New Owner Operator needs guidance

Why would you expect the driver to sign a 1 year contract? How would it benefit him? Are you planning on paying him 1099 or W2? Are you using DAC and PSP etc?

You should have planned your maintenance costs BEFORE you decided to buy the truck.

Trucking industry goes in cycles, some years rates are high and you can make a profit pretty easily, other times you are just trying to pay the bills keep the truck maintained without going broke, guess which is happening right now?

Steady dispatch means nothing if they are steadily setting you up with crap loads you dont make money on, yeah, it might be steady, but you will be going broke steadily.

Why do you even think its a good idea to get into the business when you have 0 experience?

If you really want to play trucker, get a CDL, and be a trucker.

 

You're setting yourself up to fail. The rates nowadays for OO won't afford a driver. IMO

 

I suspect the OP is also a wealthy Nigerian Prince...

 

You can but you won't get anything good.

Drivers in this industry - better said GOOD drivers in this industry are not easy to find. These are the professionals who don't look at the bottom line as an indication of a good job to do and when you find someone, it is very hard to keep them.

A contract for a driver is useless as an at will employment situation. If you have a personal services contract, then there is something that can be used but it won't attract the driver you need.

It isn't just about the experience, it is about the knowledge, those are two different things.

The truck mentioned has a red flag, the milaege. It matters that you have it on a dyno and get a blowby. Have a complete all fluid oil analysis done. You get all the records from the manufacturers' dealer who can download the entire history of the work that was done within their system and a complete, not a summary but a complete ECM dump of everything in the ECM which has to be done at the dealer.

THEN you get a mechanic involved.

Month?

Nope per truck as a start up you need $30k in the bank for repairs. That will be eaten away pretty fast if an inspeciton doesn't catch things. YOU WANT the mechanic to find issues, this will give you a little leverage in negotiation of the price of the truck. AND before the truck even gets on the road, everything has to be fixed that he/she finds - on used trucks, I change a lot of parts out, from brakes and drums to water pump to battaries and belts. The A/C is checked and recharged and the cooling system is all flushed with new antifreeze put in it. YOUR GOAL is to make sure that truck's uptime is close to 90%.

Ten times as much - don't even purchase a truck until you have $30k in the bank.

JUST TO ADD TO THIS, I am not saying you need $30k for everything, you need that amount for just the truck. You need 5 to 6 months of operating expenses in the bank, this means starting with Driver's pay, ALL the BILLS and TAXES, YOUR FUEL and so on this is where people get in deep crap about running a fleet, they think they get paid first or see a ROI right away. It may take a year before you are out of the red.

This will be a good time for some of us seeing capacity going down, it should have been lowered by at least 15%.

Define profitable.

Be honest, what is your expected margin?

What is your projected BEP and what do you expect for your ROI?

DO you have a business plan that spells this all out or are you just guessing?


EDIT ---->>>> it is very important to understand the relatinship between a driver and fleet owner. YOU CAN NOT have a driver who is being paid by a 1099 be told what to do or even what loads to take, this is illegal. There are very specific steps you have to take to do this, and it involved a lawyer, contract creation and a clear set of duities between you and the driver to meet.

YOU need to factor in the driver as an EMPLOYEE and this means you better have a good lawyer lookng everything over, be prepared to pay taxes for the driver and so on.

 

Just jump in the deep end, you’ll may be able to get to the shore before the sharks eat you.

 

Noticed he never answered about the 1099 vs W2?

 

yep, this is one of those things where people can think they can get away with it.

I think there is a lawfirm here in Michigan that specializes in misclassification of people in employment and they apparently have good track record of making the former employers pay more than just back wages and taxes.

 

Good way to get the IRS knocking on the door too. And you can bet they dont bring the vaseline either.

 

Go drive your own truck for a coouple of years, everything about your post say's your a fool.
Your spending money on a business you know nothing about, you might as well toss it into a trash can. You my friend have already failed.

 

What are your expectations for monthly profit after all your expenses?