What to buy?

They are hiring people because people are quitting. 10 people get hired 9 people leave. That is what is going on my friend.

 

Go to the Conway thread and watch how many of those guys cry about getting down to Laredo and being number 40 on the list to get the next load out. These mega carriers are known for hiring more people then they have freight. Its just greed.

 

This is why people are trying to tell you to get your feet wet. Before you try to make a decision like buying a truck. Never know one of these companies might give you a brand new truck so that you can tear up. Then when you buy your own. It will have less scratches and dents because hopefully you have learned from your mistakes. Mistakes are going to happen my friend. Some minor and some serious. These companies also will fire you for very little and that's another reason people are always hiring.

 

Read this thread you might learn something.http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...erator/70022-instant-o-o-and-load-boards.html

 

Want to make money? or need to make money? There's a difference. And that difference is important in this case because so far, you're showing all the signs of someone who is likely to lose far more money than you make. So if you want to make money then the worst that will happen is you could end up disappointed. OTOH, if you need to make money the worst that could happen is you end up losing a substantial amount of investment money.

As for actual figures you're right, it varies. But some of the O/O's in my company make around $60k others make more. Being able to bring in $80K or more isn't unheard of if you do run hard and make every decision based on maximizing profitability. And in case we haven't made it clear already, you are NOT making decisions based on any kind of profitability.

Go to truckpaper.com and you figure it out yourself. New Freightliner Cascadia's list for about $150k. The list on 2009 models looks to be between $65k-$70k. I would suspect the percentage is similar for other makes and models. Of course these are dealers list prices. Its unlikely you'll get that much when it comes time to sell so I would probably figure on $100k depreciation in the first 3 years just to be safe. That's a lot of money to risk just because you're afraid you MIGHT end up with a truck you don't like at your first job.


So on that note, allow me to offer some real world perspective. Before I start, I'll say up front that I can tell you've already made up your mind about what you want to do and I don't expect to sway you from that. I offer this perspective only as some counterpoint and on the hope of helping others who might find this thread at a later date.

Ok so my first job was regional driving. It was team operations for a company that specialized in handling logistics for chain restaurants. Basically it was a 4 day work week and we were back in the terminal every day but the trips were long enough that you needed two drivers to get it done legally. This company had all leased Freightliners which were typically rotated out on a two year cycle. IOW, most of the trucks were less than two years old. We also used a bid system for routes based on seniority. So as you'd expect, guys who had been there longest typically had the best/newest trucks and the best routes.

So here I am a new guy and I get one of the oldest trucks. Which isn't all that old and isn't all that beat up. Its in pretty good shape actually and I'm fine with it. That is until the weather started getting cold. That's when I discovered a problem with the heater. It wouldn't make any heat until you slide the temp control all the way to the hottest position. Then it poured out the heat full blast. But move the control a fraction of an inch toward cold and you got no heat at all. We had maintenance right at the terminal so I squawked it when we got back the next day and figured it would be taken care of. Showed up that night and rolled out again, it wasn't fixed. Same deal, all heat or no heat. Squawked it again and this time went in talked to one of the mechanics about it.

He basically said yeah we know about but we can't fix it. I said can't? Or won't? He said they've known about the issue for a while and have replaced every part they could think of and nothing fixed it so they weren't going to bother trying any longer. I went right my DM's office and told him he was sending me out to drive all night in a truck that was either 90 degrees or 32. And driving all night in a 90 degree truck is just asking to fall asleep at the wheel so he was putting my life in danger. He said I don't have any other trucks right now. I said you've got to come up with something because I'm not driving that one again. He hesitated for a bit and said ok, I can do this for you. He said, you can't keep it because its been promised to someone else, but there's a brand new truck out back that's ready to go. You can take it, but you can't keep it.

I said great, works for me. I'll take it until you're ready to give it to whoever is supposed to get it. When that happens, I'll give them the new one and you can give me their old one. So I left that night in a brand new truck with 13 miles on it. And as it turned out, apparently possession was 9/10ths of the law there because the DM never asked me to give the truck back. I drove that truck for the rest of my time with that company.

That is a real world example of what can happen with new drivers at their first driving job. So I had to drive a truck with wonky heat for exactly 2 days. And to keep from having to endure that sort of horrific ordeal yourself, you're considering throwing $100k out the window on depreciation. To be blunt about it, that's just plain dumb.

Like I said, I don't expect to sway you on this at all. But I'm going to try none the less so I'd like to suggest you consider doing the following before you make any final decisions. Find a largest truck dealer in your area. Not a little mom & pop with half a dozen trucks. Go to a large dealer that has 50 or 100 trucks on the lot, doesn't matter what make they sell because you're not buying anything just yet. Just go to the dealer, tell them you're looking to go the O/O and you're looking for a good solid truck that's not new but not more than 5 years old. Then, take a test drive. And that's it. That's all I want you to do. Just take a test drive and then go home. Just drive a used truck and see how you like it.

And while you're at it here's something else you should definitely do. Call some insurance companies. Get some quotes for a brand new truck and get some quotes for a 3 or 4 year old truck. I'm actually not sure how much the difference in premium will be but this is something you'll want to do before you go much further with this regardless of what you choose.

 

I am a company driver. I started with my company a month ago. I have a 2011 Volvo and pull reefer. Very nice truck. Very comfy to drive. The best part of company driving is I don't pay for my fuel, tires, break-downs, truck payments or inspection boo-boos. Drive company for awhile at least til u get your feet wet. Freight slows way way down between January and March like Dinomite says and with company truck u won't have to worry about making payments when ur sitting at home waiting for a load. All the companies you mentioned (Schneider, etc.....) most of the trucks of theirs that I see on the road are brand new or a year or two old. Drive one of them and see if trucking is really really what you want. I wouldn't even worry about a satellite TV set up either for right now. Ship/receive times are usually so tight (when it is busy) that u won't have much time to do anything but sleep (at least until slow freight season). GOOD LUCK and hope u find what ur looking for