Leased to a company vs. Own Authority?

How much are you guys grossing for the year with one truck and trailer leased? Are you in the $140,000 range or more like $190,000 plus area?

 

Good point -- probably explains why I do so little business with Landstar (most brokers take 10-15%). So I guess instead of $50,000 it should be $25,000.

 

Am I close with those figures for a lease setup?

 

And with the extra insurance that you pay that could eat up 1/3-1/2 of that.

 

Gross is just a number that some people use to make themselves feel like they are making money. Without knowing the miles that go with the gross dollars, it really is just noise. I know guys that gross $140,000 and guys that do $300,000+ a year gross leased to a carrier.

 

If you can be an effective agent for yourself, it may be worth having your own authority. But it really is time consuming if you do it right. Very difficult to be an effective agent and driver for yourself at the same time. I think LS offers some big advantages in name recognition, and is often where people go to with overage loads or special projects where they are willing to pay a premium for a short term demand for trucks.

There's some advantages to your own authority though. A big one for me is that if all else fails I can usually haul standard type loads such as steel, lumber, etc.... and make money. Especially if I am direct, which is usually fairly easy to do with high volume shippers. There is a lot of loads out there paying $2 - $2.25 / mile and if you are leased to LS paying 27% these loads are really not for you.

 

I leased to crst Malone for 5 yrs they had agents avg pay was up down looked good on paper I went and got my own authority that paid more but after increased expence

I made about the same I left being a owner op sold truck went to work local for other company for a few yrs kids older I just bought a used Volvo w apu leased with a

intermodal company pulling 53ft out of Chicago been with them 2 months now home every night or stay out a night or two depending on wheather

I make 1.06 mile plus avg fuel surgharge of 40 cpm so I make 1.46 plus the company has a fuel program to save 30 to 60 cents off a gal at pump my advice is find

better company chasing after agent freight or broker freight dead head miles etc just not worth company like landstar or crst the owner op does the leg work company get all the rewards for doing nothing but billing people hate intermodal this is my second go round with cans I started with hauling cans and thought there was more to make all I ever did was lose money im bringing home 2800-3200 wk on 3100 miles after fuel plate insurance etc iv been driving for 20 yrs if u cant net 100 mile or more all miles all in wrong company and for na sayers having your own authority will net u 2 to 3 dollar a mile freight sometimes on a fri or if they cant move it iv grossed huge amounts but at the end all in nt worth it there are a lot of companys out there just to rip u off im happy with my current company im leased to drop hook 95percent of time try intermodal in your area

 

Not everyone is cut out to handle a trucking business. Dealing with agents, direct customers, or even deadhead is just part of the job. If you're not able to deal with the routine parts of that and make any money then I can see the appeal of pulling cans and/or being dispatched. From the sounds of it op doesn't have a problem with that stuff.

 

I'd try intermodal, but I can't afford $1.00 plus pay cut. I'll stick with an agent based system. Comparing CRST to Landstar is just outright foolishness.

 

If you don't want to deal with brokers or shippers nor deal with the extra paperwork of running your own authority, you are probably better off leasing to someone. I don't mind the paperwork. I suppose I have just gotten used to it. Even if you lease to a carrier you still have to deal with some paperwork, such as keeping track of your IFTA miles and gallons. We all have to deal with paperwork to one extent or another. $140,000-190,000 is realistic for most owner operators who lease to a carrier.