Owner Operator with a new truck

id prefer to win the lottery buy me a show truck and a house trailer and a riding mower with a bottle holder

 

500,000 to get started? A trailer brand new (dry van)you can get for under 20,000. A truck you can get for around 115 to 130000. Getting insurance tags etc etc. About 5000.00 unless you pay insurance all at once which is around 10,000.00 a year. So 500,000.00 can get you about 4 new trucks, trailers and you operating authority..Give or take.... lol

 

I would not touch a "newer" truck without DEF. the 08-11 trucks with just DPF are a huge crap shoot. I had a new 11 Crapcadia and it was a nightmare. My 13 Volvo with def has been very trouble free. Absolute no after treatment issues whatsoever.

 

Lease to a good carrier such as Mercer or landstar. nothing wrong with guys running their own authority, but it's a steep learning curve so why not stack the deck in your favor by partnering with a solid company with good paying steady freight.

After you've learned a few things and gotten your feet wet, you can always get your own numbers if you still want them.

As others have said tho, drive fur someone else first, then buy your own one you have gotten the rookie mistakes out of the way

 

Learn how to run a business first. Learn how borrowing money works, how to find and buy a truck and how to account for the money.

Get into good habits about dividing up the incoming monies and how to stay away from it when you think you deserve something.

Lease onto a carrier, I make a lot more money by shedding the back office stuff that I did when I ran under one authority and had to do the paper work.

Don't get emotional about the truck, drop the idea of having something cool that won't put more money into your pocket.

I learned that many who jump into this without thinking and with the idea of making big bucks often fail and as I don't like to see people fail, it may be the best thing for the industry.

 

If you do decide to drive for somebody else first...assuming you have no otr experience?...and assuming that your main goal is to get your own truck at some point... I would suggest finding a company that will hire and train on whatever type of equipment you want to own..and... look for a company that pays percentage if possible. That does two things. First, they generally better pay, I'm told. Second, working on percentage you should see more of the actual rates giving you a better education on how the rates work, different rates from one geographic area to another, etc. I know there are a few percentage carriers in flatbed and I think tanker that train, not sure about others.

 

Dreams don't always line up with reality. getting a job driving someone else's truck let's you find out if the reality matches the dream. If this turns out to be false, it will be a lot easier to move on without the large cash investment.