Grossing $5k Per Week

I'm a fleet manager/dispatcher/load planner/freight broker for a small dry van fleet based out of SE Tennessee. Our trucks (o/o and company owned) easily gross 5k+ on 4.5 day work week. We run primarily southeast and midwest. It's not hard to hit those numbers right now. I predict rates will increase slightly over the next year due to e-log implimentation.

 

@TripleSix is the only 0/0 that makes that kind of money....lol. But, his is "NET."

 

not really, when you run your own authority, you dont have much overhead and if you got a reliable truck, assuming you put the same hours as a company driver, you still will make more. However, many people lack simple math and business skills, put few unexpected repairs on top of it and its very easy to go underwater.

 

Not to toot my own horn,.. But $5k a week is very easy to do just off the a load board.

Key is knowing the right loads to call on, staying out of dead areas unless paid enough to dead head out.

This comes with experience. Believe me,.. a lot of trial and error before I figured it out.

You want get to a point where the loadboard is only used as a back up. I still deal with brokers. But they either call me, or I am calling them to let them know when my truck will be in an area I know they have customers. A few brokers email me a list of loads they have available. I can then work out where and how to make my next move.

Once you work out which lanes to run, and develope your network of preferred brokers to deal with,.. the rest pretty much just falls into place.

Hurst

 

Yep. But I'm surprised you asked it. That's basically standard in today's market. Any good owner operator carrier will get you 5k gross per week.

 

Well you've got your mind made up, there isn't much we can tell you. I mean hypothetically your plan works I suppose.

The only experience I see coming out of that lease purchase is;
-learning how to do taxs as a 1099 contractor
-learning to manage larger volumes of money in the terms of gross & net
-learning light mechanical skills like changing lights, etc

That's leaves out; medium/ heavy duty mechanics, dispatching, customer/broker relations, insurance requirements, ifta filing, IRP, etc

... so you see, the leasing way only shows a portion of the owner operator/ trucking business experience... so yes you will get some experience if that's what you look to get

But I'll tell you one thing leasing a truck with Prime taught me; I quickly realized I could slash my overhead in half and actually be putting money in equity and ownership... and I could enjoy days off while doing it

Safe trails

 

Coke

 

"I know leasing is really expensive, but it's also really low risk"

How is it expensive, the money doesn't flow to you first and then you pay them their share. There is no expense involved.

You and others seem not to think like a business owner, you seem to think like a driver.

There is a trade off on leasing vs. an Authority, both have expenses, both have overhead but then there is the issue of time and many don't get how time is really money.

Do you want to chase money or just make it?

Do you have the capabilities to handle the office work or just want to drive?

It is a balancing act, some do it naturally, others struggle and fail.

You assume you are losing 2k a week with the lease but the truth is you are gaining 3k a week without the expenses of the business.

 

Try to take a day or even a weekend off.
Not with expenses accrueing while your down.
The only expense you save is fuel during down time.
The only way to go is a full maintenance lease on a new truck.