So you want to "own " your own company

hooooooooooooooooooo,nice

 

Of course it is possible but will be difficult. Insurance will be more expensive. But insurance also depends on your state, your zip code, your age etc. So if you are not from lets say FL or NY you may get cheaper insurance than someone with a clear record from one of those states.

 

A O/O is someone who is leased onto a carrier. Did you mean your own authority? Two completely different things. I think in both cases your not going anywhere for some years.

 

woooooooow

 

George Bush changed the law where what you do in your personal vehicle also appears on your CDL. Prior to the change anything that was done in a personal vehicle was shielded from your commercial license. Some carriers will not hire anyone with a DUI. There are some who will after 5-10 years have passed. You will not likely be able to enter Canada with a DUI. A DUI is usually considered a misdemeanor in the U.S., but a felony in Canada. You will need to make sure that you don't go with a carrier who expects you to cross the northern border. If the rest of your background is clean you should find a carrier who will accept you after at least 5 years have passed since your conviction. Most of the larger carriers do a criminal background check in addition to checking your MVR and employment history. It is important to be candid with any potential employer. It is next to impossible to hide things these days.

You might be able to get your own authority with a DUI providing you can get insurance. It is difficult to get insurance without a couple of years experience. Most insurance companies want some history in the business before insuring drivers. I usually don't recommend starting out getting your authority without first having some driving experience and a good cash reserve.

I don't know if this forum has a company listing, but some do. You can check the company listings and see their policy concerning DUI's. www.classadrivers.com is one that has a company listing that shows company policies on DUI's and felonies, etc.,

 

Most states have adopted Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules for disqualification of a commercial driver's license (CDL). The FMCSA rules for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol (DUI) apply to drivers with a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) while driving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV).

Drug and alcohol testing is performed, depending on the circumstance, by the police officers or a commercial driver's employer. Random testing is required by the FMCSA to be carried out by drivers' employers. The state or local police may test a driver on suspicion of driving under the influence or following an accident.

The FMSCA rules for commercial drivers define commercial DUI as driving a commercial motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .04 or greater. A commercial driver may be randomly tested for drug or alcohol use before, during, or after driving a commercial vehicle.
A commercial driver's license may also be suspended upon conviction for violating a state's drug or alcohol DUI laws while driving a non-commercial vehicle.

The FMSCA applies state laws for controlled substances in a driver's blood or urine. Some states have zero tolerance policies for these drugs. In addition, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require random drug tests for commercial drivers to test for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and phencyclidine. The length of time during which you could test positive in a random drug test varies depending on the drug. The drug or its metabolite may remain in your system for a significant period of time after use-sometimes several weeks.

Under FMSCA rules, a conviction for DUI or refusal to submit to a test can result in a variety of penalties including a one year disqualification of your commercial driver's license for the first offense. A second offense may mean a lifetime ban. The first offense disqualification could include a three year prohibition from driving HAZMAT vehicles.

Suspension or revocation of your commercial driver's license is above and beyond DUI penalties imposed by the court and a suspension or revocation of your regular driver's license. In addition to court and motor vehicle department imposed penalties, a conviction for drug and alcohol use could jeopardize your job and your future employment prospects.
Although not yet adopted by all states, the FMSCA rules require states to maintain driving records for CDL drivers including all convictions, disqualifications and other licensing actions for violations of any state or local driving law (other than a parking violation) committed in any type of vehicle.

The FMSCA rules allow a State to reinstate any driver disqualified for life, after 10 years, if that person has voluntarily entered and successfully completed an appropriate rehabilitation program approved by the state. However, FMSCA rules forbid a driver that has already been reinstated after a lifetime disqualification to be reinstated again.

In other words, you need to check with your CDL home state to find out what your restrictions, if any, are for driving. As for how it will affect you employability, that will depend on the companies policies and insurance requirements.

 

DUI is now a felony in more states every year. I know in IL Dupage and will counties are both putting you in jail for 90 days and it is now a felony.

 

Who cares how much you make a mile. This per mile BS is propaganda perpetuated by large carriers and the ATA so they can control your butts.

Ask yourself these questions:
What miles are being used to calculate your revenue?
What are the actual miles required?
Why don't the two ever match?
If you are to be paid by the mile and you only needed to move the truck one mile in a day what rate per mile would you need to be profitable?
What if the load went 10 miles?
One hundred miles?
600 miles?
If you don't know how to figure a hauling rate range you shouldn't be an owner/operator.
Getting your authority is easy- making enough revenue to pay yourself and make a profit is the challenge. If you don't know your break-even point, (your fixed cost per day, your operational cost per mile, your fuel cost per mile and any load specifics like tolls, lumper fees, etc). If you don't know how much cash you need in reserve to sustain your operation during the inevitable slow periods, and what you need in order to grow either your company or your net worth. You can't set your hauling rate range. Without your rate range for your truck and operation, you will not make the revenue you need.


I have owned and operated my own trucks for almost three decades and never needed to know how much I made per mile. I knew what I need to make per day and per week based on the distance to be traveled and how long it takes to go the distance. There are too many variables with miles. There will always be 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week. Time is consistent miles are fickle.

If your gross revenue isn’t at least $5,000 to $6,000 per 7 days per truck you'll never make it in this industry. Those are the numbers and the facts.

Finally any trucker who quotes a static “I make this much per mile,” isn't a trucker, he's just someone who drank the kool-aide.


Don't let shippers and brokers control your rates, you need to control the rates you receive. It's all about understanding the areas you operate, knowing the truck to load ratio there before you agree to a rate. You need to look at total revenue required by the week, month and quarter to reach your goals, not how much you earn or need per mile.

 

Whether you agree with how rates are quoted or not, it has been the norm in this business to calculate rates by the mile. It isn't that difficult to calculate costs by the mile. It makes it much easier for many to decide whether a load will be profitable or not. Whether you agree or not, rates are typically calculated and quoted by the mile. It is the industry norm.

Most owners are not going to run 7 days per week. The numbers you quote are somewhat misleading for most owner operators. From your figures it would appear that most people must make $250,000-300,000/yr in order to be profitable. That is about double what most owner operators will gross in a typical year. It can be possible for some niche' or specialty areas, but they are NOT going to generate that much revenue pulling general freight. Owners will take time off during the year. If you must make that much to be profitable, then you are doing something wrong. Your costs are way out of control. It isn't what you gross but what you keep that is most important.

If you have been in this industry as long as you say, you know that we have times where rates and the availability of freight are down. That means that your gross and net are going to be less than when rates and freight are up. I agree that we cannot allow brokers and shippers to control the rates for which we haul, there are realities of the marketplace. During slow times of the year you will need to either run for lower rates than when freight is up or you will sit. That doesn't mean that you won't make a profit during slow times of year, but your gross will be down.

You will more than likely average $600-800/day in revenue year around. After all, you need to allow time to load/unload, delays, traffic, weather, breakdowns, etc., It is more likely that an owner operator will do $3,000-4,000/week in revenue averaging throughout the year. Those are realistic numbers. And that is counting on a 5-6 day work week.

 

Great post!! I started out 4mo ago, i see now its all about revenue, not cpm.