Why is it so hard to make money as a independent?

fortycal, you got it dead right. I dont have to pay em so I buy where its the cheapest without worring about ifta. now I try not to fuel in ga where I live , as its actually cheaper in sc, tn or al. ga has a low fuel tax but a high sales tax index for fuel. so I will fill up on the way home to avoid buying any before I get out of ga.

but even with that being the case, if ya do end up with a credit on ifta . mercer applies it to next years tag. the last two years without even trying, I had almost perfect ifta for the year, 2 years ago I got a 48 cent credit and this past year I got a 70 cent credit.

I do wish the young fellow skinny would understand what I am trying to point out to him, he thinks I am name calling, when I am just trying to show him a different way.

 

You don't pay IFTA, I do. I run my own authority, you don't. I pay my own tags up front, you don't. We have two different mentalities. I run a LLC with everything in my name, you run Leased on to someone. That is why I run everything by the load, because I look at day to day operations; Then week to week; Then month to month; Then year to year. I also extrapolate to set up forecast for expenses and revenue. Also, I have the added stress of having to keep an eye on my drivers so that they aren't stealing. The difference in approaches is from a lone driver vs a fleet owner.

 

Skinny, that's the beauty of being the company owner. You get to do it your way. What you don't know is that some of us are also independent and have fleets. Or have done so at one time or another. And most of them didn't go to a lease because they failed at being independent. They got tired of the hassles and headaches that come with managing employee drivers and now make more profit on their lease arrangement. Even a guy like me that knows everything can see they aren't just making this stuff up for entertainment.

What is certain is that your short term fuel strategy easily leaves around $500 a quarter on your expense line versus the profit line. Per truck.

 

I do pay ifta, I pay fuel taxes with every gallon I buy, I just don't have to pay for any shortage( if ya read earlier post of mine you would see I do a almost perfect ifta without even trying) I also had my own authority with 2 trucks and 6 leased own drivers for 15 years, and before that ran exempt with a reefer for 5 years.

I pay for tag each march 31st in one lump sum just like you.

I ran mine under as a sole proprietor.

I didn't have to keep such an eye on my drivers, one was me and the other was so trusted that when I gave up my authority, I gave him the title to his truck.

my lease would only be stealing from themselves.

I been there done that and got the t-shirt, I did just as red foreman said, after economy took the dump, it was just much easier to only worry about myself, and I had got to the age I just wanted to cut back and worry with just myself.

I just simply got rid of the stress.

running a business is running a business whether you have one truck or 100, whether you are leased to a company or have your own authority. that's the trap many fall into, they think there is some difference.

an llc , a scorp wont guarantee success.

an running on a load to load basis isn't the best way for business. running that way prevents long term planning.

and again if you are spending a great amount of time ensuring drivers don't steal, you have hired the wrong people. but it is really easy to spot a thief, if ya know how to do it.

I would bet my per mile avg for speedometer miles is higher than many many folks running there own authority, but that isn't some great mystery, its simply due to experience .

your former posts in this thread are a direct contradiction to your last one, it just doesn't figure someone buying fuel on a load to load basis because they might need the 400 bucks for a repair would have hired drivers. that's a surprise

 

got to be one of the most diplomatic posts I have ever made.

 

Yeah no doubt lol

 

Simple economics of why a larger firm makes more than a single driver. Lets say both are looking at simple, rounded numbers, $2.00 per loaded mile.
Company A (Large fleet) has 100 trucks @ $2.00 per mile = $200.00 per loaded mile. Avg driver has 100,000 loaded miles per year = $20,000,000 (yes 20 MILLION).
Company B (Independent) has himself, using the same formulation, that's a $200,000 a year proposition.

Cost comparison:
Co. A has a truck blow an engine. The driver gets to sit at home while its repaired (no cost to the company and if he quits and goes somewhere else, there is always another trained monkey waiting around the corner to sit in his seat, turn the steering wheel and mash the gas) and 99 other drivers are STILL running to pay for the repairs.

Co. B has to make all his payments the same. His truck is sitting in the shop making $0 which means HE is making $0. He has truck insurance, payments(possibly), taxes, permit fees, licensing fees and now has a $15,000 bill to put a rebuilt engine in his truck. He has nowhere else to go while his truck is down for a week. He doesn't have 99 other trucks making him his money nor can he "quit" and go work for Prime to pay his rent next month.

Co. A had another driver pickup the load from the broke down driver and deliver it only 5 hours late. No monetary back charges.
Co. B delivers a week late and is charged $1,000 per day in late fees. Another $7,000 bill, unless he wants to see his freight insurance go through the roof.

Co. A has bargaining power with direct shippers. They can dedicate 20 of their trucks to running freight. If 1 of the 20 breaks down, another will be there within the day to pickup the load and continue on. They can secure lower freight rates in return for guaranteed business. A mere $0.10 decrease to the shipper per mile is astronomical in the yearly scheme. With 100 trucks, they can afford to reduce their rates slightly and still make a profit, even though they have the exact same operating expenses as the independent.
Co B. has to suck it up and accept the rates now at $1.90 and figure it out. Or he can choose to haul someone else's freight or choose to sit and play all macho on the CB in the truck stop ######## about how Obama, Schneider and Swift are screwing him over.

*Disclaimer* The numbers listed above ($2.00 paid mileage, 100,000 miles and $1,000 a day substantiated damages) were listed as even examples and are in NO way indicative of what a driver will or will not make.

 

Company A has a huge overhead that cancels most advantages over company B. Those glossy ads, greyhound tickets, etc aren't cheap.
Company B when he blew his motor, called Penske, got a rental and delivered his load and will return the truck when his truck is done.

 

Explain how.

 

You said you have a fleet, and spending $400 on fuel could make of break whether you're able to fund a repair.....
im a one truck chuck, I dropped my equipment off last nite for a complete suspension revamp with carte blanc for the shop to do anything else related that needs doing.
thats a 'what' not a 'why' I realize:

more trucks and drivers doesn't put you ahead if you aren't savvy-it only exacerbates the flaws in your operation and drives you toward failure more quickly.

instead of jumping on the defense, take some time to consider what I said. Took me several hours and vodka lemonades to come up with