"I am interested in starting a trucking business."

Meticulous is a necessity in flatbed that'll serve you well. I have gotten most of my edge protection off the roadside by folks who forget it piled on the deck. I got a binder and 4 chains in ohio about 2 weeks ago, skidded them up the shoulder on a mudflap.

Not longing for home is another bonus. Friday afternoon is a spurt in leverage to the trucks favor as half the available trucks head for home. try to book a $3k fri-monday drop and take the scenic route, See friends, look at stuff for sale on CL you lust for, get off the beaten path and eat a nice meal at the diner thats struggling to survive across from a hardees. Leave a nice tip, and have a nice life. It all goes around in a big circle.

 

You want to make big money in the trucking industry? Excuse me while I wipe the coffee off my laptop from laughing so hard! With the "mega" companies doing everything they can to drive freight rates down and starve the true independents out there is no such thing as making lots of money in this industry anymore. Around 30 years ago when I started a wise old hand told me, " You want to have a million dollars I the trucking industry? Start with 5 million." I'm sure with as educated as you are you would understand this saying, if not, come on out here on the road and you'll figure it out quick. All kidding aside, the only way your going to really make any noticeable money in this industry is to get your own contracts to where you direct bill your customer and not go off load boards where they double and more often than not triple broker loads. If your planning on doing it the hard way and go off load boards than do yourself a favor and just throw your money in your fireplace, with just one truck and no experience actually doing this job your chances of success are about as good as someone agreeing with what I've said in this post on here. Slim to none and Slim just left town. There is a lot more to this if you don't know the freight lanes that typically pay better than others and what time of year they do etc etc. Not to mention trying to figure out what kind of trailer to pull. Good luck on your endeavor,

 

There’s a lot of lead time there, too. You either start out busting tires, or you have to go to school. And those tools aren’t cheap. By the time you spent three or four years positioning yourself to buy a truck, all you’d have is (maybe) some cash in the bank and the ability to be a DIY mechanic. I think three or four years hence, I’d much rather have the experience in the driver seat, the experience in the business, and the ability to pay someone else to fix my truck for me.

 

I will take being able to fix my truck. After I get sick of or go broke trucking I’ll still have a skill

 

Im with rank.

And my entire life has been a case of if i want it done right i need to do it myself. Seriously.. Nearly everything ive ever hired out has gotten screwed up. So i just do it all now.

 

If I’ve learned anything in retrospect, is that a Person can do almost anything they want to do. Naysayers are everywhere. Projecting their own fears onto others. Sure there’s always reality. But more so than not, Perception IS reality. I’ve always have and still do hear that “ You can’t make it in Trucking.” I emphasize the “want” factor. I could have done a lot of different things, just didn’t want to.

 

Where i live now life is so simple. Buy land, plant pine. Or beans. Or corn. You can log. You can truck. You can quarry. You can doze. You can fix equipment. You can fab. Saw timber. Make charcoal. Make topsoil. Make gravel. Etc etc etc.

But you cant do ANY OF IT if you never actually start. What all successful people have in common is that they started somewhere. What a lot of unsuccessful people have in common is that they never took a chance.

 

And reasonable taxes too right?

Nearest shopping center or Walmart?

Nearest City Fire dept or police for emergencies?

Nearest Clean piped Water supply?

Nearest Public School? (Not private)

Nearest VFW K of C, Or veterans hall?

 

Im not sure what your point is.