Thinking of buying a truck

[bigrigjoe66]

I love to drive but hate to work for scrub companies. I worked for a o/o who just went out of buisness, drugs/gambling. Thats where he put his money. Anyway, I had it made. 30% of gross. I booked my own loads. Went home when I wanted stayed as long as I wanted. Fueled where I wanted, ran legal if I wanted. You can see how this goes, it was like it was my own truck but not all the profits. I have enough money to buy a used truck but not a newer used truck. Here's my question. Do I have to have my own authority and stuff to buy a truck and then lease on with a company. I guess I do if I want to book my own loads but what do I need to do to buy a truck then lease on with someone. Also is there an age limit on the truck for companies. Thanks for any help

[GMAN]

You don't need authority if you lease to a carrier. The better carriers don't usually have an age limitation on owner operator trucks. But they may require more frequent inspections on older trucks. As long as your truck looks decent and will pass a DOT inspection you should not have a problem leasing on to one of these carriers. There are carriers who will allow you to find your own loads. Landstar is one of them. In fact, that is how you get your loads. They don't have dispatchers. There are other carriers who have similar setups. The advantage of leasing to a carrier is that they pay the insurance and handle all compliance issues. The down side is that they usually take about 25% of the line-haul. If you run your authority you will need to buy a trailer. If you pull a van then you should be able to pull their trailer. Specialized trailers such as flats or step decks usually require you to have your own or rent one from the carrier or outside source. There are some carriers who will let you pull their trailers if you have your own authority. You will be much better off with your own trailer if you want to run your own authority. If you want to lease to a carrier you will need to fill out an application as you would when you apply for a driver position. Some carriers will inspect your truck when you get to orientation, others will require you to have an inspection done at a location they specify. You will need to pay your 2290 and send a copy of the receipt along with a copy of your title and signed contract to your carrier. If you plan on buying your own base plate then you should not need to send your title to them. Some carrier have new prospects take a drug test before orientation, others will wait until you get to orientation. As long as everything checks out on your application you could be in orientation in a few days. One thing to keep in mind is that when you own the truck you not only keep any profits but you also pay all the bills.

[sidman82]

I'll sell you my truck & dry van as a package.