So you want to "own " your own company

3000 + 27 % = 3810.

Sounds good to me

But the 27% will go up and down depending on what fuel prices are from week to week. But if the 27 goes down, you'll be paying less for fuel too, which is obviously good.

Still curious to how many miles ya will drive in a week. What I'm getting at is PPM for fuel. My truck gets 6MPG, so if diesel is $3.60, then it costs me .60 cpm to drive it

.60 cpm x 140,000 miles a year = $84,000 per year

I'd say your plan, going off what we know on the suface at least, is doable, but hard numbers really tell all. Plus, you'd have maitenence on a 1999 KW and a 1999 trailer.

 

As a company driver, was doing 3000 miles a wk. Running the truck 24/5, getting 5.1 to 5.5 mpg, as a O/O, I would put a APU on the truck, and try to get to 6.0+ mpg. Truck brought in $170,000 last year, but that doesn't include the FSC. (Other O/O with this Co are making anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 on a good year.) It also only averaged 6 hours idle time at night, 4 nights a week. We can talk about Hours of Service at a later date.

 

i would suggest a counter offer to her.


she can only say NO!

LOWER IS BETTER.. RIGHT

 

I've searched the threads and haven't found anything that discusses this possibility. Say you have a load that is getting X amount per mile and you're taking the best route to get to the destination. Along the way there is a weather related incident or a major traffic accident that shuts down your route, but you are able to re-route but it takes you x miles out of the way. Does the shipper make up for that situation, or the broker, or if you leased on? What I'm getting at is a situation where you've added miles and time to your load delivery. Do you have to "Eat" the extra miles and fuel or is there an "extra" then that can be tallied onto the total?

 

When working for a shipper or broker, you are moving the shipment uder the terms of a binding contract. You signed the contract agreeing to move load from point A to point B for X amount of monies. So, unless you can get a clause written into a contract to cover such events, the answer is a distinctive NO. You are S.O.L. And good luck getting something like that written into a contract.

 

Thanks for answering my question. So ok, now that I know, I know that I need to run smarter and I'll have to be aware of the conditions. But there are ways to make up for some things and sometimes I'll have to eat it..business as usual

 

I enjoyed reading the board messages and reply's, great information on this site. I'd appreciate any help good and bad. Thanks and be safe.

Knowledge without experience is just Information (my wife says)

 

Hey all -

Been lurking a while, and finally figured I'd start posting so I can gleam some knowledge from the old hands/pros.

Basically, I want to start driving as an owner operator as a second job. Scratch that - it will actually be a third job, but I digress...

My primary income is in another branch of the transportation industry, and as I've been doing research on running a rig, a lot of the big picture things (safety, efficiency, duty times, business ethics, customer service, etc.) are surprisingly similar.

However, as in my other job, the more I learn and research, the more I realize how little I actually know and how much there is still to learn. So, as an absolute newbie, please be gentle. For example - all the terms and acronyms regarding trucking I have absolutely NO clue about (steer axles vs. whatever other axles there are, tandems vs. spread, etc.)

One other thing: the title of this thread is EXACTLY what I'm after. Call me a 'romantic', call me naive, call me crazy - you are a bit right on all three - but WHATEVER you do, PLEASE don't SAY/WRITE it in this thread. I don't have time for a lot of naysayers/pessimists/glass half empty type of folks. I know that now is not a good time to get into the industry, with rising costs (especially fuel) and all there is to know and and how much I don't know and being a newbie blah blah blah. In my personal life, I've suffered and been through a lot with the family, likewise in my other professions, etc.; I am an eternal optimist, and I try to see the good in everything. Short of God Almighty Himself, I am going to do this - and hopefully it will work. Regardless of whether it works out or not, it will be another of life's great adventures.

OK - enough of that. Here's my basic situation - I make a pretty decent income with my other two jobs. I will actually be using the income from my 'second' job for the payments on the truck - I should be able to make the monthly payment AND have some beans left over, actually. I plan on buying a used tractor and trailer - if everything pans out right, a 1984 Kenworth K100 Aerodyne in tip-top shape, and trailer yet to be determined. I'm thinking about getting a Great Dane or Utility reefer (open for other suggestions/input), so I can haul van or reefer loads. I plan on only driving during the late spring/summer/early fall months. As far as taking care of my family, my primary profession will cover the health insurance/401k/other benefits. All the truck has to do is make enough money to cover its fuel/insurance/taxes - basically, all the Direct Operating Expenses (of which I'm sure there are a TON and I don't have a clue as to what most of them are). If I can make some money and tuck it away for preventive/unexpected maintenance, etc., all the better. If I can actually put money into the bank after covering everything, then I've surpassed my expectations. Do not take me as someone who will be willing to undercut others jsut to 'play trucker'; this is a business, and as in my other profession, I expect to be paid accordingly. I have no tolerance for those that accept below industry standard pay - it lowers the bar for everyone.

The rig will be based out of the eastern Pennsylvania (Allentown/Lehigh Valley area) or north-central New Jersey area (somewhere near Bridgewater/Somerville/Flemington/Whitehouse Station for those who are familiar). I am interested in hearing from drivers who have based their rigs in either PA or NJ and what the business benefits (taxes, other costs) might be.

So why do this to myself? The way I look at it, trucking is the backbone of this great nation. No matter how screwed up our political system may be, I have devoted 10 years in the service of this great nation, and I love the American people. I have had a love affair with transportation since I was 4 - be it airplanes, trains, big rigs, motorcycles, fast cars, etc., and when my grandfather took me on a trip in a Mack tractor-trailer with steel I beams on the back I knew one day I'd own a rig.

I want to drive and take the family with me in the summer, and make it an adventure. If we can manage to swing by some of the historical places that have made this country what it is today, have some fun, and make trips into mini-vacations, then I have succeeded.

As far as the timeline, I anticipate taking delivery of the tractor later on this year. It will sit until next spring at the earliest, since I do not have a CDL yet and will not start running until I am fairly confident I have all my ducks in a row. I do not know whether to go on my own authority, or lease on with a company - or what other possibilities may exist as far as getting loads and owning my own rig. Whatever route I take, I pretty much have to be able to make my own schedule since this will be a second/third job. I may only be able to run 5 days one month, or 14 the next. I also may not know that I'll be able to pick up a load until the day or two before due to the schedule of my primary job.

So that's about it for now. I really appreciate those who have actually read through this entire novella and take the time out of their busy schedule to help out a guy who is an absolute newbie.

Please, drive safe out there, and remember not all 4-wheelers are out to get you!

W2W

 

One day, 42 views, and no responses...

I really hope I didn't come across the wrong way - or am I too impatient? I value the experience and opinions of the folks whose posts I've enjoyed reading over the past few months - I was kind of hoping for some input!

I think Broncrider's thread about his experience of being an new O/O is invaluable, I was just kinda hoping to get some input on my particular situation.

Perhaps I should just keep lurking...

Thanks -

W2W

 

1st....if you are gonna do this like a hobby.....then you will have to get your own authority. You will have a VERY hard time finding a company that will let you lease on without any practical experience....and since you only want to truck when the sun is shining.....you won't get the practical experience without going to work for someone else for a while....(at least a year)

2nd....if you've been lurking....then you know how 95% of us in here are struggling to make OUR dreams happen.....yours won't just be handed to you. You will have to go get your CDL...either from a school...or through a company. But, you will have to put some time in it.

I'm probably one of the biggest dreamers here.....just look at my thread....Time for Prime....and you can see how everybody jumped me when I told of my plans. I've been blessed that my wife is a very patient woman. Because this really isn't a job.....you do have to live it.

But, I think you are asking too much. You can't do this 5 days a month.... unless you have your own freight to pull. And, you sure won't get these guys in here to take you seriously by saying you aren't gonna give it all you have..... Buy the truck.....take the 5th wheel off.....have a custom sleeper/camper box put on it.....get a trailer with the 4-wheelers, canoes, kayaks....whatever...and take the family "on vacation" in a big truck.

Otherwise.....quit all the other jobs....make this your life....then, you'll know what it's like to be a trucker....most of us don't have anything to fall back on....that's why we are so passionate about it. Because we're not part-timers. Sorry if this seems harsh.....but, part-time doesn't cut it.