Question For O/Os regarding expenses

Jeff, that's pretty pricy for that old of a truck IMO. The FTL Classic was produced up till recently, and it has the same dash as a 91 freightliner anything. The series 60 Detroit is still produced for foreign markets, and was probably the best selling heavy Diesel engine ever. You should be alright, but I'd want something newer. My first truck was a 91 FTL cab over I bought in 2001 for $4,000.

 

That right there is my goal and exactly what I want achieve. To me the wonderful about being an o/o is it is exactly what you make of it. If you have paid the dues and put yourself in the right situation finacially the sky is the limit as far as I see it. Im having to take a step back and take a different approach but in the end the way yall run your trucks where I'd like to be.

 

I thought it was high too, and then a search found a few in that range...to my surprise. and one or two waay higher. I've seen 2000's for around 16k, so I definitely get what you're saying. parts I guess were what I was wondering most about. Thanks for the reply

 

Thanks, like I said, still have a lot to learn before I do this.

 

You are so right.

And if all I have had (even WITH my mechanics looking at the truck when it got home) was to have bad kingpins and a bad exhaust manifold gasket, I consider that a pretty decent deal on a truck bought sight unseen.

I had them pull oil analysis, run a dyno test, full DDEC ECM printout, got maintenance and warranty records, on the truck as well.


for a 2007 truck, nothing I have fiddled with on the truck or trailer has surprised me. Worn out air line springs to hold them on the trailer,

 

I thought I was doing a good thing by upgrading from an 04 to an 07 and on top of my 1400 a month payment (5K down payment) I have put in another 8 grand over the course of 8 months. If it were not for my military retirement I would not have survived and the jury is still out on whether or not I let this thing go back to the dealer. I am on pace to make about 160k this year and I still feel that upgrading was not a smart move on my part. I hope you do well on the road you decide to take.

 

Depends on your area, what's available and what you want to do. For example, we had a truck, our own authority and hauled cattle. We also hauled grain and rocks. Our insurance was outrageous. The cattle hauling was getting sketchy, put in for a highway gig, got no response and we were worried about the future.

We put notice and left cattle. We did a harvest and still tried for the highway gig. Didn't hear much, so we leased on to a company. We had some repairs, lowered our insurance by thousands and the cattle company filed bankruptcy. We switched at a very good time. The rock/highway gig called a few months later and got upset when we said, "Sorry, too busy."

We had to give up our authority to lease on to a company.

While we were leased to company #1, our dispatchers didn't always have loads. We always had to find our loads. I used Transcore, through OOIDA, as our back-up board. It cost $44.95 a month. It paid for itself. Even if you lease to a company, sometimes loads are difficult, in some areas. After 2 years, we leased to company #2, for many reasons. After 6 months, we had never booked a load from Transcore, so I cancelled.

Since we own a truck, (ours is a 2004) loads in CA may get tough for us, next year. We're considering going back to our own authority. The truck is almost paid off and DH gets local offers for jobs, all the time. He had a 99 Pete, sold it and bought the 2004, just as cattle hauling was crapping out. Just for fun, he could have bought the 2004, six months later, for half. It was recently over-hauled and a helluva nice truck.

If you're going to buy a truck, can you work on it? Oil changes may be equivalent. Can you change fuel filters, belts, etc? A rear differential is 5-6 grand, in Idaho. That's the stuff that adds up. Not to mention a transmission at $10,000. We're getting close, we have over 900,000 miles.

If you have credit, buy a truck and develop a relationship with your banker. Smaller banks, in small towns are better. Dependent upon your state, buying your own tags could save hundreds of dollars. You also keep them. If you get tags through a lease, you pay more and you have to return them, if you leave. Keep a maintenance/savings account for repairs. Put 5-10% of every paycheck in savings. Always make sure you have fuel money, however you decide.

Overall, we grossed $145,000, stashed $8,000 and claimed expenses of $142,000 on our taxes for 2010.

 

DH upgraded his 99 to a 2004, just before the bottom dropped out. All his friends are getting new trucks. Our truck is really nice and we'll have it paid off, soon. Every time he brings up buying a new truck, I remind him his $60,000 truck, sold for $30,000 six months later. We keep getting the payments lower, bought a trailer, and we have equity in the trailer. Our used trailer is worth more than we paid. My mind boggles, but I'll take it.

We feel your pain. DH made great money hauling cattle. He bought a newer truck and cattle dropped off, wheat dropped, rock dropped, and oilfield, so much for our authority. We used to make 5k a week. I think those days are long gone.

Can you refinance? DH was paying 9% and we lowered to 7% and I get lower payments every chance I get. We also got a huge depreciation for taxes. Our truck payments were $1,279. I divided the payments, paid weekly, lowered the interest and lowered the balance. Current payments are $979. I still pay weekly. We will probably refinance the loan this year, so we can re-start depreciation on taxes.

Our truck is our only income. We only gross 145 on the truck. We have savings and pay our bills. We're looking at changes for semi-retirement. You have a steady check, in addition to your truck. How much interest do you pay? What do you haul?

I hate to see anyone lose a truck. I've watched drivers lose trucks for small things. Living in Fort Worth is mighty expensive, for a truck driver. I'm a native and my DH asks if I want to go home. (Daughter lives in FW) We live in OK and it's WAY less expensive.

As an O/O, it's up to you how much you pay in expenses, where you live, etc. You can turn it around. Best Wishes.

 

Hi, I was looking in your blog for the xsl spreadsheet with the expenses but couldn't find it. can you point it out please?