What is the minimum per mile you would run for?

Well sounds like what I'm doing now is similar to what you're thinking about doing, dont price yourself out of this by thinking you have to charge $2 or more a mile just because youre an O/O, taking a dedicated run will mean less money but the reduction in stress and going home every night should make it worth while, 1st you ge
t your foot in the door, provide good service for a month or two, then if you feel you need more for your operation then ask for it ,if they refuse than walk away, or in your case drive away. I drive 430 miles a day, half loaded half mty, I get $550 a day, thats a $1.30 a mile, that comes to $2750 a week, right now fuel is cheap at $$2.37 a gallon (In the south), at 300 gallons a week thats $700 a week for fuel, (was paying $1000 a week when fuel was higher) after factoring fees I'm left with roughly $1900 a week, I aways split the remaining between myself and my buisness, now i pay myself $900 a week and the buisness gets $900+, when fuel was at its highest I was splitting $1600 a week , then i paid myself $800 a week and the buisness got $800, the weight is extremely light , and it takes me 11 hours a day to do a run, that includes a nap....truck and trailer is paid for so this operation works for me, true I may not make as much as a lot of other O/O but i dont work as hard either, and by the way I am running under my own authority, last years pay was $121000, fuel was $45000 ,I paid myself $38000 and the buisness side got $38000, ($40,000 is supposedly an annual average for a truck driver) oh btw that includes taking December off last year...Good Luck

 

So, you went into business for company driver wages. Awesome.

 

Holy moly, don't believe I just read that. I can pull cans and be home every night and make more than that, in Florida, leased to someone. I could go drive for Wally World and make double that with zero risk. Unbelievable!

 

I would take it if I could find something to put on the truck for my return trip, two trips averaging $2 a mile makes it worth it. I did this a while back before I started working for this company locally, Out for one load, picked up something on the way back and that return money was all profit.

 

Isn't it amazing? People do it everyday. Also notice in his figures how there is zero money asked for insurance, plates, permits, etc. Nothing mentioned about any costs except fuel.

 

He will never have any problems finding "easy runs" if his rates are that poor. Some people are just so lazy and put absolutely no effort at all into maximizing what they make. Have no business at all running under their own numbers but they have that right I suppose. They even convince themselves and want to convince others "you don't need $2 a mile"and they believe it too. As if "two bucks a mile" is the zenith of all rates anyways. It would be fun to dispatch a driver like that for a week during busy season when things were tight and show them just how easy it is to make some REAL money. Well, relatively speaking it's easy. Would really be a shocker for them to realize what a dupe they have been. But times like right now that's what you're up against. Dummies that run on rates like that year round and have no clue what the market swings are. Yeah you can always stay busy for a buck thirty a mile, the possibilities are endless lol.

 

Will the 1.30 pm guys go belly up already?!!? I just don't get the the thought process.

The math is simple and it don't take long to go from 1.30 to zero.

 

Look don't get mad at me because I know how to manage my money, like i said i know i can make more, IF i want to run the road, sleep in my truck every night, driving ungodly hours, eating fast food, staring at the load board, arguing with brokers, trying to find a parking place for sleep, stressed out trying to make a little more so you can justify being out for so long at a time. I dont have to call other people on here DUMMIES to prove a point, or have to justify the buisness #'S to show you how to do it. If leaving for work every day at 7 am and getting home at 6 pm means i make less than the normal stressed out driver than i will take less. What Most of the haters don't understand is that the run this driver is talking about is probably posted on the load board, it pays going one way, the shipper doesn't need to pay more than needed to get that load covered, and this driver probably cant guarantee he can cover this load every day so he cant ask for top carrier rates unless he can perform top carrier service..so what I'm saying is get your foot in the door, ask for a rate that works for you , not for what other drivers tell you is needed to get by, to many scenarios to just throw a random # out there and say this is what you need, the biggest being location, I live in the south where rates or not as high, and the cost of living is not as high. ..again good luck, and to all the BIG MOUTHS out there, im sitting at home with my family fixing to eat pancakes, nice to be home so much, I think today I will go next door and talk to the lonely truckers wife and comfort her..

 

It has nothing to do with money management. Guys like you are ok with living in your parents basement, still pretending you're a teen at 25. Others have families, homes, college funds, etc.
When I was young and single, had my authority and was home nearly every day and every weekend, I still averaged $2 a mile with 50% empty, and that was in the early 2000's. You're leaving money on the table, and if you think you're going to be able to increase your price anything meaningful, you'll see, the minute you hit them with a price increase, they'll start shopping.