Before I commit, what would the Seattle area be like for an O/O home base?

I prefer to work for myself in stead of the government...

 

I live in Seattle. It is very expensive. I am planning to buy a house in Montana after I become a seasoned truck driver.

 

If ur gonna run seattle. Ur gonna have to run north and south to make it worth your time. Eastbound loads out of their dont even cover break even costs. La to seattle/portland is about all their is if ur on ur own authority. Even then ur competing with all the mega fleets running that lane,so ur just gonna get their leftovers.

Id highly recommend finding a good small owner op outfit that runs a maxi setup, and lease on with them, as they are going to have the best access to local/direct freight in the pnw region. This will require extensive research but there is some really really good companies out that way that are not well known and can make very good money.

 

That's nice. I'll take the extra money and the pride of patriotism....

 

You're taking extra money by giving more of it to the government?

I should talk to your accountant

 

Nope, I make more by running where the money is, and chalk up the extra taxes as cost of doing business.

Example:
Guy #1 brings in 70k running the boonies and pays "no" taxes on it.

Guy #2 brings in 100k running the big cities but pays an extra 10% in taxes on it.

If you need an accountant to help you figure out which one ends up with more money, then maybe you should stick to being a company driver.

 

If you just want to stay in Washington/Oregon/Idaho, your best bet might be finding some regular accounts. There is some shorter spot market runs in that area, and some of them pay pretty decent per mile, but there might be a lot of empty miles in between. When I would get out that way I would always try to mix in a couple of those nice fat shorties if I could before leaving, but sometimes they just don't line up right.

 

Gotcha. Wasn't sure how a guy in NYC knew all about the costs of living here in the PNW but you clearly have it figured out

Truck on my friend

 

Portland cost of living rank: 15th
Seattle cost of living rank: 8th
New York City cost of living rank: 1st

America: Cost of Living Index by City 2020