Serious question to any and all owner operators.... please

Did ya build a maintenance escrow in those 12 monthes at all?

 

That's a bit of a loaded question. Prolly take at least 5 years to declare anyone a success in this racket. I wouldn't really even consider myself a success unless I was around and doing well for 20 years or so.

 

Part of a business plan includes how you will handle this particular situation. Specific to trucks: how do I handle the inability to generate income while pouring money into the truck. General to all businesses: how do I plan to handle periods of zero or negative income.

 

Hmm. I guess I would think of being successful as making enough to pay off your truck in one year and still make more personal income than you did the year before, while still having $10k in a business account or so. Something like that. lol.

I think everyone has different definitions of what success is.

My question is if you drove this truck (presumably it was your boss' truck) for a whole year and it never seen a shop, I would think that to be a bad sign...the more crap that breaks and gets fixed while someone else owns it, the better. The truck I drive has probably had $10,000 in repairs since I've been in it in the last 10 months, and my boss keeps asking me if I want to buy it. I think I'll wait for another $5,000 in repairs before I think about it, but then again this truck does not get the fuel mileage I would like to have in a truck that I own.

 

i had an escrow built up before i even came back out on the road. starting with that company. and it was MORE then you all been recomennding.

 

you can plan all you want. that truck had NO REASON to go into the shop. "NOTHING TO FIX IF IT AIN'T BROKEN"
i know how to drive. and make money. unlike those other guys that' can't keep a brand new rig out of the shop. i can keep an older rig on the road. cuz i take care of what i drive. otherwise i make no money.

you can plan all you want. but take your truck in the shop and see if it actually gets fixed. THE FIRST TIME.

you can plan all you want. but you can't plan for those WEEKS(not days) that your truck is in the shop. you also can't plan for problems that no one will be able to fix.

get yourself an electrical problem. and let's see how fast you all get sunk. while trying to maintain other issues that arise during the process of your electrical issue. cuz you know. them road calls every 200 miles get PURTY EXPENSIVE.

my cost for one electrical issue. TWENTY FIVE THOUISAND DOLLARS. 15 in labor. 10 lost in revenue due to downtime. 4 weeks out of 8 weeks in the shop. before the problem got found. for FREE. thanks to the blue beacon boys washing the engine.

 

Sorry snowwy, something just sounds wrong with what happened to your truck.

I have spent $20k on maintenance since i bought my truck last July and it's no where close to sinking me. And that includes an electrical issue that killed my gages, ac and fuel mileage. I'd have loved to have sunk half that into savings instead but it is what it is.

If you don't think I felt desperate, you can ask rebel about the night I called him from Iowa. He helped me figure the electrical issue out.

 

liike i said. electrical for 2 months. throw in 10 tires DURING. AFTER electrical solved. then came 3 clutches in 1 month. next month it was 2 turbos. then it was routine maint with an overhead. which got me 200 miles before one cylinder quit. (guy screwed up). then came the front cover oil leak to which NO ONE wanted to touch on an isx motor. and a rear main to which i asked to be replaced when the clutch was done.

someone finally worked on the front cover. and the truck has been sitting for the last 7 months now with a broke motor.

as for the electrical issue. it wasn't the gauges. it was the ecm shutting down the injectors. so you drive down the road. BAM. no engine. and i gotta say. one of those times was a REALLY FUN TIME in california metropolis with NOWHERE to pull over.

now, compount the money spent in 6 months. and the lost revenue from spending 3 months of those 6 months in the shop.

see where i'm coming from?????

no business plan will save you from what i had to deal with.

 

yes, it would have.

Because you would have said, "at this point a truck is a money pit and is to be traded off". Even for a small loss. THAT is a tax write-off also.

My truck has fast approached that point with me now. And I have talked with my finance folks about it. But, it's also planned for now.

Same thing with the Reefer AND the trailer. WHEN do they become a loss item and just need to be replaced. And what will the process be?

As I said in one other post....


Write your business plan to FAIL, NOT to succeed. Come up with every dooms day worst scenario you can put into it. And when you work your way through them, you'll know how to deal with a disaster.

 

My ''business plan'' actually worked out this time around...

My very first truck years ago was not a ''business plan''...I needed a place to sleep for i was a homeless man...After finally LISTENING to the OWNERS ahead of me and talking with the Winners,i have a small sucessful business and Life...Thank God....

This time around i payed for my castle in NY and even remodeled the whole house.My Harleys are paid for and i have money in the bank...I have ended up with a good life as an O/O Leased to Landstar...This week to the table is 3,400....Not to bad...