Should I buy a truck straight out of school?

Note also: that competition (for the time being) involving local CDL driving jobs is (in general) much stiffer than previous.

You may well have to go regional &/or OTR to get enough experience to compete for those better-paying local driving jobs.

Based on your earlier comments -- this will likely prove to be problematic if you need to be home daily for a family.

OTR is what I first had to do -- & this was back when the CDL job market was much better.

The job market right now in general for new CDL grads is actually pretty bad.

Thus -- take your time, with whatever you decide.

-- L

 

Honestly, it is possible.

@staceydude and @zmster2033 did exactly what you are proposing, pre-emission and cash outright, and both successful.

Do note @REO6205 comment about family life. I doubt anyone here would want to see you with a broken family life in 10 years, just for the sake of saying you won.

 

Ahhh I see. Profit margin is razor thin. It definitely gets hard out here at times. You seem to have done well for yourself regardless of so trucking will probably suit you well because you're self motivated. Do you have any companies that you're interested in?

 

You’ve got to be kidding .

Near Atlanta where I’m at , an electrictians license is a license to print money .

we recently paid a crew of three guys , one MIGHT have had a license but I doubt it , $13k for 10 hours of work , to install a meter base and disco on a pole we installed , and pull 125 feet of 250 aluminum through a conduit that was already installed with a pull string .

took them all day and half the night , I could have done it faster by myself .

I HAVE done it , at the sites where we don’t need a permit and inspection .

but I don’t have a license so we gotta pay someone with a license a boatload of cash to do it .



we recently paid a one man with a van , $5k for one days labor , to install a meter base weatherhead and breaker panel we provided , on a pole we installed.

Paid the licensed electrician who wired the addition to my house , last year , $9k to install a meter base , an entrance cable and a breaker panel and 8 outlets and 7 lights

took them a day and a half .
One licensed electrician and one illegal Mexican helper .

Getting a state Electrictian license takes several years , 4-6 usually .

and there won’t be any non English speaking immigrants with a state license .

there’s an endless supply of immigrants from India and Eastern Europe Soviet states coming here to be truck drivers .

an endless suplly .

and they are willing to work a lot cheaper than you are .

they ain’t coming here to become state licensed electricians, because they simply can’t pass the tests .


You should seriously consider slimming back down to be one man with a van .
Much lower overhead and much much lower stress . and about the same money in your pocket at the end of the year .

I made more money owning and driving one truck than I did with 5 trucks and drivers .

 

3 of the biggest reasons business fails IMO, especially service oriented business.

Quality of work, mismanagement of funds, and work ethic.

Same owner with new business will eventually have the same issues if changes aren't made.

Hard to imagine a licensed tradesman with "hundreds" of customers, has a failing business.

 

Go broke at 40 hrs. Need 60 or more in 5 days. Time and half after 40. Even at 50 hrs. at 22 hr. take home is around $1000.

 

Hi Boone, head swimming yet? While I must say, you came to the right place, sometimes it's overwhelming. Mostly good advice, from sheer experience, but if getting into trucking, you'll meet some wise guys. They mean well, just a bit crude. You may have noticed this character named Chinatown. He is our resident job placement,,,um, guy, BUT, he tends to jump the gun. I think trucking would be a great change for you, but there are several kinds. Local( home daily), regional, ( 1 or 2 overnights) or full blown OTR, which REQUIRES you have no other interests or obligations. You MUST stay out. Many live in the truck, with social media, entirely possible, but burn out in a few years. Trucking has demands you may not have encountered, and it can be fun, but half the people that start, quit within a year, hence, many take the job in desperation, only game in town thing, and are rudely disappointed.
Honestly, I don't know if buying a straight truck is a bad idea, many outfits run smaller trucks now for local stuff, but to buy a semi now is a poor idea, as that market will fail 1st. Drivers are in top demand, you have a good shot at making decent money with THEIR truck. Good luck, hope this helps.

 

That's still better than how he's doing now. If the OP starts another thread on the "New Drivers" section we can give him options as company driver. I don't want to clutter this thread any more with something other than owner-operator information.

 

Ev

Even with your experience with hotshots Id take the time to go with a local company may a end dump or something that keeps you home as you mentioned having a family. For me at least marriage and trucking did not work so I chose trucking and have never regretted it and that was 44 yrs ago.