Hey I am wondering what type of pay per mile I should accept if I became an owner operator. I have a bunch of questions and it would mean a lot to me if people would give me some thoughtful answers based on their personal real life experiences. Some of them are How much can an owner operator get paid per mile? What expenses will I have that the company I drive for won't pay for? What will they pay for? Insurance? Basically, if a company came to me and said we will pay you $2/mile for all loads and I can get you 3000 miles a week, is that good? Would it still be good if they offered me $1.6 per mile?
Not sure what you could expect leased on with a carrier but if you have your own authority, you can't turn a profit for less than $2 per mile if you're making payments on equipment. Right now things are pretty good on the spot market in many areas, but other times it's tough getting that $2 per mile you need so badly.
Everybody is different we all have different expenses regarding truck payment, insurance, child support, and on and on and on. Only you know(well SHOULD KNOW) what pay you need to make to make your business profitable. Quite honestly, and really not trying to be a dick here, but if you're asking that kind of question you probably shouldn't be starting up your own business.....
You should do a cost per mile analysis for your operation to include your fixed , variable, daily, weekly, monthly and annual expenses. Google "cost per mile" spread sheet,and use a free one. No way you should not know what it costs to turn the key.Only with that knowledge will you know if what a customer is offering you is acceptable or not.
With the FSC right now i do $1.63 all miles and get around 3k miles a week sometimes even 4k.. Works out good for me because i only pay $200 a month in insurance No trailer fee's. I Sometimes get to deadhead 500 miles and get the same pay Fuel discounts.. Only you can really answer how much you can run for though.
I would say I can be poor sitting at home doing nothing instead Of having to work for it. Getting paid by the mile is a scam, figure out costs/profit and bid the load, or work by the hour. why the hell do you want to do 3,000 miles a week? To wear parts out quicker?
