I have made the selection.

Not a good way to start. Will take awhile for the money to roll in. Will not take long at all for the money to roll out. Bad move with no money to back you. What if you need 6 grand for a repair in your first week? That 2 dollars won't go very far.

 

Buy a lottery ticket or two.....................

The odds are way better !!!!!!!!!!!

 

This has disaster written all over it. You need a decent amount of capital to start with and operating expenses for SEVERAL months...Any used truck WILL need repairs. It's not a matter of "IF"...trust me on that one...

Look into being a company driver. Let someone else worry about the bills and repairs and save up (if you can) for your own rig...if you cant save, then O/O isn't the best path for you.

Nothing wrong with being a company driver...

 

there is a very old saying that trucker's wouldn't necessarily know, but mechanics might, and that is, "if you have to save your money to buy a Mercedes, than you cannot afford that Mercedes come time to repair it".

what this means is that you MUST have cash on hand at all times, otherwise your savings will dwindle faster than you could ever imagine.

many years ago when i was younger i did my homework when thinking about buying a rig.....the end result of my findings....??

after taxes, as a company driver, i made out far better than an o/o.....

given now the CSA2010/2011, as a "new" o/o you will be faced with things o/o's never had to think about. you could get slammed BIG TIME with repairs that could bury you and hurt you both as a driver AND o/o.....!!!! making yourself next to unemployable when you fail......not should or if you fail, but when you DO fail....

starting up a business, ANY business is tough. you need a business plan, cash on hand, great credit, customers or a very good lease deal, etc,etc....

i wish you well, but sadly, not too many "new" owner-operators make it to 1 year.....that 2 dollars (proverbial of course) in your pocket is more money NOW then you will have later.


and then there is this from the o/p

sorry, but there are ALWAYS stings..........your truck, your bills, your customers, your lease company or broker, your monthly supply of Tylenol, it never ends.....

 

Hey you also have weather too deal with , for you have no contol over that, like when you slide on ice and jackknife hard into the middel and you be out, no my freind , i would not do it, i write down my strenght and weakness in your work area , for example if your a good cook, look into a resturant to buy or what hot now is bed and bed breakfast type thing, at lest you go broke you have plenty food too eat it Everett.

 

my friend, you said "o/o with no strings attatched" there are so many things to think about....you have $2.00 in your pocket?? Do you realize what it takes just to get on the road? say you get a loan for the truck, now you have $550 for your 2290, another $1600-$2100 for your base plate, not includeing your insurance, You also stated you want to lease on to some one? now you have to rent your trailer,normaly its about $800 mth,plus barring you dont have any mechanical problems, and trust me a truck is worse than a wife sometimes !!! At least when you cuse at the truckit wont get pissed off and anser you back ,lol......My point being when you said no strings attached, To us that means all these items and then some are paid cash and you have money in the bank for fuel and repairs........this is a tough buisness and if you choose to do this be prepaired, As agood frind once told me when you first stat out if you dont have money in the bank for repairs you are one major brakedown from being out of buisness!!!!! S o think about if befor you jump......at this point being a company driver might look pretty good and a wiser choice for you to lead up to your dream!!!!

 

Guys know me around here as being encouraging and helpful. And I like to encourage people to go for it and reach for the stars. Sadly, in this case, I cannot.

First off, you're not going to be a useless human being. Talk like that is just stupid, but I understand your position.

Getting a loan without collateral for 200k is not going to happen. Also, you don't need near that much, but that's another story for another time.

I so want to encourage you to get a company driver job for at least the time being. Despite what others preach, there are a couple lease-purchase situations out there. NOT GREAT, NOT GOOD, but decent. You REALLY REALLY REALLY have to want it!

So stop with the useless human being with no life attitude. You are what you think you are, and your thoughts will become a self fulfilling thing.

 

I have heard of geting started on a shoestring budget or on a wing & a prayer, but your not even to that point yet. if you can beg, borrow & steel your way into trucking, best of luck. go for it.

 

OP you should really heed this post here. Gears is one of the mpst positive guys around this board and he is spot on. Get a company driving job for now. There are some good companies out there that you can make a good living the work into buying a truck if you want. Best of Luck to you.

You also might want to read this thread. This is a good friend of mine and is only a drop in the bucket of what this industry can do to you as an O/O. http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...erything/114436-so-what-has-redd-been-up.html