My Start at O/O

Lets see, where do I start.....

Apparently you havent called ALL of them. There are quite a few who would take you now. Wont pay much, and you'll get dragged through the ringer, but you'll get experienced.

BTW, EVERY seasoned driver wants their own bathroom and shower on their rig. Ever wonder why they dont have one?

Wait.... NEW trucks dont have any issues with them? When did THAT happen? haha!! You haven't heard of the "Ghost" Cascadias that start up on their own when it's raining? Quite funny, and most likely covered by warranty, but it still takes you off the road for however long the repair takes. ALL new vehicles, trucks, cars, motorcycles, have issues when they are brand new. You cannot ever say for certain that a new truck wont have any issues. And still, putting a $15k sleeper on a truck, used or new, when you have no road experience, is foolish at best. What happens when you fall asleep at the wheel and wreck it? What about hitting those steel poles around the fuel islands and trashing it? You just lost $15k.

That right there in bold is your biggest problem, if I may say so.

Two things... driving doesnt usually bother ANYone until you start getting fatigued. And trust me, you WILL. I dont care HOW many monsters you chug down. Second, since when does trucking pay very well? Do you realize the average company driver does about $40k their first year? And that is on the HIGH side. Where I came from, that is NOT getting paid well.

A LOT of people, folks who are much more experienced than you or I thought they were "definitely" going to make a profit too. That is not something you can decide. You CAN, but the freight rates, fuel costs, repair bills, maintenance bills, and freight AVAILABILITY is what is going to decide that, not how hungry and motivated you are, which I am impressed with by the way.

If you would like, I could send you a short list of companies that do tend to hire newbies right out of CDL school, or who will train you to get your CDL. Say the word and you'll get a PM.

BTW, notice I did not say that these companies will be packing your wallet with cash, because they wont. You'll be making peanuts but you will be learning.

Despite your work history, I just dont think you fully grasp the difference between what you have done and are doing now, and the business of driving a truck for a living, whether O/O or Company Driver. It's not that easy. It's not like there are people standing around begging drivers to run miles. There arent enough miles to go around for the drivers that are out there now, much less for a new O/O who has monster payments on a brand new rooster cruiser with no experience. And good luck getting any decent freight and pay without any experience.

I'll say it again, you are not running 160k miles off of a load board.

 

I understand the cost of living is high in New Jersey. And you want your wife and child to go with you but like others have said OTR is no place for a newborn. The first couple of years are the most important for the development of your child. Please listen to those that have already said leave the child at home. Now back to the cost of living thing you might want to look at other alternatives. Since it looks like you have no problem leaving NJ maybe you should look at other areas in the country near major trucking routes for a place to live. You might find out the cost of living is very affordable down south. Also being living near a major trucking route would give you a chance to pop in and see them.

 

maybe they do things different back east, but out here in montana the SBA does NOT provide loans, the banks do with an SBA garentee though

who told you it was 5%?
they are loopy
mine is at 10.25%....with an 85% garentee, higher given today's economy i expect

i never had to do any goofy classes either.......i just took a well tought out BP to the bank, and they ran it thru the SBA
but then i had the experiance behind me, I wasnt a rookie with $$$$ in my eyes

first time, i highly dought they will give you more than 50k, especially with a high risk loan (guess what, EVERY truck loan is considered high risk)

 

It's like trying to get a 100,000 or more loan to buy a house without a job. I don't see it happening. More power to you if it does!
Insurance is going to be the kicker. You may have a clean MVR and be able to get a low rate, but there's going to be restrictions such as a 3-500 mile radius where you can operate. That's going to put a dent in the ol' business plan. You do have one of those right?
I've seen some super-sleeper type trucks, usually pulling moving vans. I cannot imagine what they alone do to fuel mileage let alone can't imagine trying to back a trailer with one of those puppies in a downtown street dock.

 

Hear hear! Some of the best areas to live (IMO of course) for a trucker are near, but not necessarily in, the following cities:

Chattanooga (I-24, I-59, and I-75)
Atlanta (I-20, I-75, and I-85)
Charlotte (I-77 and I-85)
Birmingham (I-20, I-59, and I-65)
Louisville (I-64, I-65, and I-71)
Cincinnati (I-71, I-74, and I-75)
Indianapolis (I-65, I-69, I-70, and I-74)
St. Louis (I-44, I-55, I-64, and I-70)
Dallas/Ft. Worth (I-20, I-30, I-35, and I-45)

See a pattern emerging here? Since most of the freight is going to, from, or through the middle of an area that can be drawn by tracing I-35, I-10, I-80 and I-95, that narrows it down a little. Staying towards the middle of that area, not in the extreme northern end (overall high cost of living) or southern end (real estate on/near the Gulf of Mexico is overpriced), helps with cost of living (and freight availability). In those areas, I just looked for junctions of major highways and came up with that list off the top of my head. Living outside of town helps with real estate prices and makes parking a truck a little easier (many cities have zoning laws about parking commercial trucks in residential areas, and good luck finding a reasonably priced place with a yard big enough to park a truck in any heavily urban area).

Just a couple thoughts on the matter

 

keep your bebt llow its called low cost high production and the way freighta moveing now it called servivil production ,thell give you a good paying load intyo an area that cost you money to get out of or atleast break ever or just covers your fuel getting out and no guaretee of ending up in another good area