What should I do?

How much more than $100k do you think you could net after all expenses ?

$2k a week and being home a lot driving someone else’s brand new truck is pretty good gig

 

Nobody can answer this for you, and I suspect you already know your decision anyway. It’s common to see here on TTR people make an account and then ask for advice or opinions. Some are never seen again, some argue because their mind is already made up, and a minority seem to really take it all in.

Good luck!

Personally if I went broke and had to start over, of course I’d drive as company driver. It’s called doing what you gotta do to survive and feed your family. It’s better then being on welfare. (IMO!) And id only do that until I had the means again to go back on my own and rebuild. Everybody is different though!

Edit: That company does sound fantastic though btw.

 

Nobody else is willing to mention this, so here goes. Unless you started your career when you were 10 years old, you are approaching that point in life when you might want to think about how much longer you're planning to do this. Just my opinion, staying with an apparently great employer with a great gig would be a lot less messy to walk away from when the time comes, versus as an independent, one truck operation. If you had a solid plan to develop a bigger line of business you could semi-retire at, maybe that would be different.

I'm not saying to do either. Just pointing out something I've started giving more thought to myself. Also, as I get older, I'm more inclined to choose the easy option versus anything that might pay a little more with greater complications to get it. Food for thought.

 

I have great sympathy for the OP seeking opinion from random people on the internet. How about you do you and quit seeking validation from outside sources. Give some serious thought to your situation and maybe pray on it then you will be fine. Life is better when your in charge of your happiness.

 

Since you asked for opinions, here goes.
If I were in your shoes, I would stay where I was at. You have good pay, benefits, decent equipment and they treat you decent. That is what 99% of people want. I'm independent, have been off and on from day 1. I left to goto the oilfield when I had kids because I needed benefits and would still be there if it wasn't such a PC ####.show now. I would have honestly retired from there.....loved it. I'm a very independently spirited person to put it nicely. However, they offered enough of a good deal that I was honestly happy there. So, to get to you. The industry is in turmoil now. What I would do is wait it out another 2 years. This gives manufacturers time to actually manufacture trucks and trailers. Plus it gives time to feel out the industries future. Alot of stuff coming down the pipe lately. If all is good in 2 years and you still want to do it....you should have plenty of coin to make it happen by then. Plus you will hopefully have a better understanding of where this industry is headed. That's
My 2 cents. Good luck.

 

Gotta ask why you got out of it to begin with?

 

This is why people fail in the trucking industry today. They go on the ideals, "if I'm doing great with someone else, surely I can make more on my own",,,and ends with disastrous results. One mistake, or not even, some bozo runs into you and a sharp lawyer ruins your life FOREVER! You want that hanging over your head everytime you go out? Let the boss handle it, seriously. While the site may be new to you, many here have seen this time and time again, and if we could, slap you behind the head with a rolled up newspaper, like grandma used to do, and thought it would actually do any good, we would. Buying your own truck today has to be the most foolish endeavor you could do. I was in a similar situation, drove a company truck for many years, thought, with friends that had their own needling me, my own is the way to go, and 25 years ago, it was a viable replacement from a company job. There were so many things I was unprepared for, stuff I never thought of, insurance, taxes, repairs, mostly that I did myself, but with todays iron, you almost can't, and be ready for $150/hr PLUS, your Chinese part may be floating on a container ship, to be unloaded next Friday. In the meantime, the truck sits with bills piling up. It can take WEEKS to recover from a repair, as long as another one doesn't grace your wallet,,oh, dang, a bolt in a steer tire, well, can't just buy one, there goes $800 bucks, only to maybe run over another one tomorrow. See how frustrating it can be? The boss has plenty of "singles" for a steer tire. I think, insurance, taxes, and regulations, and high cost of operation( fuel goes up .50 cents/gal, that translates into a lot of extra money you may or may not get back)all but killed it for an O/O, and you'd be a fool to leave what you have now. Stop dreaming of riches in trucking, and enjoy the good job you have and buy a boat,,,or something, jeez,, good luck.

 

No
Don’t do it
Stay a company driver