I PMed you to give you information of other avenues. I never once said anything about you being stupid or calling you stupid. But I will say that your stupid if you do not educate yourself on the owner operator side of the industry. Like I said, there is more to it then just signing your name & driving a truck down the road. Fuel mileage isn't everything either. I'd take less fuel mileage for more revenue any day. I've already ran the numbers & so have others. Sure, I can save $15,000 a year by driving 65 mph. But I can generate $30,000 more revenue a year by doing the speed limit. That means running 70, 65, 75 in the southwest, & 80 in Utah. I'd spend $15,000 more dollars to pocket $15,000 dollars. I still have the PM's if you's like me to publicly post them? Then we can allow the public to determine if I was callinbg you stupid or not. As for me being a Swift hater? Well OK.
I don't see any "Swift hate" message in MisterG's, Redd's, Canuck's and JimDriv3r's posts. Seems to me your big chip on Swifty shoulder is making you mistake advices against lease purchase (which, I acknowledge that was not the scope of your original question) as Swift bashing. I think there are some valid points relating to your original question made in those Swift Apartheid messages. Keep dismissing any advice with some nagativity as "Swift hate", you'll miss out on some wisdom that would save you a lot of aggrevation down the road. If you didn't dismiss my post as another Swift discrimination and read it this far, you will know that I'm a former Swifty flatbedder. I make fun of myself and my time at Swift. I hope you'll be able to learn to laugh at yourself, sooner than later. P.S. I too think 65% of line haul is cheap, though it may not be a bad idea to try it AFTER your truck is paid for and you have some cash reserve. It will teach you how to run more like an independent O/O.
Yet you get along just fine with Oldnewbie guy and me, and you date a Swifty. Admit it, you have a soft spot for Swiftys!!
maybe not on the public side of the thread, but there sure seemed to me on the PM side. And again, i could care less about ones opinion of who i work for. you/or they dont get their paychecks from them, so why worry about it? Like the driver who gets on the CB "hey JB Hunt, you better get out of that lane, you're not supposed to be there.." or "hey Landstar, the speed limit is 55, why do you gotta run 70 and try to rear-end people?" what business is it of theirs what others do? They the one going to pay the ticket? and my 'swift bashing' wasnt bashing at all. it was my argument that when a driver leases a truck, and calling them selves an OWNER/OPERATOR, when in fact they aren't. they are AT BEST an "independant contractor" (u like that one, Injun? lol) and even that (to me) is a stretch, since you're not really independant since you have to rely on miles from swift. (unless you lease on a 3rd party truck that is). And for the last 6 months, i've been pondering leasing, running the numbers. and the last few drivers who lease changed my mind on a few things, and even showed me their settlement statements on the kiosk. the one lease driver said that if i leased on a 3rd party truck with 400k miles, it would be out of warranty anyway, and the limited warranty i'd get from the dealer, wouldn't cover major work anyway. so the extra $200 a week i'll be spending on a truck payment, how many weeks would i have had to save that $200 and put into a new engine....when it would cost me $35k to get back on the road. But again....having a good DM behind you and planners pushing you loads because they KNOW you bust your az....sure helps. also, the guy running Costco dedicated i spoke to couple days ago told me not to run percentage. he also told me that lease drivers being paid mileage will get priority on loads cause the company dont want to pay the percentage driver more to haul it. that being said....am looking forward to seeing what this brings me. and who knows.....maybe just MAYBE i might train a student just to see how many extra miles i'd get. (and for the record, if i did...i would train RIGHT....i wouldn't be a trainer JUST to make more money....i do have a little pride in doing a good job)
good sound advice...but all i can say is "too late"...<grin> on the serious side, i did actually sit down and add up what it'd cost me per week to operate the truck. and i figured $900-1000. WITH the fuel it would cost me out of pocket. You do get a fuel rebate, not much, but if you get 7-8mpg, it adds up and puts more money back in your pocket. Yeah, you can get a flat, that happens. yeah...it will come out of the drivers pocket and not hte companies. but that isnt a weekly expense...lease i hope it isnt (i.e. breaking down that is) if you dont set aside $$ into a maintence account (which i am doing) you are going to hose yourself. But when you DO set that money aside, you've got to look at that money as if its already spent. so in a few months, you'll have a good hunk of money in there, you cant think "oh well i can use that and go buy a new TV" or go on a spending spree. you gotta have enough will power (not the indycar driver) to not touch it.
Congratulations DickJones. I sincerely hope you are as successful in your new endeavors as you deserve to be.
are you sure you ran all your numbers mr jones? 100 a week for all the bills isnt --well its about a third of what it should be---or even less--that is only paying about 700 a month on payment with your own truck you better be paying yourself at least a grand take home a wekk or its not worth it check on ooida site====there is cost per mile work sheet you can use there---some of their numbers are off--so just use them as a guide--and put your own # in
thanx scottie-d. but canuck....$1000 a week? yeah, that would be great, but MORE than i 'need'. See, i dont have a house payment, car payment, no kids, i do got a dog (which at the time my folks are watching) and my only bills are my cell and internet. where did you figure that i was figureing $100 for bills? i wrote everything down months ago as far as what they'll take out for insurance/trk payment. Its the same as a settlement check i saw from a friend of mine a week ago, and it was the same on the contract i saw a couple days ago when i signed. comes to around $850 a week. I round up to $900. trk payment is 500...and the other 400 is my out of pocket cost for fuel and all the insurance. thats $128 to break even for each day....but i'll figure $150. And if i hit my mark of making $100 cash in pocket (after taxes and maintence accounts and all that jazz)...so i make $700 a week? that is just fine with me. Again, you are comparing ME to YOU. And what you're not happy with, i very-well MIGHT be. But the same going the other way. I might be totally unhappy with something, that you might be totally acceptable with. To each their own. Money isnt everything, but i will agree making $1000 a week is "better" than making $700....or $500. I told myself months ago, that as a company driver, if i averaged $500 a week....it would not be worth it to lease if i was only going to make $100 more than a company driver. Not worth the risk. But i've ran the numbers for the past months, and even tried going thru Lone Mountain to get a 3rd party truck. But odds are a 2010 truck wont break down as often as a 2005-2007 truck. and if it does....i have a factory warranty to fall back on or majors. what will i get with a 3-5 year old truck with half a million miles? a dealership warranty, who will try to screw you worse than..........swift? LOL (had to say it)... ill post my first months progress after a month....will tell ya how things go.
Now that your a contractor you have self employment tax, heavy highway use tax, IFTA tax all on top of your normal income tax. Did you add all that stuff into your numbers?
sorry bout that mr jones--i missed a 0---should have been 1000 a week not 100-- for operating cost-1000 a week seems low to me,if you want to take out any wagei am not trying to be nasty or picky--i am just watching your numbers so i can see if i am missing or screwing mine up--and yes--the fact of warrenty is a great thing---but when that truck is down--you A--dont make any money--B still owe money for a big payment--your weekly payment is pretty much my monthly payment--and i cant make any"extra" money at less than 1.45 a mile
