Prime's lease deal. The math gets done.

that was another thread, wasnt it?

 

That was the disinformation propaganda machine that IS Cerberus!

 

LOL it sure was...

 

having had a small business for a couple of years, the one thing i would like to add to all of this, is to make sure you have enough money in the beginning for any dry spell or problems that you might encounter. no one starts out thinking he is going to fail, we all think we will make it. but, i am telling all of you who are thinking about striking out on your own, have money put aside and i am not talking credit cards either.

 

As I understand it an S corp's, sole proprietorship's and partnership's income "pass through" to the owners and are taxed as personal income.

For tax purposes there are no differences between them.

 

No, not much difference. I'd have to have my accountant actually explain the differences to me. That's why he gets the big bucks!

That is pretty much how those three work though.

 

Cash is king. If that's all you have, then by all means use it. If you have cash and credit, keep the cash on hand and use the credit. It gives you more choices as things progress and you can choose what proportion of debt you want to carry as opposed to how much cash you feel you should keep on hand.

A credit card is used best when it's used like a bullet-proof vest. Don't constantly shoot yourself to see it work, but if there is a sudden sharp impact, it will spread it out enough for you to survive the blast.

 

When I was in the Coast Guard we had pepper spray put in our faces so we would know how it worked.

We had to do this to get certified to carry it.

I asked if they were going to shoot me so I could carry my 9mm. LOL

 

Exactly, credit cards ARE NOT and asset, they are a liability. A line of credit based on a business plan is NOT the same as having a bunch of paid off credit cards.

When my father started his gas station / auto repair business, he had a line of credit based on his fixed expenses (employees, taxes, building lease, approximation of utilities) for a whole year. He didn't use a quarter of it. He has cash in the bank for the business and does not even have a credit card - never has that I know of.

Get a line of credit and chunk the 18% credit cards. Until the new laws go into effect MOST credit cards can max your interest rates even if you are 1 day late on a payment. Do you really want to start your business based on a "variable" rate interest credit card? The fine print on a credit card ap is so small so you WON'T read it and most "are subject to change without notice"

Credit cards are not the same as a sound business plan and a game plan to get out of trouble - and I don't mean whip out the visa either.

But good luck getting any money from a bank right now anyway.

 

That's pretty dismal... company drivers make a heck of a lot more than that. Did you ever get your monthly settlement looked at in an ACE II seminar, or ask the Reefer Division (I'm assuming you ran reefer) for some help? I'm not going to say that you didn't get a raw deal from Prime, but why don't you give us some more information on what happened?

For the period:

Total miles?
Linehaul revenue?
Fuel surcharge revenue?
Tractor fuel cost?
Other costs?
Advances?
What speed did you typically run at?

If 95% of the company is starving, they wouldn't have the largest refridgerated fleet in the country, so what you're saying here IMO is gross exaggeration. How about you give us some numbers to look at, and let's see if you really did get the shaft or if you did it to yourself.