How much profit do companies make per truck?

Semper Gumby · Nov 14, 2016

king Q said: ↑

I started as a O/O and later built up a small fleet and came off driving.
The biggest thing is to get enough of the right work.
The other issues you cant get away from and have to deal with so this is really the deciding factor.
It is really easy to be busy but there is no point in just turning money if there is no margin.
There are 2 ways you can tackle this issue (1) Get good rates.(2)Have low input costs.
I have always been better at getting good rates but this requires differentiating what you have to offer as a service from the other guys.
If you are just the same then you will earn just the same.

However to answer your question I would say that on general freight you can expect to make about 1/3 of what you pay the driver as profit.
This is based on what I experienced with owning 30 trucks.
I made about 10 times what I paid each driver.
Where you do end up making more is that you are acquiring an asset.
If the truck is freehold then after maintenance (assuming it is older) then on average about 1/2 of what you pay a driver.
You have to appreciate that when O/O say they make the same as being a company driver the company driver is not acquiring the truck as an asset.
Furthermore you cant expect a driver working for you to perform as well as an O/O with a real vested interested.
Click to expand...

King Q,

I'm a recently retired USMC officer, with capital. I'm faced with s tough decision and was curious if you would be willing to provide your contact info and talk with me about the industry so I can be better informed in making my decision? If so, I can post my email address to share phone contact info.

Thanks,
Mike

Semper Gumby · Nov 14, 2016

king Q said: ↑

I started as a O/O and later built up a small fleet and came off driving.
The biggest thing is to get enough of the right work.
The other issues you cant get away from and have to deal with so this is really the deciding factor.
It is really easy to be busy but there is no point in just turning money if there is no margin.
There are 2 ways you can tackle this issue (1) Get good rates.(2)Have low input costs.
I have always been better at getting good rates but this requires differentiating what you have to offer as a service from the other guys.
If you are just the same then you will earn just the same.

However to answer your question I would say that on general freight you can expect to make about 1/3 of what you pay the driver as profit.
This is based on what I experienced with owning 30 trucks.
I made about 10 times what I paid each driver.
Where you do end up making more is that you are acquiring an asset.
If the truck is freehold then after maintenance (assuming it is older) then on average about 1/2 of what you pay a driver.
You have to appreciate that when O/O say they make the same as being a company driver the company driver is not acquiring the truck as an asset.
Furthermore you cant expect a driver working for you to perform as well as an O/O with a real vested interested.
Click to expand...

STexan said: ↑

Fuel $4.00 gallon / 6 MPG
Note finance $100,000 @ 9%/4 years
Driver .50/mile
Benefits??
tires $500 each/200,000 miles?
insurance, tags, taxes???
truck/trailer washes, washouts
reefer trailer?? huge investment and maintenance costs.
lumper charges of $200-$300
tolls???? (have you paid the tolls into the northeast lately out of pocket?)
maintenance budget?????
bad debt write-offs???
accountant?
freight rates $1.30 mile?... $3.00 mile? freight slows, rates drop, bad market, good market
You can do the math as good as we can and the answer is ... in a perfect world, you can do great, but if things don't all come together 1 month or a succession of several bad months ... you can lose a lot of money, real fast
Click to expand...

S Texan,

I'm a recently retired USMC officer. I have capital and am starting in the business. Would you be willing to talk with me about the industry if I email you my phone contact info?

Mike

Learning the game · May 9, 2018

deskdriver said: ↑

That is a question with alot of variables,

*Are you getting your own authority or leasing to another company
*what type of freight? ( dry, flatbed, refrigerated, oversize, specialized )
*Do you have the capital to properly start out without barrowing everything and paying intrest on everything and staping yourself with large payments right away
*Do you have any trucking background or knowledge of what you are getting into
*will you be offering health ins.

and the list goes on, The more info you provide the better the answer you will recieve.

Another very important thing to remember that owning a trucking company is very involved, It will not run itself and if you do not have any trucking experiance or knowledge it will definently be a steep and costly learning curve.
Click to expand...

Unless you sign a contract with a major freight company that provides the freight and dispatches the driver, which will take alot of responsibility off of you , so you may focus on the other things like maintaining the truck, handling the fiances, etc. Prime has a nice program on their fleet side for this.

SteveScott · May 9, 2018

Learning the game said: ↑

Unless you sign a contract with a major freight company that provides the freight and dispatches the driver, which will take alot of responsibility off of you , so you may focus on the other things like maintaining the truck, handling the fiances, etc. Prime has a nice program on their fleet side for this.
Click to expand...

You realize that you just replied to a 5 year old message, right?

REO6205 · May 9, 2018

SteveScott said: ↑

You realize that you just replied to a 5 year old message, right?
Click to expand...

That happens a lot. Not everyone looks at the post date when they're using the search feature. They just fire away.
Some of the older posts are fun to read though.

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