owner operator in desperate need of help

Check out Long Haul Trucking in Albertville, MN. They're about 77 miles from Sauk Centre. Excellent equipment, and they take both company and o/o drivers. (longhaultrucking.com)

 

I checked the website; looks real good and they have fancy looking Petes with APU's.

 

OP if you haven't been driven off yet. Go back to the shop and talk with them. Explain your situation. SOME not ALL but SOME shops are willing to work with you on bills and let you make payments on what you owe. Not everybody is out to acrew us over, if everybody else has turned you down its worth a shot. Offer to arrange that a small portion of each load be sent directly to them anything to get the truck back if you have to.

I know where you are coming from, I know its difficult to swallow your pride at times and ask for help, but sometimes that is what you have to do. If its all on the line and everybody else has already said no to helping you out, the worst they can say is no which you've already heard from everybody else. Its worth a shot.

 

I hate to be negative here but....you say you owe 22k on a truck valued at 45k, which needs a rear....SELL THE TRUCK!!!! Sell it as is, where is. Pay off the note and anything else with whatever may be left. Find a good paying local job (they ARE out there), keep momma and daughter happy and warm while you get outta debt. Then after you are debt free, pursue your dream...I as a husband and father would rather lose a piece of steel and plastic any day over potentially being homeless and cold.
I truly feel bad for ya, and I'm sure you had the best intentions, but it simply didn't work out this time. Now you've learned what NOT to do next time.. Good luck

 

Bt reading this it looks like the truck is repaired and a bill is waiting to be paid before the truck is let go. If true, I would not have let any work be completed until I had explored all options as far as cost and how it was to be paid.

Sometimes you just have to know when to call it quits. It leave a bad taste in your mouth, but it happens. Many years ago I paid three years for a truck after I lost it because I owed the money. It hurt me financiaqlly and it hurt my pride. At the time I had to lose it I had no choice, but I did what I considered what was right, and paid what I owed even though I didn't own the truck any more.

It wasn't the bank's fault the truck was a lemon, the company I leased to went out owing me a lot of money, and in between my wife left me with all the bills. Crap happens. It's what you do when it does that determines your character.

 

Whats more important. Your family being under a roof and fed, or being on the road a cpl weeks at a time until things are under control. Get your priorities straight. There has been a lot of good advice given. Take it or stop asking, stop looking for the easy way out.

 

Given your current situation., you may be better off cutting your losses and becoming a company driver. As an O/o you always need 10k ready for a problem like this. If you cant put that kind of money aside, then maybe you need to purchase a less expensive truck. With a 500 credit score, your not in a good position to ask for favors from the banks. Your best option may be to become company driver and try a less expensive truck next time you decide to go O/O. A less expencive truck will allow you to have a bigger emergency fund.

It a tough choice, but if you cant get the banks to loan you more money, your kind of SOL

 

Ask about converting to a 6x2. It may be cheaper to get rid of the bad dif and power divider and install the longer drive shaft. You could then sell the power divider on ebay or something. I'm not sure about the cost, but it might be an option.