To go independent or not

A little bit of a backstory about me I got my CDL in 2007 and 2008 on December 6 two days before my birthday I was going around a blind curve when a car showed up on my lane. So I decided to take it off road instead of kill somebody. I didn’t take into account the ditch and I ended up all in the truck lost my job I had just changed jobs three months before that to the day. After that I tried getting back into driving for about a month when I was heading to look at a truck I was thinking about buying and my jeep got ran over by a roadway truck. I feared the industry for the next 10 years working crappy jobs. Two years ago I started driving local again now I drive local part-time and do factory maintenance the rest the time.

I’m sitting here thinking about buying my own truck. I’m thinking it might be a good idea to attach myself for the first six months to one of the big carriers and save a little bit of money to fill out the paperwork for my own authority. Or should I hit the ground running and go ahead and get my authority. I’ve been looking at Load Board trying to figure out what kind of driving I would do if I go independent. I’m currently thinking power only for a little while till I save up to buy a trailer or at least pay some down.

my overall goal is not to just have one truck but to build a fleet of trucks but I’m trying to decide what is the best first step for me.