Hi family and Happy New year 2018, I'm new to this platform and I really appreciated what i read like info and advices here. I got my cdl class a 6 months ago, i was a dump truck driver in a company for like 2 months(asphalt) and i really like the job but i have to leave because the truck insurance was not update. I want to get into dump truck and drive for myself as an owner operator, basically I will be looking for an used truck. Can you guys please tell me where to start, any advices, where am i suppose to look for place to start, asphalt or dirt. I do live in Maryland in the Silver spring area. Thanks
Research research research. I've been planning on this o/o thing for about 6 months now. Only been driving for 4 years. It's way more than buying a truck hopping in and driving. Have a plan on top of a plan. Money saved up and plenty of it. Sure you can finance a truck and keep your fingers crossed a major breakdown wont happen. But what if it does before you got cash saved to pay for the repair. You would be belly up before you know it. Only advice I can really give you is collect as much info as possible on what you want to get into before you pull the trigger. This site is a good place to start. To be honest With 6 months CDL experience I wouldn't even be thinking o/o yet. Work somewhere for a while doing what you want to do, dump truck or whatever. Learn the business, learn what it takes to operate that truck every day. Mentally, physically and financially. Might not be what you want to hear but with 6 months experience and jumping right into o/o probably not a smart decision. Best of luck, baby steps one day at a time
Maryland is a very tough market. They like their blacktop though. You could run sand in the off season or fit a plow and contract to the state. Ive done blacktop for years up there out of north central maryland. From what I remember, we charged by the ton, time of crew hours and some mileage. Carefully calculated so that no matter how big the job, how long it is and so on, the fuel, payroll of crew, materials bought and miles driven and use of equiptment comes out at a profit. Even if the job site like a parking lot needed to be built and it takes 4 to 6 weeks to do it working until we cannot see at night each day. You will want at least two driving axles, airride and at least one tag axle, two would be better. There are some advantages. If you are strictly Maryland only and do a dab of driving each month but nothing truly major, you could get by with just a set of tags, insurance, and a sticker on that truck. And off you go. There is a disadvantage. You cannot run crappy equiptment. In fact it's a magnet for DOT to come along and erase whatever profits you are trying to accomplish.
Hi guys and Thanks I really appreciate your input and advices, sorry for being late to reply. I've been researching for so long the good thing is fact of having almost every details with internet but i have to admit also a place like this forum is a golden mine for anyone looking to start his own company or even a regular company truck driver. I was an uber driver when I got my cdl I like driving being out there but at the same I like the idea of being my own boss I don't mind working for a company, at the end of the day I just want to build something on my own. All I want is to find an used dump truck and drive it for myself, and since is going to be an one man running business I will appreciate any advices about the maintenance cost of running a dump truck(used tri axle), how much i can charge per hour or jobs, where am I suppose to look for job. It's look like during winter there are not that much dump truck jobs in maryland I had a guy recently who asked to waits until march or april when the wheather will be better for that kind of jobs. Thanks
