Picking my own freight baby! My journey to & of being on Schneider choice, the Adventure & Numbers!

mxpx148 · Jun 10, 2017

spyder7723 said: ↑

Get a used one on craiglist, trucker groups on facebook or a junkyard. I paid 100 bucks for mine in 1995 and it was on the truck i just traded away last week.
Click to expand...

Good tip...my lease is up in October and I'm starting to weigh out my options. I'm running my best quarter so far avg 1.77/mi ALL odometer miles...ballpark of course, how much more could I figure on avg over there pulling flat?

spyder7723 · Jun 11, 2017

mxpx148 said: ↑

Good tip...my lease is up in October and I'm starting to weigh out my options. I'm running my best quarter so far avg 1.77/mi ALL odometer miles...ballpark of course, how much more could I figure on avg over there pulling flat?
Click to expand...

Really its all up to you. One guy will do 2.40 a mile and another barely breaks 1.60. We all have access to the same loads and see the same load board. I've never figured out why some do great with little effort and others struggle no matter what. Some guys like to quote the fleet average is 12k per month. Screw that. I'm not average. I will never settle for what the average joe makes. No matter what it takes i will put in the effort to blow the average out off the water. This means constantly watching different regions and learning to see trends. One week Ohio will be on fire two weeks later it might be south Carolina. i try to find these hot spots as they are warming up and milk them. April and May were nearly 20k dollar months for me. March would of been if i wasnt so lazy and bound and determined to take over a week off for the truck show. Don't settle for average. As long as you are willing to really put in the effort you can be far above average.

RootHog · Jun 11, 2017

drvrtech77 said: ↑

As far as the fuel discounts...you folks are getting hosed...badly...im getting at least double the discount sni is giving and that's at every major chain...for them to keep that up is wrong in so many ways...
Click to expand...

This has been the case for a long time, and why so many of us went to the NASTC card. Even with the increased discount out west, I am still beating Schneider's prices this week in Arizona and Washington.

TennMan · Jun 11, 2017

Opus said: ↑

bro, you just woke up from your nap to bust drivertech's balls??

Hehehehehe........yeah, you me, and Rickeybobby still getting the shaft.......I'm signing up for food stamps next week....LOL
Click to expand...

I'm still here too.....

And I'm hungry.

ShaggyKat · Jun 11, 2017

Are you still with them..,

freightwipper said: ↑

Before I came here I these Schneider threads for months and also asked many questions.
I saw other drivers pay, saw the load board etc etc.
It's a big commitment to leave a job and go sign a lease for a truck to do something new.
If you look around there really isn't any unhappy Schneider choice drivers nor ones saying they're going broke and in the trucking industry that's saying A LOT! Yeah we including myself might complain about minor things but overall everybody agrees this is a pretty good gig. Seeing all the happy drivers here and seeing for sure I can make money here was the key in giving me the confidence to pull the trigger to come here.
Where else can someone go where they'll lease you a truck.. and you work off a load board picking your own freight, paid on percentage and have endless drop and hook freight??? Nowhere.. it's second to none.
The closest to this program there is you'll find is Landstar but there are differences in that.. the main ones are they won't help you get a truck like Schneider and two while yes there's a load board you're dealing with brokers and speaking to people vs here loads are yours once you click on "assign" and lastly there's a lot more live load/unload freight with set appointment times there vs here.
Not saying Landstar is bad but it's simply different and for some better suiting for them.

As far as trucks go Schneider finance pretty easily will accept you, the main thing they care about in knowing is your living expenses. Credit really doesn't matter to them but if you have a million dollar mortgage and have 7 kids then they won't accept you..
As far as picking a truck.. new vs used.. nice vs basic.. that's different for everybody.
For me a new truck was the way to go. I wanted a warranty and less headaches.. as simple as that.
Yes payments are higher but there's greater risk/reward in a used truck that I didn't want to get involved with.
Money isn't everything.. comfort and peace of mind held a huge factor with me.
Being I spend a lot of time in my truck and want to enjoy it so I went with spending a little more money upfront for a Kenworth which for me is a lot nicer and more comfortable than any other truck I've ever been in.

As far as the numbers go here any new Freightshaker or Kenworth will run you in the $700 range per week for just the truck.
Used trucks are less BUT Schneider makes you pay a larger amount per week into a maintenance account.
As far as fixed costs go new vs used here there isn't that much of a difference.
Schneider does offer a one year lease but only on new and used Cascadias. The purpose of the one year lease is to "see how you like it". Schneider finance wants you to do well and be happy, they won't try to suck you into a longer term lease. Again that's your choice.
After your year is up they won't do another one year lease for you.. 3 years seems to be the norm from what I've seen.
Up front costs are as follows (as of recent)
Used Freightliners are zero down
New Freightliners are $1k down
Those pretty much are company spec trucks as in plain but without the governor.
Used Kenworths are $2k down
New Kenworths are $5k down
They are loaded, 13 speed, refrigerator, APU, power everything etc etc.
When you lease onto Schneider with a new truck they give you a $1,400 bonus into your maintenance account.
So for example the down payment on a new Freightliner pretty much washes out.
$3k of the $5k I put down for my Kenworth is a security deposit which is doubled and returned to me at the end of the term. Or in other words if I walk away after my term I have $6k coming to me along with whatever money is left in my escrow and maintenance accounts.
My fixed costs per week including everything.. tags, insurance, truck, maintenance account etc etc is $1,103 per week. $135 dollars of that is my fixed maintenance fund
If I want to buy the truck after 3 years it'll be $59,000 which I plan on doing regardless of if I keep the truck or not because based on the market I see I could flip it at that point for a profit.
As far as coverall cost.. yes I realize I'm paying a premium by leasing a truck through the company I'm working at. If you have the credit and a big down payment you can get a better deal elsewhere I'm sure.
If you compare me leasing my truck through Schneider and then buying it after 3 years.. vs me going through lonemountain for a Kenworth to buy I'm spending about $20k extra over 5 years by going through Schneider.
For the record the same type of Kenworth from Lonemountain is $14,000 down and $2575 a month for 60 months.
Everybody has different wants and needs for trucks but for someone not wanting a lot of risk, money up front and wanting to test the waters I suggest doing a one year lease on a new Freightliner here.
That $1103 I'm paying is if my truck is moving or not which appears a lot to digest and it is.. it's a commitment for sure. The key obviously is to run well and to good enough to afford time off which isn't as difficult as it might appear.

I'll share a few recent weeks to give an example:

7 days working.. 7 different loads picking up or delivering in the states of VA, PA, OH and IN.
2,098 all miles Revenue was $4,737.62 ($2.25 all miles) fuel used was about $800 that week so my revenue that week after fixed and fuel costs was a little over $2,800

Most recent week I worked 3.5 days out of the week 4 different loads in the states of OH and PA.
1101 all miles, Revenue was $2,534.08 ($2.30 all miles) fuel was about $440 so that week revenue after fixed and fuel costs was about $990.

Those are a couple of my recent weeks.. I had those "good loads" I posted about earlier in the thread. Have the proof if need be. I must say my numbers aren't easy to pull off. I spend a lot of time checking the load board.. as in every time the truck stops Monday-Friday. Real good loads go fast.. many times within seconds and there's only so much hot freight out there. That's not saying you can't do good on longer runs or by preplanning way ahead of time.
I have found only by doing shorter loads and checking the load board a lot can I pull off $2+ all miles at over 2000 miles a week. Short loads however require a lot more planning and a lot more can backfire.
I've seen drivers run solely the Northeast that live there that average $1.80 ish all miles.
Other drivers who go all over doing 3000+ miles a week $1.50-$1.60 all miles.
If you just wanna run run and don't care much about getting the best rate you can easily do so.
With open window drop and hook freight... there's no reason except for you to knock out whatever amount of work that you want to.

To give a conservative idea of a lifestyle you can choose and what that would look like here's an example:
You work 2,800 miles a week 3 weeks at $1.55 all miles and then take one full week off.
Fuel prices now are around $2.80 per gallon and lets say you get 7.5 MPG
2800 X $1.55 $4,340 in revenue.
- fuel $1,045
- fixed costs of $1,100
= $2,195 to you after fixed and fuel costs per week
After 3 weeks you've earned $6,585 before taxes now you take an entire week off..
so that's $6,585 - $1100 = $5,485
Which all in all comes to averaging $1,371 per week or $71,292 per year with taking 25% of the year off work!
What does the run of the mill company OTR driver earn? .40 and 115,000 miles a year? that's $46,000 and you certainly aren't getting that much time off.
Yes you pay higher taxes as an IC but you remember you can really rock out the per diem still.
Point of this was to give an example showing that even though $1,100 in fixed costs might sound scary you can make it work and still do well.. all with the freedom and choice to go and do whatever whenever you want pretty much.
These kinds of examples I ran over and over again in many different aspects and each time I've come to see I can easily earn more money and have more time off vs being a company driver. That in part was another huge reason why I came here.
As far as income goals I have...
When I'm out 7 days as long as I reach $2000 after fixed and fuel costs I'm content and that number hasn't been difficult to reach. My goal every full week is to do $2,500+ which is more difficult but not impossible as I've done so multiple times already.
I mainly run Mid-West and some Northeast but no New England.
Another goal of mine is go exploring the country and running different areas but by doing so I'd be taking a big pay cut which I've been putting off because I wanted to save more money first.
Before winters comes I am going to go to the west coast.. that for sure is going to happen even though rates suck over there.
All in all I am very happy here and there's no place I'd rather be.
I will continue to update my progress, share my adventures and my numbers.
Feel free to ask any questions...
And to all those other Schneider ICs on here.. THANK YOU. Without you I wouldn't be here.
Your sharings and answering of my many questions gave me what I needed to come here myself.

Click to expand...

ShaggyKat · Jun 11, 2017

rickybobby said: ↑

Me too. I have the same problems as everyone else. I'm just to lazy to leave. Choice is not perfect, but it's perfect for me. Lol
Click to expand...

Why perfect for you?

Cat sdp · Jun 11, 2017

spyder7723 said: ↑

Only you know what areas you run. So keep track of what the toll charges would be. The fuel cost is harder to pin down but of you gave a location, or route, I'm sure one of us would share what our cost is at that loacation on that day, and you could compare it to your cost. Bobtail is 20 a month. Physical damage goes by the value of your truck. Mine was 77 a month for both my truck and trailer but just went up quite a bit cause i have a different truck, haven't even pulled a load with it and while the guy that handles insurance told me what the new monthly cost would be i didn't pay much attention to it, it will be on my first settlement and ill memorize the number then. I think it's 30 bucks per 10k in value but don't hold me to that. Plates and permits are either 1750 or 2150 a year, depending on if you want all 48 and Canada, or just the eastern 37 states. Big safety discounts are available starting at the 1 year anniversary. You gotta generate a certain amount of revenue or pull x number of loads to qualify but even my lazy ### gets 300 or 400 discounted. (It maxes at 700 if i remember right, but idk cause I only work part time) Its not much but its a nice attaboy for doing your job right and not hitting anything. As for trailer rental, when i signed on a flat was 425 a month and 100 escrow for 60 months and you get the title. The 6k accumulated escrow covers the buyout. The only money out of pocket will be the title and registration fees. 200ish. The mobile app is 2.75 a month. The elog cost will depend on if you get a qualcomm or a jjkeller. Gonna have to ask one of the new guys what they cost. My keller was 50 bucks and no monthly fee. 1.75 fee to load an advance on your fuel card. No charge to use it for fuel. Cant think of any other costs off the top of my head
Click to expand...

Apportioned plates only come in 48 states these days......, irp did away with just picking what states you want .

48 or bust....

Cat sdp · Jun 11, 2017

radioshark said: ↑

The super coach has landed in Lincoln NE
Click to expand...

I'll guess here

scythe08 · Jun 11, 2017

Cat sdp said: ↑

I'll guess here

View attachment 183488
Click to expand...

And there will be people that defend that

drvrtech77 · Jun 11, 2017

HalpinUout said: ↑

How long was you leased onto them?
Click to expand...

2 yrs... and I had no intentions of ever staying longer than this to begin with my intentions were to go to 100% owner operator company with no company trucks.

Log in or Sign up

Forums

Find Trucking Jobs

Picking my own freight baby! My journey to & of being on Schneider choice, the Adventure & Numbers!

mxpx148 Road Train Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

spyder7723 Road Train Member

RootHog Heavy Load Member

TennMan Road Train Member

ShaggyKat Bobtail Member

ShaggyKat Bobtail Member

Cat sdp . .

Cat sdp . .

scythe08 Road Train Member

drvrtech77 Road Train Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

Log in or Sign up

Useful Searches

Find Trucking Jobs

Picking my own freight baby! My journey to & of being on Schneider choice, the Adventure & Numbers!

mxpx148 Road Train Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!

spyder7723 Road Train Member

RootHog Heavy Load Member

TennMan Road Train Member

ShaggyKat Bobtail Member

ShaggyKat Bobtail Member

Cat sdp . .

Cat sdp . .

scythe08 Road Train Member

drvrtech77 Road Train Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!