Think it'll work?

Hello, all. I'm a new member and just jointed hoping to get some perspective about an idea I have. I've been researching this for a couple of years now and don't really find much specific to what I'm planning. Maybe there's someone out there that's been through this.

A little bit of background... I grew up on a friend's farm in Nebraska and still occasionally help out. I learned to drive heavy machinery before I had a driver's license. I learned to drive a semi out there while I was in high school. I've never owned a vehicle with an automatic transmission. I went to college for diesel tech and have a background as a mechanic, although that is not what I do right now. I've worked for an equipment rental company for 10 years now with several years as a driver hauling equipment. About every 1-3 years I seem to get to train a new driver because companies like this are hard on them. I find myself at a point in my career that I'm not likely to advance any farther without relocating, which I'm not willing to do. I'm the guy that can do any job at the store because I've done every job. However, it rarely ever benefits me. It's actually more detrimental than anything else. I'm expected to be the point person and I'm not compensated for it. Such is life at corporate...

So, for several years, I've been planning my escape. The way I figure, with a background like this and the situation I find myself in, I figure that it doesn't make much sense to be making someone else all the money. My plan is to buy a truck and start doing custom hauling within the immediate area. I can find a good drop deck and a good side dump trailer and probably have enough work to keep myself plenty busy. If the truck breaks, I have enough experience to work on things myself. I've worked in sales long enough that I know how to run the books, generate invoices, and pay bills. I know enough to know what isn't a strength I have, like taxes and insurance stuff. I'll find people that do know those things. I would stay in the immediate area, essentially working the 100 air mile radius, to avoid ELD's. There's several other small guys that operate pretty similar to what I'm planning on doing and they seem to be constantly busy. I think between construction and ag around here, there's plenty of work to go around.

There are a few pitfalls that I already recognize. One of the biggest this is what corporate can offer other than in terms of pay. Walking away from the insurance and benefits will be difficult, but not impossible. Walking away from the guaranteed paycheck is worrisome too but nothing risked, then nothing earned. I also understand that right now is probably not the greatest time to get into transportation because of fuel prices and equipment costs. I do understand that I don't need to go blow $250k on a starter truck/trailer setup, but buying the cheapest piece of junk is a poor choice too. I think the used market is softening up and of I come across a good deal, I'm pretty likely to jump on it.

I guess, what I'm getting at is I have this idea but don't have anyone that knows enough about this industry that I can discuss this with. What do you guys think of this? Pipe dream or viable?

 

Great stuff, guys! Thanks for the input so far. I really do appreciate it. My finances are pretty well in order. All I really have for debt is a mortgage. My wife of 3 years has a good, steady job that she makes good money at but not enough to support the entire household. Three years doesn't sound like a lot but we dated for 6 or 7, so neither one of us is going anywhere. By virtue of our dual income over the years, we've saved up decent money and could most likely buy most of the equipment we need without help from the bank, as long as the price is right. I'm not sure if I'll make my move this year or not because the economy seems to be tanking and fuel prices are ridiculous. I honestly wanted to make the leap several years ago but realized we weren't ready financially and we were in the process of getting married and such. Now we have a 9 month daughter which complicates things a bit.

As far as my motivation for wanting to start this business venture... Well, being sick of playing corporate "yes man" is a big part, but not the only one. Sure, the money that could be made is substantial and I do like that part too. But, the biggest motivation my wife and I have for doing this is our child and future children we may yet have. My wife is a farm girl too, so we both had pretty similar childhoods. We'd absolutely love to raise our kids on the farm too, but that's not likely to happen. We figure, with my skillset, that the next best thing is this trucking idea. Something the kids can help with when they're old enough and something to show them that they don't need to work for other people, they can work for themselves. You know, American dream kind of stuff.

I see a lot of stuff on the internet and YouTube about guys starting out as O/O's and most of it is applicable but not all of it fits what I'm doing. I'm certainly not going to be coast to coast. I just thought it was a bit strange that you don't see a lot of guys like me talking about doing something small scale like what I'm planning. Got me to thinking that maybe there's a reason for that, so I decided to start looking for more input, which you guys are doing very well!

Thanks!