Kenworth with 1,034,000 miles

A newbie like me, how does one go about hunting loads... i'm in BC and just getting my class 1, i will be patient with getting a truck, i know new trucks are backordered for 1.5 yrs at least. So, while I wait, i will still hunt for a quality used truck... BUT i need to make sure i have contracts in place to give myself a decent start in a new career. Any help is appreciated with help on finding good contracts.

 

I can tell you what the suggestions are going to be .

get your license and spend a couple of years learning the business on someone else’s dime .
Learn how to drive safely , then learn which cargo and which traffic lanes are money makers and which are money losers .

by two years in your should also know what type of cargo you like hauling .
Dry van , reefer, tanker, flatbed , oversize loads, etc

and how good of a mechanic are you ?
If you can’t work on the truck to handle the minor repairs , that don’t require a forklift or a shop, that’s going to eat into your profit big time if you have to call a road service or pay a shop to fix every little problem you have .

on top of learning all the taxes and permits etc etc etc

my advice is don’t try buying your own truck until you’ve driven someone else’s for at least two to for years and learned as much as you can about how the business works .

 

sorry that i have hijacked another thread... well... there can be ways to make it work... if numbers work, and the truck pays for itself with the contracts, why not learn with your own truck or at the least, pay a driver and ride along. You would forsure have to understand all aspects of the business and account for fuel card, ensuring you're driving loads on both legs, knowledge of minor breakdowns, (are third party warranties worth paying for engines and drivetrain?). But having a prudent plan in place is key, i think... know your numbers in advance to find those contracts. My mechanical skills are great... along with my car driving skills... im more concerned of the jobs to find and keep which would drive the income required to profit.

 

Yeah
It’s doable , I did it . But it’s risky

I was a pretty handy mechanic and was single , no wife no kids no mortgage no money etc
I had nothing to lose .

I did a lease purchase , rent to own deal with a company that also dispatched me and controlled my loads and work .

all the things I’d say not to do.
But the company was growing and had their own fleet of trailers and terminals and their own direct freight on long term contracts with all the big three automakers . the trucking company was a subsidiary of Norfolk southern railroad , and they purchased North American van lines so they could have access to the highway authority and a fleet of used tractors to sell/ lease , company was called Triple Crown Service and they were opening a new terminal and desperately looking for owner operators and were offering no money down two year rent to own deals .
Compensation was a combo of a daily rate and milage rate and a per stop rate and detention after three hours , and back to the terminal every night , and a fleet of brand new trailers .

it worked for me , I was used to earning $800 a month after taxes in 1988
And the first month as a Owner op , after insurance and truck payment and fuel , maintenance and maintenance reserve find etc ,I brought home $5000

I felt like the richest man in the world .
But I was all in .

i was starving , living in a trailer park , and like the ancient soldiers landing ashore and burning their boats ,
I quit my “good” government job , (they had over 300 people apply for my position after I quit ) and sold my 78 trans am to pay for the one way plane ticket to Fort Wayne Indiana to get a rent to own cabover international with a 350 Cummins / 9 speed , leaf springs suspension and no power steering .

two years later when I had ONE payment left on it , I Jack knifed it on a wet road , took out a utility pole and took the front porch off of a nearby house .

but didn’t get let go by the company since it was my first accident and by then had saved a ton of money and paid $15k cash for another truck and was back rolling making money the next week

i sold my rigs in 1995 when things were really slowing down and it was getting harder and harder to make money and I got offered a regular job at a hospital as the Maint supervisor, and we wanted to start a family , so I wanted to be home every night .

triple crown service is now almost out of business ,
At one point they had 12 or 14 terminals and I think they have two left now .
So without knowing it I pulled the plug at just the right time .

my nephew made $95k last year driving someone else’s brand new $230k truck and home every weekend .
he hasn’t really made any noises about wanting to be an owner op , he’s a great mechanic so it would Probabaly work out , but he’s making pretty good right now .