Another question about owning a truck and not driving

Ok, to make a long story short, I have a very good job running a machine shop and have no intention of ever leaving, but I have saved up a considerable amount of money over the last several years. We have flat beds in here several times a day, I have to arrange for trucks to bring loads in when we buy equipment, and and my grandpa drove over the road his whole life so I understand the basics of trucking. My small house is paid for, no car payments, pretty much life is great.

My question is this, sometime next year I will have $65k saved up, in cash, in the bank. If I pay cash for a truck (20-25k) and trailer, get my own authority, can I make money by finding loads just on boards to start? I know boards dont have the prime rates, but it is there, and if my truck is paid for, and I can find a driver that is honest and worth having (I think a good driver is the only thing that is a wild card) can one truck and trailer turn a profit? Even if it is 5-10k profit in the first year, I will have money from my job also and can pay cash for another truck and trailer in a few years and so on and so on.

I know it will boil down to "that sounds nice, but in the real world it dosent work like that" or "you dont have the experience in trucking so you need to drive and see what it is like". I have business experience, have done payroll, paid taxes, and run a business every day, but I have time to find loads and do the books for one truck in the evening, will this work?

 

Hey Billy,I applaud your honest and straight forward question and good management. I would have to say that nothing is impossible,but to hire a driver and make a profit today is doubtful, the cards are stacked against truckers at this time, with fuel,tires, insurance,tags,fuel and hwy taxes,parts, and ever increasing shop rates. I will give you a for instance although some will say that they are doing better, my last trip which was several weeks ago and truck has been parked since, I took a good paying load to Texas, when I left I bought fuel for 2.99 then when I reached Texas I had to pay 3.15 for it, then I couldn't find anything close so I ended up deadheading a long ways, when I figured up everything I made .37 cpm. I'm sure you can see what I'm talking about, me or the truck one isn't making anything. I would probably wait and see what happens in a few years, and then maybe find an older semi retired driver who maybe wouldn't require as much money as a younger driver. If you keep your ear to the ground you might find a deal with some local manufacture that would pay well enough to follow thru with your dreams, but be patient, it will happen someday. I hope I have been of some help.

 

I honestly think you would be further ahead to leave the money in the bank collecting interest,...........

At least it will still be there someday,....

 

Ask youself this; would you take that amount of money, hand it to someone you don't really know and agree to pay all his bills? That is basically what you'd be doing.

 

Billy, (short answer), if you will be the person booking/coordinating the load through a broker or shipper then yes.

Long Answer: I myself am in a ****ed up situation (and I'm venting here so sorry guys). I am hoping that this post helps someone else. My brother (yes brother) began a trucking company a few years ago. My daughter is about to start college so I need the extra money for classes, books etc. He gave me a break down of what I'll be making per trip based on a run from CA to NY/NJ and back. Roughly $7200 or $7500 per trip. After you deduct your expenses your supposed to pocket between $1500 - $2000 a trip. When I made my decision to purchase my truck and trailer (paid off) I based it on his calculation. The truth is this, let's use $7000 as hypothetical for a trip from CA to the East Coast and back (obviously the load going to the East Coast pays more than a load coming back to CA. Does anyone know why this is?). My brother charges me 10% to run under his authority which, I think is a crock of ****. 10% for strangers yes but family? I myself would be inclined to help family members but thats just me. For instance, I am also a tax preparer. I charge others $60 bucks for a single w-2. I charge him $20. Anyway back to the subject. So $7000 minus $700 right of the bat for his 10%. That leaves you with $6400. Minus $3600 for gas. That's $2800 left. Minus a minimum of $2000 for the driver plus tip. That means you make $800 a rip. Let's say you do 2 trips (which is always the case). Now you pocket $1600 but wait. $1600 minus $700 for insurance, $200 for an oil change, and in my case $150 for parking. That leaves you with $550 in the pocket for two trips in a month at $7000 (low balling the loads). It's extra cash right for doing nothing? Not yet, you still have maintenance and unforseen repairs too. So let's say you have 2 trips a month for 5 months without any problems. That will put you at $2750 in the pocket. Dispatcher = $3500. No how the **** is it that you own your truck, pay your own insurance, plates, and driver and make less than the everyone else? God forbids you have to change the radiator, muffler, or anything else. So in my case, while I'm making my money back that I put out, broker and dispatch are pimping you out. This is just a hypothetical based on $7000. I have had $7800 loads too. Now what I need to do is get my own authority and book my own loads. That extra 10% from each load will help me cover maintenance etc. My dilema is that I have a full time job which provides a steady income and more importantly insurance for my family. Although, I have time to kill (like right now as I'm typing), I'm not sure that my boss will be okay with me contacting brokers/answering trucking related phone calls and faxing docs while I'm on the clock. Also, if I get my own authority my brother says that he will have to let me loose from his company because he won't be able to give me loads....something about cobrokering or something that makes it illegal, which I believe is true. Again this is just in my situation but i hope it helps you realize the reality of owning a truck but not driving. If anyone wants to chime in and help point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. My biggest worry. Get my own authority and I won't be able to book my own loads at his rate ($5260 from CA to East Coast) etc.

 

One more thing, a lot of the guys on here has helped me a lot in answering my questions which I'm sure are repetative. You can definitely learn a lot on this site. So I figure my post would help you in some way.

 

Thanks Fishing Trucker alot better description than what I was trying to say, can't always put into words whats in my mind.

 

7200 to the east coast and back is very low my friend...I have no idea how you can turn profit at that....my o/o go to NJ and back from WA all the time but we turn 10k at least each trip..if its lower than 10K i get screamed at by owners as well as pissy atitude...when we do california produce during summer i remember i was booking freight for 8k just from CA to NJ one way....there might be some fishy operations going on in his company...id ask him to show you some rate confirmations.....sounds like hes not passing the entire freight rate to o/o....in your case it sucks even more because hes ur brother....I myself have 2 of my uncles as owners working for me but i charge them 4% when I charge all my other owners 8%....are you pulling a reefer or dry van at those freight rates??

 

Fishing Trucker, you'd make more on the mile with less expense by leasing to a pay-per-mile carrier like Schneider or Swift.

 

DryVan. Yes it does suck because he is my brother. Not to sound like a p***y but I'm actually kind of hurt. I believe the 10K you are getting is for reefer? My wife keeps telling me that not everyone is like me (inclined to help family and friends).