Is this the end for me in trucking?

So, I am looking for some advice. Basicly, I do not want to drive a truck, or be in the business anymore. It is just very hard to let it go. I have built a nice living for myself, my customers love me, but there are some major road blocks I just can't see getting through in order to live the life I want to live.

A little background. I am 35 now, been trucking since 2007. Own truck in 2011, own authority in 2012. I have enjoyed all the ups and downs, seeing new places and the whole experience. Started with a w900L, had an accident (which was a blessing in disguise), came back with an old fl classic with my tail between my legs for a few years, then got into what I have now, a 389. Ordered a new top of the line GD reefer. On top of the world, as far as looking good going down the road and enjoying the ride with a sense of pride. The problem is - nothing is new anymore. I have done everything I want to do enough times from the perspective of a driver. Yes I do still enjoy going down the road looking out over MY huge hood, the air cleaner lights in the windows, the lights all the way down both sides rocking out, one of my favourite drives is eastbound of Laramie to Omaha. Put 'er on 75-80 and just let it roll, passing most everything in sight. All that being said, the game of life is lacking, it is not possible to maintain any serious relationship living this lifestyle. If I ever want to have a kid and raise it every day, this isn't going to allow it. In short, I do not want my life to look the way it does now at age 40 or beyond. So I need to somehow change it today so I'm not humming and hawing for all eternity. I have actually taken a spot at one of my customers, it is again seasonal but for 8 months a year. I will make a year's pay in that 8 months and still have a spot for a second source of income or to vacation or do nothing. I have a decent pile of money saved for retirement, my house is almost paid for, I did recently buy a 2020 ram rebel (tired of forever fixing my 07 f150 every time I take it out), I have no dependents or a woman draining my finances. I am in acceptable spot, financially. I am able to call this quits and make much less, at least for a few years before I am perhaps a certified mechanic, and back to making what I was at the peak of my trucking career.

Reasons I want out:
-The road forward is either to hire a driver or an owner operator. I would prefer owner operators, I don't want to own more trucks than I need to, or hire more people than needed. An owner operator is a business partner, there aren't the same protections you have to provide as a company driver. Also they own the truck. I do not want to take care of and maintain more trucks than necessary. The trucks cost money, the trailers make money. If I take either of these roads, now I am responsible for someone else's living. When the market gets slow, do you operate at or even below cost in order to keep someone moving? You can't really just park it like I do now when the market dumps out.
-The equipment itself. I have been very lucky *knock on wood* with my emission truck. No major issues. The next round is 2027, which will likely mean a more expensive engine and less reliability. Then the EPA says something about 2032 and 25% must be battery. CA wants 2036 no more diesel trucks and 2042 electric. I realize likely none of this will actually come to be realized - but the idea in my head is the same. If the day comes I am to have even a fleet of 10, the thought of simply buying and running old S60 or 6NZ etc, is not a sustainable solution over the long term. Everyone will sooner or later be forced to run this new tech they are putting out. How does that work if you have 10 trucks and 1 or 2 are perpetually in the shop? The less number of trucks you have the harder this number will hit if you have down time. The regulators can't seem to ever be content and just continually throw more and more at us and it seems to be speeding up.
-If someone asked me about getting into ownership I would say YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY INSANE. The price of this equipment has shot through the roof, insurance is expensive on a good day, again every few years there are pushes to push the minimum insurance higher which would just drive that cost up even more. So if you go and buy a unit and put a driver in it and he decides to quit now you have an expensive asset, or multiple, sitting there demanding the bank payment every month while you may have to take a less than desirable driver who abuses it.
-Because equipment prices are high, and I do have a desirable truck, I can get a good price for my equipment. I will list below what I have. I'd appreciate any input on dollar figures as to what it may be worth.
-(I may get roasted for this) Driving a truck, for me, has become a mind numbing brain dead thing to do. The part I actually enjoy most of it is all the accessorial stuff. Going to meat inspection (both sides of border), having the border paperwork correct the FIRST time so the broker doesn't have to go back and forth in the end costing me time. Fixing minor issues on the road, lights or greasing, etc. Just going down the interstate mile after mile has gotten old. My brain is screaming at me THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS.
-Liability. Even if I expand, or don't, every day is another day I could get rear ended then sued into the poor house. I don't ever want to deal with that. Doesn't matter if I am driving or someone else is with my name on the door. It seems very easy to lose it all very quickly in this business. I have watched many others before me it happens to them. Or their customers decide the rate is now lower. There is just way too much to put at risk and then it is way too easy to lose everything. For the longest time I have the blinders over my eyes and trucking was the only way to make money. Now I am way more open to the rest of the economy and all the possibilities. There are better businesses to be in.
-I am itching to learn new stuff. And do a more physical/mentally demanding job.
-I am not in horrible health, but I am surely not getting any better either. I'd like to be able to actually use a gym membership, rather than trying to figure out how to workout in a sleeper or at a truck stop.
-The regulators can seem to find no end as for ways to take our money. The latest nail in the coffin is (Canada at least) your ELD now must be premanently fixed to the dash, or else you get a ticket or maybe even OOS. I don't know, I don't really care. If the world is going to starve because I quit doing this then I guess the people will go hungry.
-Approximately 2/3 of customers are primarily price driven. The whole idea of having fixed costs, insanely high overhead, and then the way it works is basicly "today we will pay you 1.00, tomorrow we want to pay you 0.75 or 0.50" - try telling that to any other industry, an electrician, plumber, even there is another thread recently to company drivers they want to shift the pay from .68 to .61 and there are plenty of comments F them you should quit working for those cheapos NOW!! As the company owner you are being burned on both ends. Costs keep going up, customer always wants to turn the screws on the top side for revenue. Drivers always on the lookout for another place to work for a nickel a mile more.

End part 1 of 2

 

Part 2

Reasons it is hard to let go:
-My customers pay me steady, changing only for difference in fuel cost so my net stays stable. Fuel goes up I charge the difference it goes down I lower it a bit, fair is fair. I am also top choice, and I am not the cheapest either. I do not want to basicly quit and leave them hanging. I am looking for solutions to manage their transportation and make the operation run as smoothly as possible (not as some kind of broker). I have been setting the pace since I have been hauling for them. I would like to put something together where the same system works - there is a truck and a trailer at the yard (or just trailer), it is unloaded and reloaded and the driver comes in goes and makes delivery and reload and come back drop it off and go home (shunt trucks at yard). As well as keep the financial picture the same steady as she goes approach.
-I am proud of my little business. It will take me some time to achieve the same earning potential at whatever else I do. I have been off since October or November last year, I just don't have any drive to go back out. I enjoy being able to actually live in my house rather than live in the truck and slide through the house once in a while. I like cooking every day and doing my own yard work and simply existing within say a 50 mile radius of one point. Sleeping in an air conditioned house (I never was one to idle and in summer I have a local run, home daily).
-If I sell the pete, I likely won't ever own one again. I'm pretty sure they aren't making them anymore shortly here. It is all mine, sure it is no show truck, but it's MINE. Sure, there will be something else "cool," but it won't be the same. To be honest, this would be even more difficult if I was in an older 379 is actually my most desired truck or a w900L in the 2003 range, and the 6NZ is my favourite engine to drive. I like it when nieces and nephews come around and are interested in it or want to blow the [train] horn. If I had a couple million in the bank, I would keep it in the back yard forever. However right now it is a valuable asset that would equate to me working less years at the back end towards retirement if I let it go. I am not hurting by any means, but I'm nowhere near having enough to quit working altogether either. It just doesn't make financial sense to keep an asset that will only rust and rot and become less valuable over time. Truth be told I don't think I ever will retire completely, I always need something to do. But being in this business to drive occasionally - doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
-I think I would really be a good dude to work for. My owner operator package, while I have nothing official on paper would look something like this: truck owner responsible for cost of plate, tolls, insurance, ifta, etc. and will give up 10% (if he owns truck and trailer) up to a maximum of $2,000 a month or $24,000 a year. You go out and gross $480,000 because you are a H/W team? Then you pay only 5%. I will do all the paperwork and booking and paperwork for that. A similar deal if he doesn't own a trailer, instead say a fixed monthly rate as well as 13% of gross up to some maximum number for the year as well. Any fuel discounts are the truck owner's, not mine. Fair - all the way through. The #1 reason I quit under my previous employer as an o/o was for these reasons. No fuel discount. Little 1 and 2% charges to calculate my ifta, NY miles, as well as I believe it was 25% for using his trailer or 20% if I had my own. It didn't take me long to realize I can gross about $350k and give up $70k so someone can shuffle paperwork? Didn't sit well with me. Immediately my first year on my own I was doing better, keeping 100%, never factoring and only a handful of quick pays, as well as my fuel discounts. Not to mention running the areas I prefer to run. Perhaps a fleet owner can offer some advice as to why seemingly every company in my area is basicly at the same 20% of gross revenue. Seems like a total rip off. This is also why I find it hard to quit - the market seems ripe for someone like me to come in and offer a much better deal for owner operators. Please advise.

Also if someone could advise me of what I need to keep my authority active, if the day comes 25 years from now and I want to fire it up again, is that even a smart idea or will that just eat money over the years in order to gain nothing? What needs to be paid even if a company is no longer operating? UCR? Will the DOT simply cancel an authority after x time if it goes stale? How does this work? Or is it better to close it up completely and be done with it?

The equipment:
2016 389
815,000 km, 11000 hours (approximately, don't recall exactly)
3.73, 46k, 18 double over, isx2350, 500/1850, 11r22.5
13200 front axle, 90/135 fuel, DEF 20 gallons (I think - the medium size one)
78" stand up sleeper, 244" WB
bunk beds, fridge, business center, espar bunk heater
Weight 21800 full of fuel and def and my 200-250 pounds.

2018 GD everest super seal
7500 carrier ~9,000 hours, temp readout for driver in mirror,
11r22.5, air slide, skirts, just put a new chute in, 16" scuff liner, grooved floor, 30" kingpin, 53', tandem, auto inflate system, lights are 9/9 top and bottom rails, 7/7 across top front and back.
weighs 15200 including 75g fuel.

There isn't a whole lot listed for the entire province of Ontario Canada, I really have no idea what an accurate price would be. The website I am using is marketbook.ca If someone is interested in running their own authority, or perhaps mine (not sure how that would work exactly), I would be open to telling them all my secrets, how to run the authority and fuel taxes, the customers, how to buy cheapest fuel, absolutely everything. I think I've got all of it on my mind written out here. Appreciate anyone who actually reads all of this.

 

I have been considering this for the past few years, I have more or less been on autopilot. I am also at a point where I am excited to learn new things. Basicly how I am viewing it is I can sell my equipment leave that money in the company, and try my hand at another business, whatever that may be. I am giving a lot of thought to real estate. Whether that be buying, fixing up, selling, renting property, or managing it for others, I am not sure just yet. Right now, the farm that I have been hauling for, and also working on the loading trucks/scheduling/trucking issues in general has given me a career. Their words, not mine. So far, I have been doing maintenance on planters, sprayers, tractors, all kinds of vehicles all kinds of systems learning how it all works. It is a heck of a lot to take in, and so far I am loving it. The planting season will be here any day now and it will be very long days. There is a year's worth of work - over an 8 month period or so. I sleep better at night. I am happier. I like how I can still work part time in winter or perhaps rent a house in FL for a month or two and drive down there and chill for a bit. Or if that works out maybe I buy a camper trailer to pull and stay somewhere down there or TX or AZ, I don't know. You have an absolutely beautiful country and I want to see more of it. I have always enjoyed earth's natural beauty, trucking has let me see so much of it - through a windshield.

I am considering reaching out to the guy I used to drive for and had my truck under his authority years ago. He is a good guy, I enjoyed driving as a company driver for him, but as an owner operator, was not so good. I am sure he would hear me out over a couple beers. I am not 100% ruling out driving a truck ever again - I just don't want to be my primary source of income. It will have to be something as an 'extra'. I am also considering if I work in winter either finding a local gig - where I dictate when I run and where I go or else I am not driving for you. I also have a possibility - my step-dad-to-be is sort of a jack of all trades - I have opened the conversation perhaps I could help do inside construction jobs with him, he has more work than he can handle - those skills would serve me well too. Putting in new floors, drywall, painting, simple electricity work (nothing major), changing a bathroom, all sorts of jobs. On the back burner is the idea of finding a diesel mechanic shop - with the caveat I will work there from November to April roughly, if they will have me.

As much as I'd like to, the money I can sell it for will be to more benefit to be used to fuel something else. 120k is a bit much to keep around for a toy. And honestly, while yes this truck is great and it is mine and all that. It ain't no old single turbo cat. It just isn't the same.

In the coming days I will ask my insurance agent all these questions. How much it would be recurring cost to keep it active. Although, putting it all on the screen, it really feels like I've already got my mind made up. I did get a 10% reduction in insurance cost for being there 10 years, claim free. That, however is not transferrable if I sell the whole ball of wax to someone else who perhaps their authority is in trouble or insurance is being cancelled.


I would like to hear from some fleet owners or owner operators who are leased on, what their thoughts are on my idea of possibly providing the authority, doing the paperwork end of the business, with a fair and transparent system for everyone. I bought my own truck since I saw the gross dollars what I was making the boss, about 350k a year. I made a whopping 65k as a company driver and I worked my tail off. In my mind - the people who are doing the work should get the extra as it comes along - no this does not mean I am some kind of socialist, trucking is different than a lot of industries in the way if you have an owner operator where could your extra surprise expenses arise from that I may be missing? If their truck blows up it is their problem. Yes I may have to float them a loan to repair it but they have a large A/R account of the work they are waiting to be paid for. If they want to drive 80 mph and get 4 mpg that is their business. I am looking at it more as a - I want my %, but if you work harder then what extra work is there, really, for me? Work harder, keep more. I realize at some point I'd have to hire a book keeper, that would be an expense. As well as need my own yard to keep equipment. Mechanics are in dire need in my area as well. It is not a matter of paying them more - there simply aren't enough of them around. How many trucks could I manage doing the paperwork on my own? 5? That would equate to 120k a year. If they bring their own customers then perhaps the deal can be even sweeter. Am I really off my rocker in this line of thinking?

 

No haven't seen that one yet. Working through Yellowstone and Your Honor season 2 right now. I'm not real big on British TV. And it's hockey playoffs now...





go Maple Leafs!