I have $7000.00 and i want to become a owner operator out of ga., what do i do next ?

Get your FICO well above 700, that will get you better financing...Some Day.

 

now i have never seen so much gloom and doom in my life you would think that every truck out there is about to go bankrupt well that simply is not so in fact a lot of them are but it is not the industrys fault there are a lot of owner operators that are doing just fine and they would not do anything else and i am one of those operators.

now would i take 70.000 and spend it all on a truck? absoloutly not, i would take about 30.000 and buy a tractor and trailer along with all my permits and insurance and what ever equiment i needed and put the rest in the bank for emergencys.

would the truck be new , nope it would not but you wont have high payments either and no matter what you hear you can repair a used truck cheaper then you can make those high payments on a new one i do it evey day and whats more my old trucks make just as much money and usally more because i dont have the overhead and overhead will kill you in this business.

most drivers that loss in this business have to much overhead and they dont like to work , you can tbe in the trucking busines and not be willing to work and get your hand gresey that on top of the fact that they buya tractor and lease it to company in this economy it just wont work for the mostpart , there are exception but not many.

every driver that losses his truck is going to be bitter , why? because he lost his truck, he sure as hell aint gonna be happy about it and no driver is going to admit fault. that aint gonna happen either.

the newest truck i have is a 1990 model and i have 5 on the ground working and another one that i just bought getting read to go to work.

the biggest thing is you got to be willing to work, if your not afraid to get your hands dirty then quite liky you will do fine just watch your overhead keep it down and ytou will do fine .

best of luck to you and have a great day.-------southernpride

 

He said $7,000 NOT $70,000.

 

Gloom and Doom. I faced the same thing in 1986 when I bought my 1st truck. Fuel is up, Insurance is up, Expenses are high on the road, etc,etc. It can be done today and you can make money at it. Fuel cost is your largest monthly expense. Control it. I kept my truck payment, insurance and bobtail under $1600.00 per month. Those are fixed expenses. Didn't drive a new truck-didn't have a high truck payment either. Do your research! Find a reputable company to lease to-regardless of what you see here there are companies to lease to who will do you right. I looked for a regional company to lease to. Never could stand the big companies after I left Crete in 91. Southerpride is right- keep your overhead costs down and WORK at it and you can do just fine. Will you get wealthy,probably not, can you make a good living, Yep! but it takes work and patience. Good Luck to you.

 

If you are unable to maintain employment for six months as a company driver,what process of logic are you using that say's you would stay leased to anyone for more than six months?


Stop a minute and look at why you posted you had to leave.And what would happen when you half to find a new lease with those $900.00 a month payments?

Leasing to a company simply put's the maintenance cost's on your shoulders, that and fuel and tax liability.That's it, in all other matters you are still a company driver.

Invest your $7,000,Find somewhere you can work in trucking or out of it until you can make a living without changing jobs every six months(like a couple of years more).Then consider taking your money and moving to the next step like LandStar, Mercer, Ace Doran.......

$7,000 isn't even operating cost's for your first month and a half.And if you're considering your own numbers that isn't even enough to plate, insurance, authority, bond.........


Just My $.02

TAz

 

I agree with all your post except the part I highlighted. Leasing onto a carrier can be very successful if you lease you're truck to the right one. How do you figure you're nothing more than a company driver? He was not talking about a Lease Purchase from a carrier. Big difference.

 

In all reality, now is a very bad time to become an O/O. Freight is cheap, and getting cheaper, or at least not going up. Tire cost are up over the last couple of years. Shop labor is over $100.00 hr at most places. Fuel is around $2.75 gal, and who knows where that will go. If things go bad in Iran fuel could hit $5.00 real quick. Yet, you are hauling freight at the same rate as 10 years ago while paying 2010 prices for everything.

There used to be a lot of regional O/O companies that got you out and back. They are mostly gone, so now you end up on the road for weeks at a time. If you go your own authority, you will use broker boards, and get paid when/if they want to pay you unless you give up a percentage to factor.

With CSA 2010 coming, there are a lot of questions yet to be answered. One thing for sure, if you do not know a lot about the mechanics of a truck, and what to look for and how to fix it, you will likely be hit wit lots of points and maybe OOS violations that you did not see from lack of mechanical knowledge of your truck. It's not like a company truck where they check the truck at the terminals. Enough of these tickets, and you can be put off the road permanently, you and your company. Hiring someone to keep the truck checked will use up much of your money. If you can't do mechanic work on your used truck, you are starting off at a disadvantage from the start.

I know this sounds gloomy, but right now is a very bad time. A person should be aware of these potential pitfalls. It is not right to tell you to go for it without telling the bad side also. Keep this in mind, and weigh the good and bad before making your decision.

 

I am referring to leasing on to a carrier such as swift, hunt, schneider, that pay between .85 and .93 a mile.

You are a glorified company driver with the additional exception that at least the truck goes with you.You get no decision in dispatch,you get no decision in rate,if you refuse loads you now get to drive for free for your next one.

You are subject to their home time policy in most instances.


Now are there companies you can lease to avoiding that,sure.I named a couple and there are probably others.There are several where a significant portion of those decisions fall on you.Although I hear a couple of the training companies tried freeing up O/O,it left all the cheap loads on the shoulders of company drivers and service failures so they closed them down.




If you do not decide the rate,and where and when you run it matters not who's name is on the title IMO you are a company driver.

You do not have to be involved in a fleece purchase to be treated in the exact same manner.

 

If you are determined to do it, you will.

The first step would be finding a company to lease on to. Remember though, that just because you are not under forced dispatch, does not make things any easier. Sure you can say no to a load, or lots of them and then they stop running you...you may find yourself in the same situation that you are in now...