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Can I Make More?

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by bighog85, Apr 10, 2015.

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  1. Apr 10, 2015 #1
    bighog85

    bighog85 Light Load Member

    69
    23
    Nov 20, 2011
    Daphne, AL
    0
    So I know this basic topic has a fairly recent thread but I have my own spin on it that I'd like to hear some opinions on.

    I currently work in south Texas hauling crude for a major player down here and have been doing the oil field thing in North Dakota and here for about three years. I have made good money during that time but I'm getting so sick of slip seating with other drivers that don't give a rats ### about how they care for the truck, management that doesn't understand trucking and running cheap equipment. I've been thinking about getting my own truck but I want to get a general opinion on if I will make more within the same parameters of what I am doing now. I don't want to haul crude because of how hard the roads and job in general are on the truck.

    Since I've been in Texas I have been netting between $5-6K a month, sometimes a bit more and that includes life and health insurance and 401k contribution. We also get several thousand dollars in bonuses each year as well as $1,500 a year deposited into a Health Savings Account. When you then figure in two weeks paid vacation and ten paid holidays which adds $240 to our normal pay if we work that day it is tough to see making that as an O/O with the final requirement that I am home every day.

    I've been considering intermodal but I am finding that that industry is dominated by foreigners that will work for way cheaper than I will. Are there ways to make comparable money and still be home every day minus a couple here and there per month?
     
    bighog85, Apr 10, 2015
    bighog85, Apr 10, 2015
    #1
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  3. Apr 10, 2015 #2
    Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

    75,108
    171,316
    Aug 28, 2011
    Henderson, NV & Orient
    0
    Check Cardinal Logistics; maybe they have something close to what you want. Their website shows what accounts are available in your area.
     
    Chinatown, Apr 10, 2015
    Chinatown, Apr 10, 2015
    #2
  4. Apr 10, 2015 #3
    blairandgretchen

    blairandgretchen Road Train Member

    13,380
    71,960
    Dec 9, 2011
    South west Missouri
    0
    I went through the same calculations.
    As I was advised, and will pass on - you can't compare the two, or it will drive you nuts.

    I left behind 3 weeks vacation, matched 401k etc, @ 68+ cpm - to do it.

    Home every night . . . ?
     
    blairandgretchen, Apr 10, 2015
    blairandgretchen, Apr 10, 2015
    #3
  5. Apr 10, 2015 #4
    fortycalglock

    fortycalglock Road Train Member

    6,155
    6,584
    Jun 25, 2011
    Tourist Town, FL
    0
    If you're home everyday making that pay as a company driver, you're in the top 1% of drivers. You'd probably want to find an o/o job doing the same thing you're doing now if you're going to buy a truck. The trick will be to find one that nets you more money than you're making now, including factoring in all those benefits. Good luck.
     
    fortycalglock, Apr 10, 2015
    fortycalglock, Apr 10, 2015
    #4
  7. Apr 10, 2015 #5
    VaGump

    VaGump Light Load Member

    128
    89
    Nov 13, 2013
    pennsylvania
    0
    Fortycal is right. You got a top shelf gig. With the affordable health care act, individual health ins rates are very high. Home every night.....very tough. Your trick/key to o/o, in your situation, will be taxes. Do you have a house payment that you could establish as your 'office', to write off, etc etc.
     
    VaGump, Apr 10, 2015
    VaGump, Apr 10, 2015
    #5
  8. Apr 10, 2015 #6
    crzyjarmans

    crzyjarmans Road Train Member

    3,314
    2,441
    Jun 9, 2010
    Home
    0
    With the money your reporting that you make, I'd stay right where you are! If you buy a truck, could you make more? Possibly, but you could also end up with less, 5-6 k a month, some times more, plus benefits, bonuses every year? I wouldn't leave
     
    crzyjarmans, Apr 10, 2015
    crzyjarmans, Apr 10, 2015
    #6
  9. Apr 10, 2015 #7
    xsetra

    xsetra Road Train Member

    5,119
    6,997
    Aug 21, 2011
    0
    Home office deduction is a BIG red flag for IRS audit. I have never used it for that specific reason. It only deducts a couple bucks off your tax bill. IMHO not worth it.
    OP I would stay with the current job. Don't know the whole picture but the pay sounds pretty good. To go O/O with your own authority you could make more, with more paperwork and responsibility.
    Not so sure about just being O/O leased to a carrier. Good Luck.
     
    xsetra, Apr 10, 2015
    xsetra, Apr 10, 2015
    #7
  10. Apr 10, 2015 #8
    77fib77

    77fib77 Road Train Member

    10,646
    67,040
    Jul 7, 2010
    St Louis
    0
    I'm in a similar situation. I pulling down mid 5's a month, only for the last two months. Hauling crude in west Texas. But I want to get my own truck haul out of Jersey and I was thinking intermodal too. From what I have read I would lose 300ish a week net at the end of the year.
     
    77fib77, Apr 10, 2015
    77fib77, Apr 10, 2015
    #8
  11. Apr 10, 2015 #9
    VaGump

    VaGump Light Load Member

    128
    89
    Nov 13, 2013
    pennsylvania
    0
    you don't always have to do what is the most profitable. simply doing what you want to do and what makes you happy goes a long way
     
    VaGump, Apr 10, 2015
    VaGump, Apr 10, 2015
    #9
    exhausted379, 77fib77, brian991219 and 5 others Thank this.
  12. Apr 10, 2015 #10
    plague300

    plague300 Bobtail Member

    49
    23
    Sep 15, 2010
    CENLA
    0

    ding ding ding
    we have a winner
     
    plague300, Apr 10, 2015
    plague300, Apr 10, 2015
    #10
    Pigsdofly Thanks this.
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