Needing advice on getting into trucking...

Wow! You have a lot to learn! Actually fuel is another $600-800 every 24hours of running. Fuel is going to be your biggest overhead! Your truck payment, insurance and permits are going to be about $1000 a week. That is pretty average. This does not include tolls, fuel, food, breakdowns, maintenance, hell just a truck wash once a week is $100! Let's see what else, scales (usually three a week) tickets, accountant (about 100 a month) truck parking (80-100 a month) showers, hotels, rent a car, health insurance.

Trust me, you are just as well off to by a plane right now as opposed to being an owner operator.

 

Actually if for any reason you do not believe me, somewhere in the Central Refrigerated threads someone was posting their pay stubs as lease driver and you will see everything I mentioned in writing on his pay stubb.

 

Oh man, didn't mean to sound sarcastic! I will be glad to answer any question you have. Sometimes I will joke but none the less I will give you the facts. I was an owner operator for quite awhile and I gotta tell you that it is tough! The best thing you can for yourself is to be a company driver for a couple of years and while you are driving and saving money keep track of everything as if you were an owner operator and see how you do. Some companies have additional cost too, like Prime makes their owner ops pay for reefer fuel! So make sure you incorporate everything into your biz plan. Save as much money as you can. Two or three breakdowns in a week can put you out of business. It happens too!

 

I have checked some of these lease programs that carriers offer. There are more costs than just a payment. It isn't uncommon for a lease operator to spend $800/week for the lease. If you run solo you should burn about 100-120 gallons of fuel a day at 6 mpg. A team should easily double that amount. At $3/gallon it really mounts up.

There is a difference between a lease operator and an owner operator. A lease operator leases or rents a truck from his carrier and will rarely own it. Some do have a payout at the end, but most only rent a truck to the driver. With most leases the driver is actually paying for the carrier's truck and associated expenses while the carrier makes out like a bandit. Should you decide to leave the carrier you usually will not be able to take the truck with you.

An owner operator either pays cash for his truck or finances it. He can take the truck wherever he wants and at any time. He is not permanently tied to any carrier. You can buy a truck with about 20% down, depending on your credit. I would not have a payment over $800-1,000/month. It isn't that you can't make a larger payment, but if you don't want to work to make a truck payment you need to keep monthly payments low and affordable. I have never had a truck payment over $1,200/month. I doubt that I will have any more truck payments.

If you want to be an owner operator you need to know something about what it takes to operate a truck. You should know what it will cost to breakeven. I would not rely totally on a carrier who is trying to push a lease on new drivers. Starting out you really don't have the experience or knowledge that you need to objectively analyze the business side of ownership. I suggest you drive for a year or two to get some real world experience. While you drive, get yourself a ring binder and track every expense that is associated with your truck. Track fuel, tires, breakdowns and any other expenses that are incurred. It will give you a much better idea of what it will take if you were the one writing the checks.

While you are driving someone else's truck start a savings account. Make a commitment of putting a minimum amount back out of each paycheck. Call it your truck savings account. You should have a decent down payment saved in a year or two. If you only save $100/week you will have over $5,000 saved in only a year. If you could double that you might be able to pay cash for a good used truck in a year or two. It is a great feeling to own a truck that is free and clear.

The basics of owning a truck are pretty simple. Surviving and making a profit, especially in a down economy is a challenge. Take your time. Learn all you can. You may find that you don't really want to own a truck. You can earn a very good living driving for most carriers. In a couple of years you should be earning over $40,000/yr. as a company driver. That is a pretty good paycheck. You don't have to be an owner operator in order to be successful in this business. There are many successful company drivers. If you get into one of the more specialized areas of the business you could be earning in excess of $75,000-120,000/year. It will take a few years to get to that level, but it is possible. Most seasoned drivers should be in the $45-55,000/yr.

 

There are successful O/O's but you need to know the industry off the back ofyour hand. Focus on becoming a successful Company Driver for a few years. Prime will like you to work for them either way.

As far as home time, you will be OTR, dont expect much...

 

where did i say i was unhappy? Im ok where im at. Im talking about the lowest of the low trucking companies.