Success or failure

Assuming you know all the facts that may be true but you don't. Of course you're quick to jump on the "rate" because most people can only envision standard in the box freight.

You mention two things but forgot about the third thing, volume.

We need specialized heavy haul and like I said there is not enough equipment for the volume required so I was considering buying equipment and hiring drivers which is what this thread is about.

 

I've always made more staying regional. But that's my niche and market. When I leave my market, I am not as well versed on the lanes and rates. Some guys just do coast to coast and that's there market. What I'm trying to tell you is to pick what you like to run, i.e. : coast to coast, regional, north south. Then pick the freight that runs in that lane. If it's coast to coast you'll probably want a reefer. Or if it's Up in the oh or in area's you could go flat. Once you do that learn the lanes, rates and peak and slow times. And you'll do very well regardless of what you do.

 

No offense meant sir, and please don't take this personal, but if you do not know the answer to that question, you should not be conversing with owner operators.

 

Have you tried going to Facebook to find the drivers page who work for those companies that you read about on the Internet and asking those drivers how they like the pay? If you found a website for that company, you should be able to find a drivers site for that company.

 

Not sure if you were asking me, but I am still a company driver. My wife said not to think about going in it on my own until after taxes are done. I get paid by the mile, so the further I go the more I make. I enjoy driving itself so when we get the nice long easy runs with lots of miles and few headaches, its nice. We go east coast to west coast and back each week. I run as a team. I have a good co-driver and we have been teamed up for over two years.

 

It isn't great, but if you run a lot you can make more than a company driver. There are a lot of variables which can help or hurt. The owner of our company said if he made less than $1.75 profit a mile on average, it wasn't worth his time, and that's with multiple trucks running all the time.