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Have a driver or two lined up and approved BEFORE you buy the truck.

 

Ditto on above. Trucks are a dime a dozen, easy to get. It takes a good driver to make a small outfit work, and they are few and far between.

 

I agree although im currently only on number one my plan for my second which i hope to get next year is either train a driver or hire someone that i trust and have been working with for years as a company driver. I think you should have the money saved to pay off say half of the truck you want to buy, but only take out a loan and put down a good amount and keep that extra cash in case #### hits the fan.

 

As previously stated, its not the truck, it's the driver. If I could find 5 reliable drivers I'd probably be able to swing financing for 5 trucks but I've been casually looking for A driver for my current truck and haven't found a keeper yet. It's very hard as a small timer to attract a great driver unless you already know them because of a multitude of pay and benefit advantages that large carriers have. Stack on the fracking/oilfield boom and it's near impossible here in Texas anyway to find someone I trust with my $150,000 investment.

 

I think the biggest thing for small carriers is finding a truck that we can run cheaply so we can pay a driver nicely. Im willing to pay my self 30 something cent a mile buy i dont want to pay a hired driver that, i need to give him incentive to stay with me good home time and pay he can live with.

 

It's not only the money. I know a guy that was making about 1800 a week average. He had some 2300 weeks and some 1200 also. Mon thru Fri and still found every reason under the sun to complain and make excuses for everything til he was given the boot. Now he's crying to go back but they don't want him no more and truck is parked til they find a good driver

 

Your right it isnt always the money but i want to be sure that isnt a issue

 

hire the driver first, have him drive your truck and then you can try and go do all the things you wish you had time for. One of two things will happen:
either he'll screw up and you'll spend all day babysitting or doing his/her job for him/her
or
it'll be fine and you'll have a couple weeks of vacation getting paid very little which will teach you how much your driver is making and you.

If that works out great, get yourself the 2nd truck and leave the truck you know well with the new guy. repeat until rich or broke. If you're not sure, don't buy the 2nd truck but negotiate a good weekly rate from penkse.

 

From penske. Seriouly?😂