So you want to "own " your own company

Very very good advice. Without direct freight it's a tough battle for independents, and a guy can make more money with a lot less hassle just by leasing on with a good carrier, like LS. Interesting to know about DPF and Landstar. Won't that show a lot of lease guys the door, or are they grandfathering them?

 

Yes, only for operating in Cali, no matter where you are based. My 1999 engine is already banned without putting a $10000+ muffler on it. Of course, I only paid $65 each the other day for some Donaldsons.

 

Has nothing to do with Landstar! Any truck or company that doesn't have a DPF will be banned. The agency responsible for this is the California Air Resources Board, or better known as the a'holes at CARB.

 

Oh, I knew about Cali, but you missed that in your post so I was just asking, thinking maybe LS was doing something (!). Thanks.

 

Fixed it! I can see how that didn't read how I thought I wrote it.

 

It may be difficult to find a truck and trailer for $24,000, but it can be done. You should find a good used truck for $20,000 or less. I would not spend more than $30-35,000. It isn't necessary to spend more than $20,000 to find a good truck. I have seen vans selling for as little as $4,000-6,500. You could probably rent a used van for about $300/month. I assume from your post that you plan on getting your authority? It isn't cheap to get your authority and get up and running. If you lease to a carrier you may not need to purchase a trailer. If you plan on getting a truck and trailer and only have $24,000, then I would see if I could finance the truck and pay cash for the trailer. It is usually difficult to finance your first truck. You will need from 10-30% down in order to get suitable financing. There are some equipment leasing companies that might finance a truck with only a couple of payments. It pays to check around. Your local bank or credit union would be your best source of financing.

If you plan on getting your authority, you will need insurance. Rates vary widely from one insurance company to another. I would expect premiums from $6,000-12,000. Most insurance companies are going up on rates. I just renewed mine and had a 15% rate hike. I have an excellent safety record and MVR with no CSA points. Depending on your experience and MVR and where you live, I would expect a premium of around $8,000 or more starting out. Most require about 20% down with 9 monthly payments. A few will finance you with 12 monthly payments. With those your down payment is really your first payment. Before making a decision, I would suggest that you check around for rates. I believe others have mentioned base plates. If you lease to a carrier they often finance your base plates and permits. If not, you will need to pay it out of pocket. I would expect from $1,500-2,200.

You are more likely to receive a warranty with a more expensive truck. The cheaper trucks may not have a warranty. Take a test drive. If you find something you want to buy have it checked by a mechanic and do a dyno and oil analysis on the engine. There are no guarantee's when you buy any used equipment. Even new trucks break down. When they do break down repairs tend to be expensive. If you don't want to go to the expense of hiring a mechanic to check out your purchase, you could take it to a certified DOT garage and have them do a DOT inspection. If you buy from a dealer they can usually do an annual DOT inspection for you. I am not sure that I would trust them to DOT a truck they want to sell.

If you finance your purchase, I would suggest that you keep your payments low. We are likely heading into some difficult economic times. It is not a time to accumulate a lot of debt. Keep expenses down and save as much as you can. It is important to build a good cash reserve as quickly as possible.

 

Now that's good input. Excuse me if its frustrating cause I wanna pick u brain!!! Yes, I want my own authority. I been looking at trucks under 30k with and without warranties because I will get it dyno tested before I buy. How much should a dyno cost? That will be a task today... Insurance for me will be 12-14k with 2500-3k dwn. Should I give the bank 10k to finance? I like my cash, so I'm trying to get a no $ down loan, using the cash as collateral so that when the truck is paid, I can have my cashback!!! Do you know anyone who rents used trailers that cheap? If so, that's the way too go!!! So far I have only checked Ryder, they want 1month down at 36$/day! I would rather get the $ together and pay cash instead of paying that. I will also do that today too. I do understand that it will be a very tight budget until I can raise at least 10k in the reserves, luckily my family have other means to survive. U have GIVEN me much needed faith my friend. At least I'm not the only believes that it's still some good trucks under 20k out here. GOD Bless you!!!

 

You need to make sure you don't lay all your money out on equipment and getting your authority going. Because you will need enough money to carry fuel and maintainence for thirty to sixty days until the money starts coming in. And you don't want to put that kind of money onto credit cards, if you run 3000 miles a week that could be $2000 a week in just fuel. Personally I would rather make a modest truck payment temporarily and pay cash for the fuel.

 

Yeah, I'm trying to get up and going for under 17k. Its just crucial that I get it right and don't make many mistakes because its no margin for error.

 

I have not checked pricing on dyno's recently, but you should be able to have one done for $150-400. You should be able to find a shop in your area that can do one for you. Most major truck dealers can do them, but I prefer going to the engine dealer. K & L Truck and Trailer in Knoxville, TN, rents and leases vans and other types of trailers. I believe that they do rentals as well as lease to own. Prices are usually higher if you want to do the lease to own. I don't know what they require. You could spend over $600/month for a newer trailer. We have a local company that also rents them. They are smaller and I would need to find their name. I don't know if they rent out of the area. Since you are near Atlanta, you may want to check around to see if there are any dealers who may rent them. There are a lot of truck and trailer facilities on the south side of Atlanta.

It might benefit you to lease to a carrier starting out. Doing so you would not need to buy a trailer up front. Many will finance your base plates and permits. Leasing to a carrier would also preserve the cash you would need for insurance that is needed for authority. Unless you have owned a truck before, it is a much easier way to transition into ownership and would give you an idea of what it takes to make money in this business. If you pull a van, most carriers have trailers that you can pull. Of course, some will give more to those who bring their own trailer. Leasing to a carrier that has agents rather than dispatchers could also enable you to learn more what it would be like to run your own authority. Landstar, Universal Am Can and a few others pay percentage and have no dispatchers.

As far as getting into a decent truck for less than $20,000, they are around, but it can take time to find a good value. Financing is much easier when you have cash for collateral. However, you need to keep a few thousand dollars in reserve for emergencies. It would be better to finance a truck and have low payments until you can save more money. Depending on the carrier to whom you lease and your monthly payments, you could save $500-1,000/week.