Starting out, first truck

Do what you gotta do. The thing I always said on here is there's no bad time to get started as an o/o. Not even now as bad as freight sucks. As long as you've got some cash and the ambition to get out here and hustle you'll be ok if trucking is in your blood and what you want to do.

That said, don't be in a hurry to overpay for a used truck. Used truck prices have been and will continue to crater for the rest of the year. Be patient and get a good buy. Freight is about to tick up right now, it's spring, but probably not as good as any of us would hope for. If your job and financial situation is such that you can wait a little longer in your shoes I'd wait until next Jan/Feb to pull the trigger on a used truck. That's when freight will fall off the cliff again and lots of o/o will be ready to sell.

 

I’d probably laugh at 125 for my truck right now,

“oh but it’s 25 years old”

Yea, and I can show you every nut and bolt on it that I’ve replaced, the only thing 25 years old at this point is the rails and the cab. Valves, harnesses, all the stupid #### that no one thinks about that goes bad after two and a half million miles

It costs zero to pull the plates off it and park it in the back drive way with buckets on the stacks, 50k will get you a project truck at this point in time

I could technically get by on paper under the 8 day rule, though if I’m going that way I might as well go new, back for one truck/driver (me) it’s still a sense of pride keeping the “old junk” running

 

Lol

 

I bought a 2009 Columbia for $40,000 cash last April. It had a rebuilt engine with about 80,000 miles on it. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I haven't spent too much on it, and I've already made my money back. And BECAUSE I didn't get into a ridiculous loan payment, I run whenever the hell I want. I've been sitting for 2 months because I refuse to haul for these abusive rates. Also, the weather out there has been wacky this year. So I just said, "screw it". Why put up with the weather and all of the idiot drivers out there? So I've just been playing poker, playing the market and doing crap around the house. I just put in 4 new batteries and am heading to Cali this weekend to get the overheads done. After that, I'm going to run fairly hard for 3 months.

As far as I'm concerned, you have 2 choices when it comes to buying a truck: 1-Buy one brand-spanking new off the line, or 2-Buy an older truck with a rebuilt engine. If you know a little about mechanics then the old trucks are no-brainers. I would never buy a used emissions truck. All you are doing is looking for trouble. Unless I can pay cash for a brand new truck, I will never go that route. I've seen too many people go belly-up because they couldn't keep up with all of the overhead that financing brings. And when you are FORCED to run because you have to meet your monthly nut, it takes the fun out of trucking. Especially with the current state of the market.

Whatever you decide to do, try to pay cash and stay LEAN.

 

You should consider a lease purchase to get sone experience. Owning a truck is a big investment. You need sone experience otr before venturing on your own. You are going to need a 2000 or older truck for what you are looking for. You can find a decent 2014 or around that year truck for 50,000. But again owning a truck has its share of issues. With little experience in the industry you will be setting yourself up for failure.

 

Fleece purchase is never the answer no matter what you are doing

 

I think I’d try to be as independent as possible, or that’d at least be the goal.

 

There’s a Lot of variables

I know new drivers two years out of CDL school at the community college ,
That made $97k last year , driving someone else’s brand new W-900 and were home every weekend .

Finding the right small
Company is up to the driver .

Id reccomend you get a few years experience in the biz and learn what
The in’s and outs and how to make a profit , working for someone else .

that said , in 1989 I did exactly what I’m trying to talk you out of .

I got my CDL at the community college and did a lease purchase no money down etc .
The company I leased with had their own fleet of trailers and their own dedicated freight customers . Hauled the trailers long distance on the railroad and had the lease purchase owner operators handle the 250 mile radius of the terminal .

I had no desire to work for someone else , I wanted my own truck and that was that , and no one could talk me out of it.

but I also was young and single and broke and had nothing to lose .

trucking is one of those businesses where when times are good you can make a lot of money . But then times are bad , you can lose a lot of money .

If you buy a truck with no business knowledge , you’re gonna struggle .
The brokers steal
All the good money off the loads .

brokers are flat out thieves .
If you use brokers , you’re always going to struggle

You have to find your own niche and figure out how to make money without competing against the Megas and without using spot market brokers .

id also reccomend a pre emission truck ,
Not to dodge the elogs, because as mentioned. The paper logs are over , the fedgov does whatever they want and asks for “comments “ to give the appearance that they care what anyone who is not shoveling millions in bribes to them really thinks .

Id want a pre emission truck for the reliability .

id want a truck with zero computers .
I’d want a rig with a 400 big cam Cummins mechanical injection pump and no computers at all .

A series 60 Detroit would be the second choice .

For you to succeed at this you’re gonna have to be a decent mechanic and fix the small stuff yourself .
And you’re gonna have to find a knowledgeable trustworthy mechanic to work on your rig .

that mechanic may be a source of finding a rig .
A good mechanic has regular customers and know which ones are thinking of selling their trucks and knows the condition of those trucks since he works on them regularly .