Please talk me out of this!

Trucking accross this great country is both rewarding and frustrating. I am positive about trucking only because I own my own truck and will not take any sheet from either, the company or some wet behind the ears dispatcher. Owning your own truck means being able to choose where you go, sometimes when you go etc. Working as a company driver means going where you are told, when you are told. Yes, O/O's have more respnsibilties, expenses etc., but in the long run if you are a business man you will make more money and enjoy trucking a heck of a lot more. If, as you said you are not in it for the money...well then I don't know what to tell you. It has been my experience that if I am not making money, I am not happy. I believe people that have no choices are the most unhappy in this world, whether it be from lack of money, or education etc. Making money allows you to have choices...but you already know that because you said you were successful in real estate. My advice...think more about the money. Figure out what works for you income wise without settling for just enough to get by. This business will sometimes make you want to quit your job 5 or 6 times in one day. I think one of the biggest reasons for truckers getting out of the business is "money".

I still say go for it!

 

Prepare to get the opposit of these: bad credit, high debt, ties to a company or your own truck, and high expenses.



Just kidding. Seriously, once you get the diesel in your veins, it is almost impossible to get it out. I've been back and forth since 2007, coming from an executive position in corporate haydes. I leave the road because I want to see my son on a regular basis (he's 7 now) but find myself going three miles out of the way to get coffee at a truck stop, and staring at "kewl rigs" while driving on the highway.

This is a very strange disease.

 

Buy 2 trucks, go broke twice as fast and be twice as happy.
Cops in small towns with no brains but DOT authority, County Sheriff Deputies in VA with the same qualities. Rough roads. PA Orange Barrels for 299,999,999.9 miles. "This is a hot load and you're the only driver available." "We'll get you home on the next load, promise!"
The one I love when hauling produce, "We didnt order that, you'll have to wait til tomorrow when we can get ahold of the broker." Heard it at Hunts Point more than once. 62 MPH Trucks in Western states with 75 -80 mph signs. Nasty truckstop Bathrooms, Lot lizards, fast food (its good for the heart) 3.00/gal fuel, nasty truckstop parking lots. 15 below zero in WY, MT. ID, UT, NY, PA,
Food Lion, WalMart, and a hundred other nasty places to deliver. Oops, we lost your appointment number! Having the flu or worse food poisoning on the road. Do you want more?

 

Having not driven trucks for 5 years now (I'm retired). I too miss driving sometimes. But then I call my best friend (He and I drove for the same company). We talk about the neat things but then the negative things pop up.
Truck stop food that you get so sick of that you have to gag it down. Driving for 20 hours (Yea, we know about the 10 hr rule and how to get around it) to get to your drop only to have to unload the freight yourself. Finally get to pick up your load after that and find out its not ready so you have to wait and listen on the CB for them to call you that it's ready. So you can't sleep and they don't call you for 8 hours then the load is hot and you have no time to sleep or you'll be late. Or you might be lucky and get a load that delivers 1500 miles away and have 5 days to get it there and you can't deliver it early. Shower? Who had time to shower. If you get any down time your so tired you just want to sleep.
I still miss the sound of the diesel and throwing those gears, sitting above all the other drivers and rolling down the highway but the only way I'd do it now is if it was a semi motorhome.
Best of luck to you with what ever you choose. You might get back in to it and be happy and glad you did. For me, it's just a memory of good days (and bad) in the past.

 

I have talked with more than one O/O who were making good money running in circles in the center of the country. They were bounded by the mountain ranges east and west and the money lost by not taking loads across the ranges was more than made up for by lower fuel and maintenance costs. So they said. They didn't seem to be hurting for cash from what I could tell.

Having been running for quite a while since then, I have enough contacts to make a fine living going only where I feel like going. Bottom line is, if it's your truck, you say what goes on, where and when.

You also gotta consider just what it is you want to haul. Hauling produce is totally different than hauling flatbed freight, which is different from hauling rock, which is a bit different from hauling grain. Some work has you out on the road by yourself for weeks, some has you hauling everyday but returning to a camper every night with the same crew, some has you home every week or every day. It's a very versatile business.

 

WOW! They changed the FMCSA again and I missed it! A 10 hour rule now! Well that bites big time!

OK Higgins here TALK TALK TALK you out of it! Did that work?
Yeah the Real Estate market pretty much bites and the head line today is "Home Ownership hits a 10 year low" just does not say much for a job selling homes!

If you have the money to buy out right a truck, trailer and an APU and have at least 10K in the bank as an operation capital then do it BUT search for a GOOD broker or an agent to find you loads and who will know how you like to run and that doesn't take to much off the top of the rate for just answering a phone and pushing a few papers!

OR do a little foot work and find shippers and manufactures who would want to work with a small business man with one or two trucks that can be reliable.

Buy the truck don't fall for a fleece with any of these megas. BUT do look into leasing the trailer. Better that owning a trailer.

But keep that operating expence account up and things should go just fine! Just stay away from leasing from a company that schedules your freight and appointments!

 

Yes the Ryder lease is a for real lease and not this trash that these people are falling for!

As to the "other" job....OK someone has to do it and it's not like you're the one doing it. You're getting the notes from someone else and you're doing the face to face crapola! I just hope I don't have to go through this! Hey, it's a job and putting food on the table. Now collection agencies are a different story! I'd rather listen to a political call over a collection person!