Can a recent CDL graduate purchase a NEW truck and start out as an Owner/Operator?

Check out your duplicate post. Its getting replies as well.

 

If you have decent credit and wish to buy a new truck and trailer this is the path based on my experiences.

1. Write a business plan.
2. Apply with a bank for a small business loan. Never think about financing your vehicle through a dealer. You pay too much.
3. Join OOIDA.
4. Find out about insurance requirements. Will they insure you with your experience.
5. Where are you going to get cargo. Are you going to lease on our deal with brokers or find your own freight?
6. Apply for your own authority. Many brokers will not deal with anyone until they have had their authority for a certain time frame.

The above are not listed in any order other then they need to be done. Your business plan should have all that information contained in it.

So the answer is yes. It can be done but it takes someone who has the ability to make the right moves at the right time. Experience makes that easier but not impossible without. Someone did it the first time.

Being smart makes up for a lot of things. Being lucky makes up for the rest. Or if you are female and have big boobs you can get by on looks.

I bought new but I paid cash.

 

I would have 40, in my account to start. A "new" truck is an option but you don't know what you need yet. Talk to people that know. My truck has too much motor for what I need and 4 gears I seldom use. You can custom fit your truck to your needs if you just take the time. top side of 11th with a load makes 63 mph @ 1500-1600 depending on where I am. I go to 13th and show about 1100 on flat land.

 

Let's assume he doesn't know being an O/O is at least as much about running a small business than driving, if not more.

Are you fluent in accounting/record keeping? Are you familiar with IFTA reporting and other industry-specific record keeping?

Absolutely... depending. Do you have $50-80-100K to invest, and/or a home you can refinance? Anyone can finance anything if they have a big enough downstroke.

Are you knowledgeable enough to spec-out a new truck, or will you buy the unit the dealer's been sitting on for a year because no one who knows anything wants it? Will you be surprised the next morning when you go to take off at the last minute to grab your first load and it won't start because the batteries are dead?

Can you fix the little things that are bound to break, or will you have to sit around and wait and pay shop rates to change a fuel filter?

I have to tell ya, there's few things better than being paid to get an education, and nobody needs it more than you.

 

If you know the answer why ask the question? It is a so easy even a caveman can do it!

 

Yes.

You'll have to put up personal property to finance with cash. Banks won't do loans on commercial vehicles unless you have a business established, usually a 2 yr minimum. That, and financial reports that prove you're capable of paying the note. The few I've seen that have gotten SBA financing or the like, usually have years of being an owner-operator on the application to establish their credibility.

Additionally, your insurance will cost 2-3x what others are paying. If you can get covered. Better call and get quotes before you buy a truck to make sure you can even get insurance.

Actually you don't. Others have already stated: This is starting and operating a new business, first and foremost. Driving the truck is the easy part, and arguably the smallest part of what doing this is all about. At the very least, doing a year or more as a company driver will save you a ton of money in "inexperienced driver" insurance premium. You'd still have a higher cost, even with that, as a new business without an established safety history and favorable loss run. Other than that, being someone else's wheel holder will only expose you to the operations side of the industry. Not saying that's without value. It is important, just not the thing that's the hardest to figure out.

I've sort of done what you're proposing to do. You can read this thread to see some detail. Reflecting on what I've done over the past 3+ years, I'd say if I'd had the experience I have today plus a successful o/o mentor, it probably would have reduced my additional start up costs by about a third. The other two thirds you just can't shortcut with instruction. It's all experience and spending your own money to figure out what works for you.

Another big thing that is often understated, is the value of knowing your market. That is, where the stuff that goes on your truck is created and consumed, what times of the year it moves more or less, and what sort of a niche you can serve in order to make a few dollars versus what everyone else is doing. Not being the first person to ever think of doing this, means that you'll have that much more of an uphill battle to establish yourself and attract offers. At least a company driver has had the visibility to the market that their employer is serving. That can reveal opportunity as they see segments of that market that may not be served by the boss, maybe because it's too risky or so specialized that it cannot be reliably done with company equipment and an employee driver.

 

ya my dad did it and others did too. but he went to mom/pops company. its hard tho.