No experience but getting Authority

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by That New Guy, Feb 7, 2011.

  1. RedForeman

    RedForeman Momentum Conservationist

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    I and many others here have shared quite a bit already. Really all it takes is to just ask in a fashion that suggests you've already made an effort to figure some things out on your own. Either start a thread or PM someone you think may have an answer once your post count permits it. If you ask something that gets covered 2x a week already, you'll know it LOL.

    OOIDA has an excellent checklist and the sticky posts at the top of the o/o section have most everything you need to get started. "Get started" being the key. Depending on what sort of operation you have, that may be all you need for a while or could just be the tip of the iceberg. Your state DOT may also have a lot of stuff that will help. When I did my new entrant audit (Georgia), they handed me a CD-R with document templates for everything.

    Looks like I missed a few follow ups to this thread before yours, lakeswolf. By a year LOL. Sorry 'bout that.
     
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  3. RedForeman

    RedForeman Momentum Conservationist

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    Thanks for following the thread (if you're still around), despite my obvious neglect with recent updates. I would disagree with my experience being any sort of model for anyone. I've knowingly gone and done this the hardest way possible for very specific motives. Most smart people will have already been employed in the trucking industry for some time to already have an idea of what to expect. Those folks will usually already have some sort of industry inside track to get their truck loaded at first as well. Might be an ex-employer, poached customers, who knows? In any event, the approach I've taken has been enormously more expensive and stressful than at least a couple dozen other accounts of startups that I have read here.

    I started our business to A> employ my son under some difficult circumstances, B> get myself off the corporate i/t hamster wheel for a while at least and C> equip my son for success as something more than being another company driver. That last one is certainly not a knock at company drivers - for all I know that may all he decides to do and that's fine. What he has gotten is a first-hand look at how a carrier operates and what it takes to stay in business. If he carries that to a company job, it will only improve his odds of success, possibly even opening doors that don't involve a seat with a steering wheel in front of it. This is sort of in keeping with the previous response I just posted and how I do things. I will gladly give anyone the tools to make their own success but I will not just do it for them.

    The c-corp is not what you think either. I've got no illusions of lawsuit insulation or the like. I did it as part of a strategy to fund my startup with 401k savings and avoid taking a penalty for doing so. Only a c-corp can administer a 401k plan. It's a risky thing to do and comes with a few strings attached. So not for everybody. If you want to learn more, use your favorite search engine a read up on "Roll Over Business Startup." The only thing I will add is: don't consider this unless you have substantial 401k savings to work with ($100k+) and aren't afraid to lose it.
     
  4. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    Interesting . The OP makes one post and disappears . 2 years and 40 pages later the thread lives on .
     
  5. crackinwise

    crackinwise Medium Load Member

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    Just finished reading all 40 pages from start to "end". End being in quotes because the thread seems to be continuing on from here. First let me say thank you Red for hijacking and letting all of us virtually ride along in the sleeper and observe the ups and downs of starting a carrier operation from square one. Awesome work and detailed posts have given all of us an inside look at what it takes to get started in this super competitive, highly regulated, capital intensive business.

    I have read other threads that were similar and they all have the similar endings, the driver stops posting or announces an exit from trucking for some reason and thats that! I sort of figured that would be the case here as well but here we are two years later and I think it is safe to say you have a successful business at least in the terms that you are still operating and not going broke. Might not be a millionaire but its great to see growth and some level of comfort in your operation. Congrats!

    Its funny because I am planning to do the same thing in the future. I am an ex driver from there I became a firefighter 18 yrs ago and I am now eyeing retirement. I can hopefully get there soon and the plan is to get my authority and start a carrier (flatbeds for me). I also intend to put my son in a truck if I can get him to see the forest through the trees and get some focus on a career path. The similar circumstances of this thread was the draw for me to keep reading and Im glad I did. I learned more from Red and all the other posters here then I could have in any paid for program or business course. I still have about two more years until retirement but that will be filled with due diligence and furhter research so I can get to the point of having a comprehensive business plan and all the tools I need for success going forward.

    Thank you all again for all this information I hope this thread will continue long into the future because it is just as enjoyable as it is informative. When I get closer to starting my journey back into trucking I plan to do the same thing as Red and start a thread and share my experience so I can sort of pay it forward and maybe help someone else looking to get started after me.
     
    Last edited: May 1, 2013
  6. RedForeman

    RedForeman Momentum Conservationist

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    Thanks for your post. I've observed the same thing, and it's no surprise. Nobody is proud of failure. Additionally, I've found (and heard much the same from others) that those first setbacks you encounter seem to be a big enough deal that you write up the details. As you gain experience and lose even more money to those routine things you discover along the way, you learn that what you thought was exceptional was actually not so much. That's the cost of not having experience in the first place. Everyone goes through it to some degree. It's that moment you realize that your months (years?) of spreadsheet planning really was clueless.

    With regards to success, I suppose you could say that since we're still in business after two years and have accomplished what we set out to do in the first place, then yes. The reality is that we're hanging on by a thread. I refuse to post that level of detail because I really don't care for the peanut gallery harping on what I already know first hand. It's been easily twice the effort I expected at the beginning, and that turn-around point where we expect to start seeing revenue exceed costs keeps getting slid out a little further. It's very hard to deal with mentally. Things that could be handled quite simply with sufficient money turn into 5x more effort and humility when you don't have it. Every little setback is magnified, since it's all on you. To be honest, after spending 7 days a week stressing over payroll deadlines, fuel funding, cash flow, tax filings, and whatnot, I really have lost the enthusiasm to post a lot of day to day detail that once seemed sort of important and relevant. Honestly it would take more time than I have to keep up with it, and probably add to the frustration that's already there.

    All I'm going to add is what's been said thousands of times already. It's not just a lot of hard work, it's more mentally challenging than anything. Booking loads and driving, whether you do both or not, is the easy part. Running the business is where the pain is and where your success will ultimately come from. Or not.
     
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  7. crackinwise

    crackinwise Medium Load Member

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    Im grateful for what is already posted. I imagine keeping up with this thread with details is like having a second job after dealing with all the issues of day to day operations. You have given enough to this forum so I dont think anyone would hold it against you if you sat back and and just followed the trials and tribulations of others. I hope you are still around lurking when I get my O/O thread going sometime in the future although it might make you relive some of the things that drove you crazy with your own business...lol.

    You might be hanging on by a thread but you are hanging on, the longer you hang in there the greater your chances of being there long term. Im a fan!
     
  8. wichris

    wichris Road Train Member

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    A review of the last few days. A 2011 KW goes down(derated)for emissions fault. We have 3 year unlimited miles towing for major and emissions,so no problem. 1351.00 for about 60 miles seemed a little excessive but (we thought) that's KW's problem. Only 30 miles from one of our customers location,they have an MT truck and rent it to us. We've rented back and forth over the years. Truck has an EZ pass so the driver calls 3 others(why call the office?)to ask how he should do the tolls. Of course they all say run the cash lane. Isn't what he wants to hear so he runs the toll road from PA to WI,charging it to our customer. Unloads,reloads back and takes the truck back to the customer. Tells them what a piece of crap it is and how he would never haul there product. That goes over real well with them. Gets a ride from one of our O/O's,wants them to run all over so he can do some shopping and gets mad when they won't. Gets to KW,the sensor is warranty but is not considered emissions so we get to pay the towing. Two days later the customer calls screaming about not paying for the tolls. After i get off the phone with him KW calls and asks for payment on the other work. What work was that? The ones the driver told them to do. Everything he said to check they found no problems with. Only another 501.00. Oh yes,he was loading back to the yard,couldn't wait a day and a half.

    And now it's another week.So far so good. Want to start a company and have drivers,get used to it.
     
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  9. kw600

    kw600 Road Train Member

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    Shouldn't you be having a nice little chat with mr.ithinkirunthisplace?
     
  10. wichris

    wichris Road Train Member

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    I wouldn't really call it a nice chat. When you have a lot of employees you have to learn to take the good with the bad.
     
  11. Wings2Wheels

    Wings2Wheels Medium Load Member

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    It's too bad the days of taking a guy like that behind the woodshed are pretty much over.

    I had a commanding officer who said 5% of his troops were 95% of his problem.

    I was always for eliminating that 5%...
     
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