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

freightwipper · Aug 14, 2015

dieselfuelonly said: ↑

I'm a little confused by your post, in the first part you say that it would be your husband running solo, but in the second part you mention buying two trucks (both running solo?), and also mention teaming. Kinda confused on which one you're really looking at.

Are you going to be buying your own truck from a private party/dealer or leasing one from Schneider Finance?

I gather from your post that your bills are pretty significant due to purchases made when your combined income was around 140k a year.

The sign-on bonus should be the absolute last thing to consider. Remember, it's just an incentive to draw you in.

Do either of you have previous owner/op experience? In another thread of yours you mentioned the following:

Honestly, I think in a situation like that, leasing a truck is just a recipe for disaster. Especially since you're considering going from two incomes down to one.

Sure you read on here about how much some bring home, but remember, that's a tiny tiny fraction of the drivers and by absolutely NO means an average. There have been several that were chomping at the bit to do this whole lease/purchase thing with Schneider because they viewed it as a means to work their way out of some debt. A large number of those crashed and burned because on top of trying to dig out of a hole they were trying to juggle running a business, booking loads, maintaining a truck, and trying to balance their life at home with life in the sleeper cab of a truck. Doing all of that while setting a bar of "I _have_ to bring home this amount per month" may very well be difficult.

There are some couples that do the whole "one drives and one searches for loads" deal, but it doesn't work for everyone. I know one driver that tried the same thing with his wife, and it ended up being more difficult than originally thought because keeping everything in sync was incredibly difficult. While the driver can look at a load and tell if he can do it within his available hours off the top of his head, communicating the same thing to another person can be difficult, especially when loads can come and go on the load board in a matter of minutes. Not to mention the fact that a load may look great on paper, but whoever is driving knows it's either a crappy customer, a crappy route, or they just don't want to go to so and so place and then it's back to the drawing board for both.

I can't offer any insight on the team stuff as I have no experience with it nor have I spoken with any contractors that are on the team board.

Good luck with whatever you choose. It's a decent program and there is money to be made, just be smart and don't get lured in too easily.
Click to expand...

I pretty much agree with everything here.
Would like to add/reiterate that leasing a truck and running a show is a LOT of responsibility, requires commitment and having a solid game plan based on hopefully lots of research and continued willingness to learn.

TDFair · Aug 15, 2015

dieselfuelonly said: ↑

I'm a little confused by your post, in the first part you say that it would be your husband running solo, but in the second part you mention buying two trucks (both running solo?), and also mention teaming. Kinda confused on which one you're really looking at.

Are you going to be buying your own truck from a private party/dealer or leasing one from Schneider Finance?

I gather from your post that your bills are pretty significant due to purchases made when your combined income was around 140k a year.

The sign-on bonus should be the absolute last thing to consider. Remember, it's just an incentive to draw you in.

Do either of you have previous owner/op experience? In another thread of yours you mentioned the following:

Honestly, I think in a situation like that, leasing a truck is just a recipe for disaster. Especially since you're considering going from two incomes down to one.

Sure you read on here about how much some bring home, but remember, that's a tiny tiny fraction of the drivers and by absolutely NO means an average. There have been several that were chomping at the bit to do this whole lease/purchase thing with Schneider because they viewed it as a means to work their way out of some debt. A large number of those crashed and burned because on top of trying to dig out of a hole they were trying to juggle running a business, booking loads, maintaining a truck, and trying to balance their life at home with life in the sleeper cab of a truck. Doing all of that while setting a bar of "I _have_ to bring home this amount per month" may very well be difficult.

There are some couples that do the whole "one drives and one searches for loads" deal, but it doesn't work for everyone. I know one driver that tried the same thing with his wife, and it ended up being more difficult than originally thought because keeping everything in sync was incredibly difficult. While the driver can look at a load and tell if he can do it within his available hours off the top of his head, communicating the same thing to another person can be difficult, especially when loads can come and go on the load board in a matter of minutes. Not to mention the fact that a load may look great on paper, but whoever is driving knows it's either a crappy customer, a crappy route, or they just don't want to go to so and so place and then it's back to the drawing board for both.

I can't offer any insight on the team stuff as I have no experience with it nor have I spoken with any contractors that are on the team board.

Good luck with whatever you choose. It's a decent program and there is money to be made, just be smart and don't get lured in too easily.
Click to expand...

We went from two incomes to one in 08/14 and if he can make 60k a year net we would be fine. Sorry for the confusion.

I would prefer if he were driving solo, but if we have to, we will run teams to get the financing from schneider. At least the duration of the lease.

I think the lady at sfi finance looked at the ap wrong because she said something about a 19000 payment, which we don't have.

As far as helping pick the freight, he and I are both experienced drivers. We have hauled smooth bore tankers, oversize loads, flatbed and can both run a winch truck. We do not, however have box truck experience but I think it will be a smooth transition. I am excellent at time management and logistics, mostly because I prefer to spend my money on us than wasted fuel, I even route my errands to avoid backtracking.

By following all of you guys on your journey I've learned it's not a good idea to book too far ahead and I have a pretty good understanding of the best places to run to stay busy. And since we live so close to some of the major shipping hubs getting him home shouldn't be too difficult.

Now if we run teams, it will be a whole new ballgame because no one is talking about it on here. I'm not sure if that means they are too busy or if they follow the whole "if you don't have anything nice to say" motto...
The only other question I have is about the home time. Can he bobtail home in his truck or will we have to leave it at an OC somewhere?

drvrtech77 · Aug 15, 2015

TDFair said: ↑

We went from two incomes to one in 08/14 and if he can make 60k a year net we would be fine. Sorry for the confusion.

I would prefer if he were driving solo, but if we have to, we will run teams to get the financing from schneider. At least the duration of the lease.

I think the lady at sfi finance looked at the ap wrong because she said something about a 19000 payment, which we don't have.

As far as helping pick the freight, he and I are both experienced drivers. We have hauled smooth bore tankers, oversize loads, flatbed and can both run a winch truck. We do not, however have box truck experience but I think it will be a smooth transition. I am excellent at time management and logistics, mostly because I prefer to spend my money on us than wasted fuel, I even route my errands to avoid backtracking.

By following all of you guys on your journey I've learned it's not a good idea to book too far ahead and I have a pretty good understanding of the best places to run to stay busy. And since we live so close to some of the major shipping hubs getting him home shouldn't be too difficult.

Now if we run teams, it will be a whole new ballgame because no one is talking about it on here. I'm not sure if that means they are too busy or if they follow the whole "if you don't have anything nice to say" motto...
The only other question I have is about the home time. Can he bobtail home in his truck or will we have to leave it at an OC somewhere?
Click to expand...

Yes he can BT home...you're not a co. Driver....

TDFair · Aug 15, 2015

HalpinUout said: ↑

Whats the gross and net of someone who has been here for a year? Running area? Anyone? PM me if you don't want to let the world know...[/QU
Click to expand...

HalpinUout said: ↑

Whats the gross and net of someone who has been here for a year? Running area? Anyone? PM me if you don't want to let the world know...
Click to expand...

Read this thread from the beginning, also Tennman, DFO, Sadwar and Jarhead all have threads on the good bad and ugly of the IC program. But as they say - results may vary...

Dogals right foot · Aug 15, 2015

I agree with DFO..if you HAVE to gross 5k to the house it may be a recipe for failure.
Lots of factors with determine how much you will make from day to day,week to week.
More than likely it CAN be done..but there's always those days where everything goes to hell.

Teaming will generate more income but also more maintenance and fuel costs.

SFI always gives you the low to medium amount you can POSSIBLY earn..take that for what it is..a warning.

I wish you both the best of luck.

TDFair · Aug 15, 2015

drvrtech77 said: ↑

Yes he can BT home...you're not a co. Driver....
Click to expand...

LOL, that's right.

freightwipper · Aug 15, 2015

Hmm well I don't think this has been said but if someone doesn't have money in the bank (or not much), is living near paycheck to paycheck DO NOT lease a truck.

I'll give an example why even though I got a new truck at 30k miles my clutch crapped out which sure the Eaton warranty covered but that alone put my truck in the shop for a week and me in a hotel.
That's zero income and I'm in the hole $1,500 for the week when you factor in everything.
Point is anything can happen and costs don't stop when you do.

However unlike being a company driver when I want to I can go out.. work my behind off and I can make a lot of money.
There's risk/reward in all choices and that's something everybody has to weigh for themselves.

PoleCrusher · Aug 15, 2015

If you need to net 60k to the house, you will need to net 90k+ to the truck.

That's a lot of pressure here.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Running two trucks would be better financially. But plan on being apart the first 3 to 6 months, until you learn the customers and freight lanes.

drvrtech77 · Aug 15, 2015

freightwipper said: ↑

Hmm well I don't think this has been said but if someone doesn't have money in the bank (or not much), is living near paycheck to paycheck DO NOT lease a truck.

I'll give an example why even though I got a new truck at 30k miles my clutch crapped out which sure the Eaton warranty covered but that alone put my truck in the shop for a week and me in a hotel.
That's zero income and I'm in the hole $1,500 for the week when you factor in everything.
Point is anything can happen and costs don't stop when you do.

However unlike being a company driver when I want to I can go out.. work my behind off and I can make a lot of money.
There's risk/reward in all choices and that's something everybody has to weigh for themselves.
Click to expand...

This is one reason I have a business savings account. ...I have $$ for emergencies...unfortunately many people don't do this...I agree with you also...I personally believe also if the person is irresponsible financially then trying to become an IC would be disaster. .

TDFair · Aug 15, 2015

freightwipper said: ↑

Hmm well I don't think this has been said but if someone doesn't have money in the bank (or not much), is living near paycheck to paycheck DO NOT lease a truck.

I'll give an example why even though I got a new truck at 30k miles my clutch crapped out which sure the Eaton warranty covered but that alone put my truck in the shop for a week and me in a hotel.
That's zero income and I'm in the hole $1,500 for the week when you factor in everything.
Point is anything can happen and costs don't stop when you do.

However unlike being a company driver when I want to I can go out.. work my behind off and I can make a lot of money.
There's risk/reward in all choices and that's something everybody has to weigh for themselves.
Click to expand...

We have a small cushion and 20K available credit. Not great by any standards, but it's a start.

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