My Start at O/O

He didnt mean do it after the trip has started he was just giving an example of how the 15 minutes has to come off of your 14 hours everyday no matter what. At a 15 minute post trip in and you have lost 30 full minutes of your work day without ever even moving the truck. he is just giving you all of the real world examples of how you lose hours out of your work day and driving time every single day without even rolling, trying to get it clear to you that no matter what you think you are not going to be able to run as hard as you think you are in your plans.Andon the 60 mph thing...no you can do the legal speed limit all day long or you can speed if you feel like taking that chance but there are limits to how much you can put down on your log book unless you feel like really getting the once over at the scale house. You really really need to pay attention to the log book and Hours Of Service rules portion of class when you go to CDL school as i dont think you have any idea just how restricted and regulated you are going to be if you choose to actually follow the law and do all of it legal. It wont take you long to realize that 160,000 miles running solo is just not going to happen especially whole you are having to book your own loads and do paperwork and all of that good stuff on top of your loading time and unloading time and spending 30-45 minutes locked in line for fuel at busy truckstops and everything else you encounter. I know you are tired of reading it and dont really care anyways but you are way over estimating what is possible.

 

The reason the big boys are losing money because they can't get en ought freight to keep there trucks moving, and you with no contacts think you can. The whole industry is off 30 to 40% . I am down over $30,000 from this time last year.

You still need to factor in your liability and cargo insurance and lower your projected miles to a realistic amount.

You can be a truck driver/owner but you need to get real, there is no way the SBA will back you, they research the market and they know trucking is in the crapper right now.

Would you like me to post another 10 -15 links to trucking company's in financial trouble? Maybe you could help them out with your business plan.

Think new trucks don't have problems, read this:http://www.topix.com/forum/autos/freightliner/TNOUHBDEMOD444BFN

 

Delirious Nomad is saying that the pretrip adds to your 14 hour clock. On the speed, he's saying you can't log doing exactly the speed limit, they know you can't maintain that speed. The example he gave you of waiting to get loaded is a mild one. You will have plenty of 4+ hour waits, and there will be times that you will lose an entire day due to the shipping/receiving hours of your customers not lining up, or not having an appointment available.

I don't think anyone has bashed you, you have gotten lots of good advice from people who don't know you from Adam, but feel strongly enough about this to warn you anyway. No amount of optimism is going to make you money trucking.

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." (Proverbs 15:22) Listen to your advisers here and succeed.

 

I dont doubt you one bit here, but for curiosity's sake, I'd be interested in seeing who's about to go under.

 

There are many that have already gone under, the banks don't want the trucks because they have no market ,so they keep running and hoping.

 

I knew that much

 

On the logging 60 in a 65 mph state....... or 50 in 55 etc, etc


Do this little experiment. You live in NJ......record just exactly how long it takes you to go 55 miles on the highway... use all highways, interstate, us and regular state routes that trucks are allowed to take legally(some are restricted routes)...at the posted speed.


Factor in things like traffic at rush hour...toll booths....running in the right lane like a big truck and factor in just how long it takes to get back up to speed after stopping and don't forget scale houses.

Be very honest with yourself and..............

I just bet your average speed is closer to 35 mph than it is to 55.

Do that for 11 hours a day and you'll see just how flawed your mileage figures really are.

No bash.........just reality at work here.

 

Hey Xanix, here is an idea. Once you get your CDL, try calling a couple smaller companies in your area and ask them if they would be willing to allow you to ride along with one of their experienced drivers for a few weeks or a month either free or very cheap so you can get some experience. Basically offer to be a "cheap lumper" for a while to get your feet wet. Maybe they'll let you put a few miles on it and you could use that as "experience" and of course, if they like the way you learned, they may let you stay for a few bucks.

 

challanged credit isnt too big of a deal, as long as there are no recent repo's or foreclosures, you credit cards are up to date, you have a GOOD BP with realistic numbers, and a set plan

heres the kicker though.....the VA does NOT help at all with a business
heres the way around it, since your already looking for the SBA to help, use thier patriot express loan garentee program, provided you were discharged honorably, they cover up to 85% of the loan