Some numbers for new O/O

Most carriers pay:

• $1.40–$1.80 per mile to the truck (after fuel surcharge, etc.)
  

Let’s assume a conservative average of $1.60/mile (some pay more, but this is common).

8,000 miles×$1.60=$12,800 gross income/month8,000 \text{ miles} \times \$1.60 = \$12,800 \text{ gross income/month}8,000 miles×$1.60=$12,800 gross income/month
Monthly Expense Breakdown
Category Estimate Notes
Truck Payment $1,600 Based on $75K over 5 years @ ~8%
Fuel $4,800 8,000 miles ÷ 6.5 MPG × $3.90/gal average (with fuel card)
Maintenance & Repairs $1,000 Budget 12.5¢ per mile
Insurance (Bobtail + Physical) $450–700 Depends on driving history, clean record gets best rate
Tires Fund $250 Set aside for future replacements
Misc. (Tolls, washes, etc.) $300 Variable, may be lower with company perks
Total Monthly Costs: ~$8,400

Net Profit Estimate
$12,800 (revenue)−$8,400 (expenses)=$4,400/monthnetprofit\$12,800 \text{ (revenue)} - \$8,400 \text{ (expenses)} = \boxed{\$4,400/month net profit}$12,800 (revenue)−$8,400 (expenses)=$4,400/monthnetprofit
Cost Per Mile
$8,400÷8,000=$1.05/mile (your breakeven)\$8,400 \div 8,000 = \boxed{\$1.05/mile} \text{ (your breakeven)}$8,400÷8,000=$1.05/mile (your breakeven)
That means every mile you drive after 5,250 miles is pure profit at $1.60/mile — a great setup if you stay consistent and keep expenses tight.

I was doing some chat gpt and I was wondering if any of this sounds realistic

 

LMAO

 

Ehhhh somewhat. But thats all best case scenario. I can see several things that are optimisitc at best. Maintaince for example. Double that for any rig with more then 500k. Insurance is likely higher for an O/O. Miles seem low to me but ive done team and long haul so long my perspective is warped. Which means more fuel and more maintaince. That truck payment is halarious btw.

Its not including trailer payments which is likely why insurance is so low. Im not seeing anything in there for a major breakdown or replacment fund. I dont see equipment costs in there. The tire fund is laughably low unless you get maypops. I mean hell i go through a set every year just because i average 150k+ and 10 new tires on my rig are around $8K minimum plus i usually damage at least 2 or 3 a year that get swapped....

honestly the more i look the worse it gets LOL

 

Thanks. It gives me some what of a base line to run more numbers

 

$1.40 to $1.80/mile whow, Seems like some loads are on survival mode. I'm kinda giving up on the Load boards and going direct with a couple Brokers who respect my work ethics still offering over $2.20 per mile. Even for those without a truck payment it becomes difficult with the maintenance side of things. Freight volumes need to increase 3 years ago when I decided to get my Authority, I never .thought I would see rates under $2/mile. Drastic change in 3 years.

 

Here is one off the wall...
I'm in a different position. I'm at a point where I have most of my bases covered, but I would welcome a little more income. Good credit, years of experience, current physical, clean record. I don't want to get back on the road full time, but I miss driving. A few trips a month would work just fine. Is any of this realistic?:
Set up an LLC.
Get insurance (Full-year; I have not seen a way to get coverage trip by trip). Looks like this might cost $1500/month?
Get set up as an O/O with a company, use their authority.
Rent a tractor from Penske, Ryder, etc. for these occasional trips. Might be able to use paper logs for such an occasional short-term rental.
It looks like my fixed costs would be limited to insurance and keeping the LLC on track.
Could I make a profit with a rented tractor on trips like this?
Feel free to tear this one apart. I am thick-skinned.

 

The company that you lease on to would have to be set up with Penske,Ryder etc. I don’t think they would rent a tractor to anyone without a active MC.

 

No you won't make any profit in that. Leased on somewhere there goes a part of your profit already. Hauling freight, it's competitive the money doesn't just fall out of the sky, you gotta work. Rented tractor, most expensive way you could do it... Nothing about what you dream of doing suggests there will be any sort of profit. Sounds like a great way to dig yourself a hole though. It's just silly all the way around.

Nobody ever comes in here saying they've got some direct customers in mind they can provide a solution to or they have a product they're creating or buying/selling and the truck is a means to an end. Now that sounds like a business man maybe onto something. It's always, I want to buy a truck and run freight. Just another truck driver. Have fun competing with Abdullah and Javier, they come from a third world country and had your same idea. Oh and you want to do it one week a month in a rented truck. Yeah sounds like a great idea...

 

Those rental places like Pensky and Ryder don't work like Enterprise. You don't just come in any day and they have trucks lined up for you to rent for a day or two or even a week. That's expensive too. Renting one per week could be $1000 or even more now. Call them and ask. Then good luck finding an outfit to lease on to that would give you $2.5 - 3/mile freight on 2000 miles weekly, and doing it it part time on the top of it.

Your idea is not something that thousands of other hopefuls hadn't thought about or tried already.
If that were that simple, everyone would do it.
You'll make more money driving for Uber in a bigger city.