The first thing that you need to ask yourself is:
Am I doing this to make a profit?
Because you asked about covering expenses. Why would you want to work hard just to cover expenses and have nothing to show for it? The purpose behind investing in a business is to make PROFIT!
What it takes to cover your expenses depends entirely on what your expenses are. If you are going to be working locally we will assume for the moment that you will be paid by the hour. Working 80 days per year at 10 hours per day = 800 hours total.
There are fixed and variable costs. The following numbers are examples and may or may not apply to your situation. There is no substitute for getting your own numbers by experience.
Insurance: $15,000 per year = $18.75 per hour
Truck payment: $25,000 per year = $31.25 per hour
Registration: $2,000 per year = $2.50 per hour
Maintenance $10,000 per year = $12.50 per hour.
Fuel: 10 gallons per hour = $30 per hour
Tires: $2400 per year = $3.00 per hour
Oil changes: $800 per year = $1.00 per hour.
Misc fluids: $1.00 per hour
So at this point you are at a cost of $100 per hour BEFORE operator wage.
If you can find local work that pays better than $100 per hour on your schedule then go for it. Here in Maine a tractor trailer end dump hauling gravel brings $65 per hour, and wood chip haulers bring in $75 to $85 per hour.
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Nothing is foolproof to a talented fool.
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The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
-- J R R Tolkien
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