Need Owner Op advice!

You may not need $40,000 to start out if you are leased to you current carrier, but I don't think $13k is enough to cover it either. It's a money problem first, last and always. You can stay in business forever if you have an infinite amount of money to cover any eventuality or emergency, but if you are down to the point where one major tow bill and breakdown repair puts you out of business you're really rolling the dice and playing with fate. Some are very lucky and get away with it. Many don't.

You will be upset if you sink all that money into it to get started and things go okay for a few months until something bad happens and you are forced to park the truck or let it get repossessed and have to go begging for your company job back. You need enough capital to stay afloat if things go off the rails a little bit. There was a thread back in December where a guy got stuck in a hotel room for a month with a blown up motor and no revenue coming in. Think about it...how much money would it take to get you out of that little pickle? More than $4 grand I can guarantee that.

 

My opinion differs from others here. If Moore pays weekly and gives you a fuel card you’ll have money coming in within two weeks.

This last truck I bought I put $45k down out of the $50k I had in my truck savings account. I got a fuel card where I pull for and started trucking. Money coming in within two weeks.

Just check the truck out good and make sure it’s not a dud.

 

find a pre egr def truck and u elimate that quagmire ..make sure loads are steady year round not sbject to economy riffs

 

If your lucky it might work ... maybe .

How long before you see any money from Moore..? And will they sell you fuel/ shop time at a discount...?

The odds are long tho .....

By the way I started with a new truck and nothing in my pocket..... but times were different then......

 

Not to sugar coat it, why now?

You've been driving for a bit, waiting a little longer won't hurt.

We have still an overcapacity that has suppressed rates, we are finally seeing faiiure rates rising that will cut capacity, and we will see another economy jump after this corona virus stuff is over.

Save your money, cut back as much as you can to bank more coin.

Rebuild your credit score and leverage that for a loan.

Take your time looking for a truck, a lot will come on the market as time goes on.

 

Especially starting out running a 300-500k emissions truck, that would make me a little nervous.

I agree though the 300k one for a little bit more down and a few more payments would be the better choice. And I would also go for a Paccar truck over anything else so the T680 is a good idea, preferably with a Cummins 15 liter and an Eaton manual gearbox. If Lone Mountain will put new tires on it, replace the DPF unit, maybe even do fresh brake shoes, you should be alright for awhile. I think they maybe even offer a short warranty on their deals, but you still would want to take it to Cummins and have them dyno it, pull an oil sample, check the blow-by and all that stuff.

But if I were you I'd shelve that idea for another 6-12 months and save more money. You'd barely have enough left over to keep fuel in it for two weeks before your first settlement rolled in.

 

Then you havent got much to lose. Its essentially a rented truck. If SHTF just give it back and take the credit hit, not much chance of equity lost if you stand to recover your entire savings in first months of driving. Its not like your score will go down much further and so what if it does. I went bankrupt and lost 2 houses, moved into a camper out in the woods and am happier. Money and credit scores dont mean as much as people like to think.

Theres always going back to company driver if it bombs. I say give it a go.

 

Well i know everybody will tell u to wait and save more money , but dude, just frickin do it. U will regret it if u dont. Its a great experience to learn along the way. If ur company pays u after u send in POD or if they pay u weekly then go for it, u can bank money real quick. As long as u check out the truck real good. Some of these guys over exaggerate these new trucks . These things do not blow up randomly, if u take care of them they will last just as long as an old dinasoar truck . The newer the better, they have figured out these emissions systems pretty well within the last couple years. Get a good check on it, and u already have the freight , which in my opinion is the biggest hurdle. Just go for it , and good luck to u.