Any O/O who just use their truck as an excuse to travel?

you bored and want to drive for leisure then why not just get a Semi-Hybrid truck and pull a 5th-Wheel. like others have said it could take you sometimes a month just to get paid from just one load. not to mention all the hassles that can occur while enroute to where you heading just so you can have a little vacation in SomeCity, USA...

 

I agree with the the other replies. However, I think what you are asking, in essence, is if an owner operator can go where he wants to, when he wants to, irregardless of (your) money involved.

If you have your operating authority, truck, trailer, insurance, and somewhere to park your rig when you are not working, yes this can be done. Some owner operators work more, some less.

HOWEVER, the best scenario for what you are talking about would be someone that has run their truck for many years, everything is paid for, money in the bamk, basically semi retired.

He would still have to work enough to turn a profit for living expenses, repairs, insurance, etc- but he could work as much or as little as he wanted.

We don't know your situation, but if you are asking if it is a good idea to purchase a truck and trailer for this purpose, it is not. It would be better as the other guys have said to just take a plane or buy an rv and enjoy your time off.

 

If that's what you want to do, you should look into a company like LandStar, where you book your own loads, and if you don't want to work, then don't. They'll never call you, unless you stay home too long, and have insurance payments that need to be made, and you have to pay them.
For instance, last year I took off three weeks for gallbladder surgery. I just came home and when I was ready to work again, I booked a load and went. Nobody ever called me. I don't know if you qualify for them, but they can tell you. Go to http://www.lease2landstar.com/ for more info. There are other companies that work like LandStar, and I'm sure you can find them. It just takes some research. There are also lots of posts and threads about the company here on the forum to give you more info.
Good luck with your adventure.

 

Buy an old 359 and convert it to an RV, problem solved!

 

If I had the money required to buy a tractor trailer and run it leisurely, I would go find a beautiful woman (maybe even two), travel first class, stay in 5 star hotels, and and let the world envy me. I bet you could do that every other month and still be $75,000 ahead at the end of the year.

Better yet, let me be your wingman. I'll take care of everything Oh man, I gotta go pack!!!

 

We do this for a living, you have an idea and no solid numbers. So let's just be a little cautious when we make statements about who needs to understand what, ok ?

Let's say hypothetically you buy a $40k truck and a $20k trailer to start with. In three years time you will have a $20k truck and a $10k trailer (an educated number). So you are gonna have to come up with about $10k/yr or $200/wk just to cover depreciation on your equipment.

I don't know if you'll even be able to get insurance if you don't have recent driving experience, but if you do it may be $8,000/yr or more. They don't give you a break for running part time. plates about $2500/yr, $550/yr highway tax. load boards, IFTA, drug consortium, supplies, truck washes.... you can plan on $250-$300/wk whether you move the truck or not.

So you are already at $500/wk expenses before the truck even moves.

repairs and maintenance is tricky. We would hope over time you could make your repairs and keep tires on your rig, oil changes, etc... for about 0.25/mile, but that doesn't really help you when those drive tires need replacing @ $6,000 for a set of 8, or you need a $3,000 turbo. It can vary so much from month to month. you may get a lemon and kill all profits for the first couple years just making repairs, especially if you are running part time.

fuel is gonna be about $0.65/mile if you buy a reasonably efficient truck.

So using THESE numbers you are going to have to make $0.90/mile + $500/wk before you even break even on your money and we haven't even accounted for all your time yet.

Hypothetically, let's say you average 4,000 miles per month @ $1.75/mile. (keep in mind you will be sifting through loads offering you $1.30-$1.60/mile and accounting for empty miles) So you gross $7000/mo, your equipment depreciates $800, you pay $1200 fixed expenses, you pay $2600 for fuel, maybe you're lucky and don't have any repairs that month but you set aside $1000 for future repairs.

You net $1400 that month. Is it worth $350/wk to shell out $60k, spend a couple hundred hours or more setting this up, keeping a log book every day, filing fuel taxes every quarter, booking loads, billing and collecting, etc.... ?

 

Very well said dan very well said!