Can it be profitable?

You may want to check with some local carriers or those who regularly do regional in your area before you go out and buy a truck. There is a lot of freight around you, but much of it is pretty cheap. Loads staying in the area pay more than those leaving. Before you make a commitment on a truck it would be to your benefit to decide on the type of freight you want to pull and then match the truck to the type of freight.

 

My apologee's "wuzafuzz".. I neglected to look at where you were from...

 

Whether you have previously been an owner operator will not be an issue. They will look at how much driving experience you have had for the last 3 years. Most will want you to have at least 1 year of driving experience. You have had your CDL for a few years and since you have been driving part time, it might get you by. Before buying your own truck I would check with some carriers to see if they will lease you on without having otr experience and to make sure that you have enough experience for their operation. There are a lot of container haulers out of New Jersey. Many do shorter runs back and forth from ports. I don't know what they pay the regular runners. I have gotten a few good paying containers out of New Jersey. Container haulers typically don't do as well as other freight, but is is something you may want to check if it is has any interest for you.

Since you mentioned reefers (I believe) you may check with some of them who run in your area. While you are driving get some names off trucks and give them a call. If you live near a truck stop you may want to pick up some of the trucking magazines and see if any are hiring owner operators in your area. The magazines are free and can usually be found at the entrance of most truck stops.

Getting a truck won't do you much good unless you can either find a carrier willing to lease you on or you want to get your own authority. One advantage you have is that there are a lot of drivers and owner operators who don't want to cross the Hudson. Since you live in the area, that would probably not be a problem for you. Those short runs in New England and the Northeast can pay fairly well. Tolls are considerably higher for trucks than for 4 wheelers. It cost me $120 to cross the GW a few weeks ago with an over size load.

FFE pulls reefers and I believe they do a lot of drop and hook. I don't know if they have much in your area. Other than reefers and containers, you might consider hauling mail. Time is a factor but some of those loads pay well. Many of them are loaded at night and delivered the same night or next morning.

 

Welcome to trucking my friend!

A lot of us came here from the L.E. side.

Sounds like what you need is some adventure. It's just my opinion but if I was getting $1400.00 a WEEK in a pension, I would be driving the "Girls Gone Wild" tour bus for Snoop Dog.

You have a leg up on life, look for a fun niche to enjoy. Tour buses for the entertainment industry (avoid Willie Nelson's tour bus for reasons we don't discuss here), promotional tours for products like Red Bull, pull a trailer for a NASCAR team- find something you can brag about.

Plain old truckin is an aggravating way to finish out your life, be a hero and do something interesting.

 

G/MAN is right again I use to work your are with a union outfit and with your back ground and knowledge of the area you might be better off buying a day cab and running the city and ports with a local outfit. I talked to guys doing that when I was running up there and what some was telling me they made doing that was just as much as I was making running from NC up there with a union company. When I ran up there I also made extra money putting trailers in docks you cant imagine how many 250"+ wheel base trucks that come up there and end up having to back into a dock in an alley way. I have watch driver tear up some trucks up there So if you are going to run local try to get by with the shortest wheel base truck possible and low roof. The company I ran for had a bunch of 45' X 12'hi trailers just for the city