How to get contracts/shippers

Regardless of the type of freight you decide to haul, you need to plan on buying your own trailer if you want to run your own authority. I would also recommend that if you want to get your authority, that you do it with a single truck for a while before buying a second truck. All of your expenses will immediately double with the second truck. Base plates, insurance, etc., will immediately double, whether you have a driver in the truck or not. Make sure that you have a good cash reserve before adding another truck. When buying another truck, most don't think about not having a driver in the seat. There will be times when the second truck will sit because you don't have a driver. Expenses go on whether the truck is moving or not. If you have big payments and insurance to pay, it can get expensive. You also don't want to put just anyone in your truck, either. Finding the right driver can take a little time.

Pulling reefers would offer the most versatility and may be easier to find freight going coast to coast. But, reefer trailers can be expensive. I would spend time looking around for what freight is available in the area you want to run. You can find something with a van, flat or reefer, but rates can vary. Pulling a flat will require that you purchase about $2,500 of securement equipment in addition to the cost of the trailer. That will double with the second truck. Having a second truck will more than double your costs. It will not double your profit. You will stand a much better chance of success by taking it one step at a time.

 

Thank you G/Man!
You are completely right about buying a second truck. I need to buy a trailer first then once I get the business rolling I should think about buying a second one.
I need to make a decision on what trailer to pull. Because there is lots of produce loads in CA I was leaning towards buying a reefer, but I am not completely sure and I going to need to do some more research.

 

Yes there is lots of produce coming out of CA but do you know any idea how lucky you will be to get a load paying maybe 1.00 per mile to go have the opportunity you get 3.00 coming back? People go there on a wing and a prayer, some all they think about is cali, cali, cali, I don't see what is so special about it. When I drive away from the house I prefer to already be making money, not get somewhere and hope the rates are good FOR THAT DAY. Cali load rates swing huge - daily. Today they might be 7,000 to NY. You might think, well tomorrow it could be 8,000 or 9,000, then tomorrow it drops to 5,500. What do you do now? The only point I'm trying to make here is don't bank on california just because they grow a ton of produce. You will be WAY more ahead with knowing your markets and their cycles.

 

From Rich's other posted I sent an email to a friend based in Salinas that runs three trucks. He has $1.20 freight, all he wants, coming back to Cali. So he and his other two drivers don't roll unless they get $3 going out. They are bumping that up with CARB coming up.

But he has been doing this for years. He is connected. He says he sees new guys coming down all the time that leave with cheap freight or MT. It truly is one of the original good ol boy networks.

 

Thanks keepntruckin for some really good advice.

 

So after driving a company truck this knowledge will just fall in your lap one day? Because I still do not know a lot about the industry as I just drive. If the next 10 years are like my last 16 months then I will still be in the same position. You make a good point but I don't understand what a few years of hauling a load can make you an expert in how to be an owner operator. It isn't like we have to locate our own runs, we are just told where to go and the time to get it.

 

Well, I suppose everyone is different. When I was a company driver turning600 miles a day I had a lot of time while I was driving to think. A lot of things that helped me with spot, I didn't know what i knew until I started working it... These are things without experience that I would have taken a long time to figure out just jumping into spot with zero experience. And there are just general things about trucking itself, basic things, that only get honed over time with experience. You make mistakes as a rookie that you don't with a few years experience. You hone your craft and get effiecient. Efficiency is everything. This is why I think experience is important. It gives you a leg up the same as running a debt free operation does. I suppose you could call these things "intangibles". And if you rush to get your own authority or even lease on with a carrier without the benefit of experience, well, you just gave away so much.. ..you are going to screw up and get screwed over cause trucking will just do that, even to guys who have been in it a long time. It is competitive and you need every edge you can get. I have to ask, what is the hurry anyways? Freight will always need to get moved and it will always be there whenever a person wants to take the leap. If you want to be successful you need to make some small necessary sacrifices in order to set yourself up for success. If that means driving someone elses truck for a few years then that is what you do. If that means paying off $100K in debt and banking another $75K then that is also what you need to do. I do not consider either to be impossible to pull off nor do I care to hear excuses why these things can't be done or aren't necessary. Otherwise hurry up now and go out there and do it YOUR way. Then come on here every week crying about cheap freight. I did these things and do you ever hear me cry about cheap freight? These things just take time, effort, and planning. If you can;t do those things you can't run a truck. When you do those things and you have the benefit of hindsight you will realize every month or year of "sacrifice" was well worth it. You will realize things you learned in that company truck, that at the time you didn;t even know you were learning...

 

That mentality has always baffled me.... I live in Cali, pull a van, and would never backhaul for that ridiculous rate.... people who haul for that rate make it harder on the rest of us....

Imagine how much they could make if they weren't doing cheap backhauls...

 

lol.... They say the same thing about him in the eastern states where they get better than a buck twenty to haul... seriously, a buck twenty??? I can get a buck fifty without even trying, why would I take the initial offer?? Cause I'm in a big hurry to get back??

 

If $1.20 is your target, you'll have all the freight you want going anywhere you want.....