So you want to "own " your own company

The one who is pulling the load will be responsible for any claims or accidents. I don't know of anything illegal about it. It is still essentially double brokering even if you are pulling their trailers. They could probably avoid the double brokering issue since the owner operator is pulling their trailer.

 

There is no need to pay someone to file for your authority. All you do is fill in the blanks. It is basically common sense. Save the money and do it yourself. You will need registered agents. OOIDA will act as your registered agent if you are a member.

How you drive will be more important to fuel economy than any other single factor. The aerodynamic trucks will do better on fuel than the hoods. I would check out Freightliner, Volvo, International as well as the 386 or T600 KW and the 386 Peterbilt. The spec's depend on where you plan on running and the type of freight. In general, I would look at 425-500 hp with 354 rears and a 10 or 13 speed transmission. If you keep your speed down you will also help your fuel mileage.

 

Thanks Gman and i will looked into OOIda right now and see what I can find. I am not into being in a hurry and have to drive fast. I am looking to get some nice aerodynamic truck with some nice flairs on the trailer to help with fuel milage. I am looking to stay in the Southeast for the most part and below I-40 for the most part. I won't rule out taking loads outside the forementioned region but we see how that works out.

I was think about the Volvo 780 high rise Sleeper, KW 700 with the same type of sleeper and both 587 and 386 Peterbilt to get started off. I don't care to much for Freightliner and don't have enough information on International to make a good decision on buying one of them. Thanks for the other information also. I don't know how to say thanks on the post either because I don't see that feature showing up.

 

Csl,

The "Thanks" button will appear soon... once you have a couple more posts.

Best of luck!

 

Thanks!! For your comments!

 

It did just that after the post and thanks a lot.

 

It might be a little difficult to stay in the southeast all the time. You would probably do better running the southeast and Midwest. The best rates tend to be between I-95 and I-35 and south of I-80 and north of I-10. Of course, it depends on the type of freight you want to pull. If you pull a van you can usually find something about anywhere you go.

Volvo makes a nice truck. They did have some problems a few years ago. I have had very good service out of International. I have owned various brands over the years and I think that I have gotten better service from International than any other brand I have owned. Regardless of which brand you choose, I would stay away from the brand specific engines. Parts can be a problem as well as finding someone who will work on them. For instance, Volvo makes their own engine, but I would prefer one with a Cummins due to parts availability. That seems to be about the only choice with the newer Volvo's. Some of the newer Freightliner's have Mercedes engines. I would not want one of those, either. Some people have had good service from Freightliner. I have a friend who loves his Century.

And you are welcome.

 

Hey all just out of curiosity, either buying a truck and getting on with say landstar or mercer or even having my own authority is it possible to live in the Chicagoland area and make it home say every other night and weekends off but still make a decent living? I would want to pull a step but would probably have to start out pulling a van since steps are expensive and so is the good equipment to broaden my freight capabilities. Feel free to PM me.

I do look at LS freight board but the problem is I cant determine if I can make a good living off of doing this because it does not show the rates the freight pays.

 

I don't know how much van freight Mercer has, but Landstar has a lot of van freight. Chicago is one of the better freight areas for most any type of freight. The way Landstar works, you dispatch yourself so you can run wherever you wish. You take time off or run as you want. You could get with Landstar carrier services and ask them to do a printout for you in the area you want to run. They can print the loads with rates. You will need to find agents who have freight in those areas where you want to run. It might be difficult to be able to get back home every other night, but you never know. It takes about 5-6 months to learn how to work the Landstar system. If you are flexible you may find what you want. You may need to run their system until you find agents who have freight that will enable you to get back home more frequently. It will likely be difficult to get decent paying loads where you can get home every other night. On the other hand, it isn't that far to Cleveland, Columbus or Cincinnati. Des Moines, St. Louis and Birmingham are also not that far away. Since Landstar is agent based, it will be up to you to find your own loads and to do your own scheduling. If you find the right agent they could keep you busy and some work with other agents to get trucks back to their freight.