Looking to buy my own truck. How much do I charge per mile to haul.

Gynecologists have class A licenses?

 

The fleacers (the lease operators) on this forum, in the mega-crap lounge, and in the truck stop all clam they make "good money" at 90cpm. So charge 89cpm and put them all out of business.

 

Sorry but this is harsh ... You don't fall in love with a truck and cherish it, it is a tool and nothing more than a tool for you to make money with.

Listen to this ... Too many people have this great idea but when they are faced with the reality of this business, they get lost and fail. There are many many failures than there are successes with this idea of getting a cdl and then getting a truck to make the.big bucks.

The older the truck, the more reserve you need up front. Working a year will give you enough for new tires but nothing more.

 

I disagree with the first part pretty strongly. For some, yes, a truck is merely a tool which they use to do a job.

But, that's not the case for some. I'm strongly of the opinion that you have to like the truck you're driving. What that means for different people is different things. For some, it's about the size of the sleeper and the storage space. For some, it's about having a square hood in front of them. Regardless, the more you like the truck you own, the more likely you'll be to maintain the piece of equipment.

And I disagree in part with the last part. With the lack of reliability in newer trucks, you need a mountain of cash to be running a new one. Aside from $3,000 a month in a truck payment, you're going to be in the shop on a regular basis dealing with emissions equipment. And, yes, the warranty may cover the repairs, but, the warranty doesn't pay for your down-time.

At least the older stuff you're able to work on it yourself.

 

+1 for the old trucks. I have no regrets so far. Look at how cheap you can pickup a classic.

http://lincoln.craigslist.org/hvo/4981427617.html

Even if you dumped another $10k in that truck in the first six months your still only into it for $20k. Winning. Once the reconditioning process is over and the truck is running and making money. No reason at all you can't sell for $15k, all day. My truck paid for itself in the three months. After that its just pure delicious gravy on top.

Imagine buying a brand new truck, or slightly used new emmisions truck and not even getting 10 miles down the road before the check engine light comes on!!! No way I'd roll the dice on emissions tech. When the day comes I have to install or retrofit with a DPF, no big deal. Should be cheap by then, and would still run laps around some engine with EGR DPF and SCR wrapped up into a nice steaming package of....