Calling Day cab O/O for advise

I am beginning to research purchasing a truck and possibly a trailer to lease on with a local company ( Pritchett Trucking ) in North Florida. I am interested in a truck with a 44" sleeper for occasional overnight trips however most of the loads will be local home every night. trailers will be frame less dump and live bottom. Any advice as to equipment type and purchase, financing companies, start up costs, what is a realistic budget to set.. etc etc.
i know this is a real broad topic but I am looking for every bit of information and piece of advice that I can get. I am also trolling the boards here reading all that I can from other posts.

 

I have spoke briefly with an o/o from Pritchett and will hopefully be able to again soon. I am calling Pritchett today to get all the info that i can on what equipment they use how there trucks are specked and what they offer to there o/o... i have also spoken with two different equipment sales men to get there input and ideas on equipment. I think that the more opinions and ideas from as many different sources that i can get the better. I really would like to get info from o/o who are from this area and haul this type of freight, especially if they are or have been leased on to Pritchett. The good the bad what they would do the same what they would do differently. When saving money and creating a budget to get started what to budget for and how much to have in the bank realistically how much revenue i can expect to come in on average. market patterns etc. I called a financing company to get info on what to expect with financing a truck. they returned my call and said that they would be happy to talk with me so i will be getting info on financing and down payments today.

 

great input sir... I operated live bottoms with day cabs and like you said that window behind my seat has helped in many occasions. that would definitely be a tool that I would be loosing with the 36" (44") sleeper back there. Weight was an issue that i have thought about. I have not looked into how much weight I would save w/o the 36" sleeper. A o/o mentioned to me that a good rule of thumb is $1.00 / pound, that is what you loose in freight with extra weight. With a day cab it would not be that difficult to find a hotel in my shipping lanes. One convenience of the 36" sleeper is a place to stretch out while waiting in long lines or waiting on a load. However like you mentioned factor in the revenue lost in freight with the added weight and the idle time when sleeping in the truck, is it worth the extra sleeper room? I will definitely be looking more into that.
The tractor if new i am currently researching the Glider Kit trucks

 

i still havent found the extra weight of the sleeper but am looking into it.. i would like to know from some guys who use a 36" sleeper how they like it and if the window is close enough to the driver to be of use?? good point on the storage aspect of it.