Well I got approved for my own financing (no fleece purchase here :P ) at %9.75 interest which is the best I could find. I found a Freightliner Classic XL with 580,000 miles on it for $37,000, I'm putting down $15,000 cash and financing the remaining $22,000. My payments will be $1006 per month for 2 years. I also have $15,000 cash in reserve.
My wife works full time so I have health insurance. I drive for Crete and the miles are there. I've calculated all my expenses and with a low payment, the down payment, cash reserves and no health insurance premiums I believe I'm in an excellent position to do this.
:arrow: I'm really excited and nervous at the same time. I plan on sharing my day to day, week to week experiences on my blog. I'll post a link to it once it's all setup.
I'd like to thank those that have offered advice to me. I'd also like to throw a couple pieces of advice out there to you guys/gals thinking about becoming an O/O...
1.Don't just believe one person or any member on a web forum who is already doing it and may have done it for years.
Rather, ask as many people as possible. And prepare for arguments :roll:
2.
Don't expect to get rich quickly.
3.Don't spend all your money on toys or chrome, or just be wasteful in general.
4.Always look for ways to cut costs.
5.Don't think that just because you're a hard worker that you will make it as an O/O, there are lots of guys out there who bust their tails 24/7/365 just to break even.
6.Find a local mechanic that you trust.
7.If you get a used truck be sure to take out a minimum of 8 cents a mile (I believe you could get away with 5 cents /mile for a brand new truck) for breakdowns or whatever else.
8.And a very important thing IMO-
get an accountant that knows the transportation industry. I've been researching/kicking this around for years and I learned more in one hour by talking to an accountant that specializes in the industry than any other form of research combined.