Need some opinions!

[GMAN]

Just like everyone else I don't want to work for the man, I want to be the man.
My plan is to be a company driver for a couple years, as I'm doing that I will be learning by experience and asking you truckers for advice. I want to learn as much as I can in those 2 years.
After the 2 years I will buy my own truck, drive it myself. Once it is paid off I will drive it it for another year, saving up money. So, after the 3rd year I will buy another truck and put someone in it. Possibly put someone in my 1st truck so if a driver needs or wants some time off I can get in either truck so both trucks are making me money.
The last thought in my mind is to buy a truck after I get the previous one paid off or as finances allow.

There is my business plan lol. Any thoughts or advice, both positive and negative are welcome.

I am glad to see that you plan to drive for a couple of years before jumping into truck ownership. Too many jump into ownerhip without giving much thought about planning for contingencies. There have been a few who have come into the business without experience who have made things work out. That is a very small group. One person that was mentioned bought a truck with no experience and was able to make things work, but he had a lot of cash put back. I believe he stated at one point that he spent about $80,000 to get started. It is much less costly to learn the business as a company driver while you learn the business and save your money. It doesn't need to cost $80,000 to get started.

I prefer having as little debt as possible. If you plan to lease your truck to a carrier you will need less money than if you want to run your own authority. We have discussed the cost of ownership on a number of occasions. You can do a search to find some of what has been posted that will give you an idea of what you need to get started. I would encourage you to save your money and pay cash for your first truck. If you only saved $200/week for 2 years you would have enought to buy a decent truck and not have any payments. If you put $300/week back then you would be able to pay cash for a good truck and have cash for a good maintenance account.

Over the next couple of years you have a great opportunity to learn and save. It is also an excellent opportunity to begin looking at trucks and do some planning. When I am thinking about buying another piece of equipment, I spend a lot of time looking at trucks and/or trailers. When you have the cash, you can often get a much better deal on equipment.

I would not be in too much of a hurry to buy more than one truck that you drive yourself. You can make money with a single truck. Many people find that they make less with more trucks than with a single truck where they drive it themselves. Good luck.

[BanditsCousin]

I think I was the one that bought a 80k truck lol

[Bigmon]

I think he means Booth

[BanditsCousin]

I didn't know Booth bought a house, just land.

[solo379]

went to the local cat dealer they had it done in a hour and a half and i needed 2 clamps.

Wow! That's impressive! And what dealer is that? I assume you are in NJ?

[firebird_1252]

i'm in pa. i went to Cleveland brothers. a few people i see here complained about them but i have not one gripe about them at all. this is the one off exit 77 on i81 behind the speedco. its the second time i've used them. first time was for a pm and overhead run. it came to $364 with cat oil, all cat filters and a fuel filter. the mechanic tim there is top notch. a no bs guy either. gave him a $20 tip and he also did a free boost leak test. the air to air came to $143 to have it installed. another great thing is mon-thurs they're open 24 hours for service. i recomend them.

[solo379]

i recomend them.

Good deal! Thanks! It's in my running area, and i'm most certainly going to pay them a visit!

[Bigmon]

I didn't know Booth bought a house, just land.

House is being built or it's a pre fab. Not 100 % sure.

[BanditsCousin]

I hear it is gonna be built sometime in the future. I know where, too! I'm gonna TP it when he's out of town and let my dog turd all over his lawn!

[Wiley]

Just an update. I am getting my start with Schneider. It's a Midwest Regional, 5 on 2 off at 36cpm. I have heard good and bad things about them but I'm sure that goes with every company!

[solo379]

I'm sure that goes with every company!

Yeah! Well good luck, i believe it's a good company for starters. (no personal experience with them).