[coastie]

Originally Posted by Sonny Pruitt

This is a problem about being mislead
by some posters on the boards
To anyone wanting to get their own authority
This is not a piece of cake
I wrote about it then and I will tell you now
you can lose your shirt

That goes for any business you go into, I have attempted in running a retail store, and lost everything and bounced back, and I am not giving up yet.

I do not think anyone on here said it will be easy, but have said it lots of work, and risky. Fuel prices are not helping but it still can be done.

Gcal sorry to hear of your set back, but keep the wheel going forward.

[Sonny Pruitt]

you must be reading another board

if you point out the risks etc
you are considered a "nay sayer"
you will find very few posters pointing out how difficult
operating your own authority is
without a list of tried and true connections

plus there are a lot of b.s. artists who inflate their revenue
who are leading people who want to get their authority
into false $$$ expectations

[allan5oh]

Mr. Sonny I think you are a little misinformed about what I said in the other post.

I stated that now is a fine time to buy your truck and get on with a good company, but didn't say anything about getting own authority because I do not know enough about that.

And I'm right, a good business plan with a disciplined owner and a solid fuel mileage/reliable truck will get you far in this industry.

It's all about reducing costs as much as you can right now. Several projections are that freight is going to stay this way well into 2008.

[gcal]

Thanks for the advice. I do have that gypse blood in me thats for sure and everytime I pass a truck on the free way I wonder were he is going, whats he hauling, were is he coming from, what did he pay for his truck, etc etc.
I really would like to go out and this time make it but when I read all the things in the papers, boards and land line, I get really disappointed in whats happinging to the trucking business.
I would love to own my own truck that actually was good looking, saved me money and even was comfortable and powerfull enough to take big loads with no problem. But I just can't imagine that happing anytime in the future. After my little, and I do mean little LOL, trucking adventure I ruined my credit so bad I don't think I could rent the steam off a hot dog long enough to smell it.

So I am just going to keep working for this company for now and see what happens. I really need to hunker down for the winter and work all I can and rebuild. Maybe in the future I will buy something but I will not even give it anymore thought until I see this business take a turn for the better.
My hat goes off to you who have the nerve to do this and the will to stay with it even when it gets tough.
I hope one day this industry wakes up and the truckers say enough is enough and get together and do something about all the wrong things in this business. Until then the people who pass and make laws will not care and just keep throwing one rock after another at the truckers of today. I am just afraid we will end up receiving freight from all kinds of "interesting people" LOL who don't follow regs, speak English or even care about others as they drive to point B. But they will haul it cheap and thats all anyone will cares about.
Beware shippers and brokers because you get what you pay for and the day something happens with your load on a truck that it shouldn't be on and you are responsible for something that turned out very bad, maybe then you will rethink that extra 10cents a mile.


My advice to anyone who is thinking about getting there own authority is to really reconsider it and read my earlier post.

Your not going to drug my coffee then steal my truck are you?

[rank]

thanks for posting Gcal. your post will save people thousands and thousands of dollars.

If I were you I wouldn't consider it a failure. If there is a next time, you will succeed because of what you did then. You spent less than a year and $15,000 learning alot about the trucking business. That's about the cost of a college education and you didn't waste the 3 years.

If there is no next time t's because you are smart enough to know that a company job pays better than your own authority.

Getting out after losing only $15k? You got off easy I'd say.

[gcal]

Originally Posted by SteveBooth

Your not going to drug my coffee then steal my truck are you?

LOL I always did like western stars LOL


As for it a failure...I consider it like this: If you sit at the table and play, hope to win but also expect to lose and when you do, walk away before you loss everything and can't play again.

I will try it again (I can't believe I just typed that after what I went through) LOL Because I am a trucker at heart not an office person or a 9-5 robot in a factory. Only problem is I hope I am old enough to drive when I do try again. LOL

[trucker cuma]

Originally Posted by GMAN

That is where factoring can come in handy. You lose some of the profit, but have the cash flow until you can build your reserves. Cash flow has put a lot of people out of business. There are factors who have a non-recourse agreement. In other words, they buy your receivables, usually at a higher discount rate, but assume all the risks. If the shipper or broker fails to pay, you still have your money and they cannot charge back anything to you. Some factors have a lower rate, but you can still be charged back if the shipper doesn't pay by a certain time. I have one with whom I deal and they charge 5%. I have my money within 1 day from when they receive my bills. I like them because I don't have to factor all my receivables. I only send them what I want. Some factors require you to send them a minimum amount of receivables each month and have minimum fees. You need to be careful when signing with a factor. Some have some very restrictive clauses and hidden fees. I don't factor everything, so this factor works well for me. I can stop factoring a receivable at any time. Whether you like the idea of factoring or not, it is a way to free needed capital to run your business.

I believe this is very valuable information.That`s I would like to ask some questions.

is factoring (a non-recourse agreement) sign between trucker and shipper/broker?

Basically, how it is work?

You lose some of the profit! Where the money goes?

if anything happen like not to receive your money then what its going to be?

[heavyhaulerss]

fld 120 flat top. 350 big cam cummings, 9 speed, with 390 rears. short wheel base and a sliding 5th wheel. good enough ?? but i dont have my own trailer YET.

looks like with this setup you will not be getting good mpg... saving 2 mpg would make a trailer payment.

[GMAN]

Originally Posted by trucker cuma

I believe this is very valuable information.That`s I would like to ask some questions.

is factoring (a non-recourse agreement) sign between trucker and shipper/broker?

Basically, how it is work?

You lose some of the profit! Where the money goes?

if anything happen like not to receive your money then what its going to be?

There are a couple of ways a factor works. First is the non-recourse factor. If the factor fee is 5%, then they advance all of the money for a particular invoice except for their fee. For instance, let's say you want to factor an invoice for $1,000. After you deliver your load you put your bills in a TripPak envelope and drop it at any truck stop which has a pickup. The factor receives the bills the next day. They can either wire the money into your account, give you a comcheck number the same day for an additional charge, or direct deposit directly into your back account. I prefer the direct deposit. It takes another day but you don't have to worry about it. The wire transfer involves an extra fee of about $25. There could also be a fee attached to the comcheck. These extra fees are in addition to their regular charges. There is only a $1 fee to direct deposit. As I stated, the bills are $1,000. The factor fee is 5% plus $1 for the direct deposit. The day after the factor receives the bills you should have a deposit in your account for $949. So you drop the bills today, the factor receives them tomorrow and you have money the following day. Two days after you drop the bills the money is in your account.

The second type of factor charges a lower fee, but will charge the bills back to you after a certain point if the broker or shipper fails to pay them. They usually advance about 80% of the total amount. Some may advance a little more. Fees range from about 1/2% up. I know of one who charges 1% per week. The longer a shipper or broker takes to pay the higher the fees. There could also be additional fees, depending on the factor.

When you deal with factors it is the credit of the broker or shipper which is what they are interested. The positive aspect is that you don't jeopardize or risk your personal credit or use up a credit line. The down side is that you will give up some of the profit. Factoring should not necessarily be a permanent way to finance your business. It is always best to operate on your own money rather than having to give some of it away to a factor. It is a way to help grow a business with little or no risk, depending on which type of factor you decide to use.

Some factors have minimum monthly fees or amounts of receivables which they require in order to do business with you. Some require you to factor all of your bills with them. I prefer only factoring those which I want to factor and none if that is what I decide.