o/o all doom and gloom?

I would say to try Lonestar and you can choos your own loads. Also,check with OOIDA and your state trucking agencies for insurance.

 

???? Lonestar ??? can you be more specific i haven't found them in my search. Thanks

 

I think he means Landstar. that who you get to choose your own loads with.

if he did mean Lonestr then they are a flatbed company based out of TX here. they do allot of those oversize wind turbines and things like that and just general flatbed

 

Ooooops. I did mean Landstar. I had just been reading about the new Lonestar truck..............Sorry.

 

NOW FIRST OF ALL YOU WILL NEVER HERE ME SAY DON'T BE AN OWNER OPERATOR. i are one and wouldn't do anything else, its all Ive ever done and i manage to eat every day.

BUT a lot of what you read on this and other post are true , ain't nothing easy about it. can you make money sure you can but you can make money at a gas station. making money is not the problem but can you make enough money there lies the problem.

now you will here guys say your better off with a new truck so you don't have to work on it or pay a mechanic to fix it, well if your lazy and don't want to work or get greasy you don't want to drive a truck let alone own one and even the new ones break down only problem is with a new one its a lot harder to work on them and your warranty doesn't mean a thing if your along side the road and the thing wont run.

now i can only tell you how i do it but it works for me and it may not work for you and at times it is a double barrel ##### but thats being a truck driver, a owner operator, can you do it ? HELL YES but not without a lot of work.

some things you need to consider, do you really want or need that new truck? now your truck payment will be between 1500 and 1800 a month on top of that you have insurance and permits and tags and much more BUT YOU WILL LOOK GOOD , then everybody seems to tell you the best thing to do is lease to a good company, well OK say you lease to that good company, you have to pull there trailer and haul there freight never mind what it pays, there going to charge 36 to 40% of your revenue to pull there trailer yeah there a good company and there going to take care of you. WRIGHT. just how much money you think your going to pull in every week? NOT MUCH. NOW REMEMBER YOU ALREADY HAVE AN 1800 DOLOR TRUCK PAYMENT. and it has to be made.

my point is why would you buy a truck that cost you 100.000 plus then pay a GOOD COMPANY 40% of your revenue to haul for 90 cent a mile freight and pull there trailer, my calculator doesn't work like that. compared to a tractor a trailer is cheap and that is where your money is at being pretty doesn't pay a thing.
now a financed company will finance a new truck easier BUT not because there doing you a favor , its because they no there going to repo it and they can resell it a lot easier and make more money when they do.

now enough of the bad, now what I'm about to tell you I'm going to get a lot of comments from the experts saying I'm nuts and there right I'm as crazy as a loon BUT Ive been that way for over 45 years and still going strong.

i have 5 tractors on the road and just bought number six, its in the yard getting ready for the road its a 1990 extended hood Pete with a cat engine and an 18 spd with a 285 inch wheel base, now i payed a lot of money for that old truck 7000.00 and its mine , and that by the way is my newest truck.

now i pull step deck trailers and i have five of them i do heavy haul and there all mine and every one of them makes money and yes i cry all the way to the bank. do i have to work hard ? o you bet and my drivers work hard its a never ending process if your going to be in this business your going to have to work to stay in it and i don't mind telling you it is hard work.

the thing about drivers today is they don't want to work they want to look good, and you will look good in that new truck you will look ever so neat in that air ride seat with all them payments BUT for how long and when the finance company comes to get it it will hurt you bad. the thing that puts an owner operator out of business quicker then anything else is overhead you just cant have a high overhead and pull freight for 90 cents a mile and thats what most are hauling for today is 90 cents per mile in particular if your leased to a company and out of that you have to pay to pull there trailer BUT there a good company.

now would i tell you not to buy a truck? absolutely not will i tell you not to nut a new one you bet i would ,an older truck will make more money then a new one and i mean clear money BUT YOU DO HAVE TO WORK and that much depends on you and how bad you want to be in business only you can decide that.

consider this, i can buy a tractor and a trailer and all the insurance and permits and tag and authority and have it ready to roll for 25000.00 bought and payed for , no payments, can you buy a new one for that? i don't think so. and when you start running , when you pull into a truck stop for coffee you don't have to wonder if a finance company is out in the lot repoing the truck.

now your going to hear a lot tell that the dot will pull you in for inspection if they see and old truck i ask you, so what he doesn't care how old it is he wants to make sure it is safe and in compliance and let me tell you when my old trucks get inspected and they pass the inspection kinda makes me feel pretty #### good, you just got to make the old truck right before you put it on the road and though it a pain to do it it has to be done. and if i can do it so can you. and if you do it think of all the money you just saved hell you can even take momma out to dinner.

YOU don't have to have a new truck to be an owner operator and you don't have to lease to a company either BUT if your not going to lease you do have to have your own trailer.

now you do have to watch what you buy when your buying a truck, don't buy one that is older then 1985 since then most engines have been engineered and have vast improvements and it is nothing to have over a million miles on one that has been taken care of the key is taken care of , clean oil and a lot of grease is cheap .

now i have my own authority and its true you have some paper work to do and its true you take a lot lot of risk BUT thats what you have insurance for , with authority you can haul direct for a company or if you don't happen to have a customer you can haul for a broker you don't have to sit much.AND i cant speak for everyone but i don't haul a buck a mile freight ain't gonna happen period of course if your equipment is payed for you don't have to either.

the point is you can find gloom and doom in everything you do in particular the trucking business these guys go off in all different directions and do their own thing what ever they feel is right for them some make it and some don't and only time will tel if they make it or not but remember this the driver that sits in the truck stop bragging about his shiny new truck just wait till next year and see if he is still in business not many will be .

a lot of drivers and owner operators are unemployed today and more are falling buy the way side and if that creates doubt good it should BUT if you stand back and look and listen you will find out why there in that position.

plan your business and then do your plan don't get in a hurry, while your planning find out where you can get your loads have all that done before you buy the truck then when you get a truck your ready to roll and above all don't haul freight for 90 cents that is plain nuts you cant make money just paying for fuel.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL and yes by god you can do it .

southernpride -----traveling hells highway