find useful and educational, please share with us. Your experiences may have led you to steer away from building your own fleet, if that
s the case then that's a useful experience to share too.

 

BUMP... In hopes that more small fleet owners can chime in and add to the education already provided in this thread.

 

Drivers...another big issue for those aspiring for a small fleet. The big fleets have recruiting departments and all but small fleets have to do everything themselves. Pavel, I remember you posted previously that at one point you had one truck sitting for a couple of months while trying to find a good driver, and now it seems that you had to let go of two drivers so back to that again.

We have all heard how drivers can be very shady. Any other small fleet owners have experience or advice regarding employing good reliable drivers?

And any feedback on whether it's worth using the DAC driver reports as small fleet owners?

Any suggestions on where to find/search for good drivers?

 

I would say read BigBadBill's recent post. He might have a good idea.

You already diversified by running some trucks yourself and leasing some other ones to FedEx.

You already experienced driver problems twice and had a recent major truck repair.

Maybe looking into hiring on Owner Operators to run under your authority instead of buying trucks and hiring drivers might work out profitably for you.