The only insurance company I know of who will write an inexperienced driver is Progressive. If that is your only option, then you will likely be limited to a 300 mile radius for the first year. Most brokers will require $1MM in liability, $100M cargo to book a load with them. That is higher than is required by the Feds. I have one shipper with whom I am talking now who want me to have $1MM cargo for their loads. I am not sure it will be worth the extra expense. Your best bet on insurance is to contact a broker and let them shop it for you. Some states have a shared risk pool. Most brokers should be aware of whether it is available in your state. It is my understanding that anyone can qualify, even without experience. While entering this business and getting your authority without experience is risky, some have made it work. As long as you have sufficient funds available to you until the money starts coming in, you have a much better chance of making it than someone who has little or no resources available to them. If the limited radius works for you, then Progressive may be the way to go. Northland, Great West are two of the larger motor carrier insurers. You should be able to do a search for them on the Internet. I believe both require at least 2 years experience, but you may work something out on the cargo.

Volvo makes a good truck. There are other aerodynamic trucks on the market that do as well on fuel mileage. How a truck is spec'd and is driven affects your fuel mileage more than the type of truck. Volvo, T600, Columbia (Freightliner), International can all do well on fuel mileage. Some others are 387 Peterbilt and T2000 Kenworth. Basically, anything other than a 379 Peterbilt or W900 Kenworth. The long, flat hoods with external air cleaners will likely be the worst on fuel mileage. As far as the way it should be spec'd, that will depend on where you run and what you haul. If you plan on running mostly in the Rocky Mountains, the I would go with something in the range of 425-550 hp and a 10 or 13 speed transmission. You will also want to make sure to get a sliding 5th wheel. Most trucks have them, but it is usually good to be able to move it, if necessary.

I get fairly decent mileage from a CAT, but Cummins or Detroit usually seem to do best on fuel economy. Cummins is probably the least expensive to repair. CAT is the most expensive. I have a CAT with over 800M miles on it that has never had any major engine work done. A lot of it involves how you maintain and drive the trucks.

As far as getting loads, experience has little to do with whether a broker will load you or not. The main thing they are concerned with is whether your motor carrier is current and you have sufficient amounts of insurance. Having said that, some of the best paying loads will not be advertised on load boards and they will only put them with those with whom they know have a good track record and safety record. You can get some decent paying loads off of the load boards, but they will try to move them as cheaply as possible. To give you an idea, I have people for whom I am hauling freight between $2.25-2.65/mile. One of their competitors was advertising rates on a board for $1.50/mile. That is a big difference in rates. The people for whom I haul NEVER use load boards. They only book loads with those whom they know or have dealt with in the past. The only way I find what they have available is to either call them or they call me. I have another shipper with whom I do business and their rates range from about $2.50-3/mile. They used to put them on a load board for around $1.50/mile. In fact, they have used brokers to book these loads and they have moved them for $1.35-1.65/mile. Had I not built a personal relationship with these people, I would probably not be getting the higher rates.

One other note. If you are hauling loads for $2/mile and deadheading 25%, then you are actually running for $1.50/mile. If you run at the same rate but deadhead 10%, then you are running for $1.80/mile. There are a lot of expenses associated with running a truck. To be accurate in your income, you should include all miles run, rather than only those for which you are paid. When you get your authority, you will be responsible for finding your own loads. You want to deadhead as little as possible.

 

Thanks for proving me correct, GMAN. :wink:

 

vyoufinder,
We should compare notes and the failure/sucess info. I am starting out like you are but with a few diff's.
I have had a CDL for 8 years(but have not driven for 7 years).
I already have a truck (1995 international 9400)
Other than these two items, we are starting from the same place.
I think it would be interesting to people if we could compare and describe our paths to sucess,......or failure.
Let me know what you think,
The rest of you behave :twisted:

 

say doghouse I highly recomemend Western truck Ins for you then, if your serious about becoming an owner op with your own authority.
Well my the situation was thus, had 6.5 years driving for a major carrier, but away 3.5, (she wrote up 10 tottal)....and apparently no company will touch you if out more the 3 years.
Cindy over at western truck wrote that I had 10 years exp on the policy (yeah go fiqure) cuz she is allowed to use the length of time you had your CDL to write the policy, maybe that can help one of you two?

 

Thanks Pepe,
I have been fishing for insurance for the last week, and what I have heard is this.
I can get a 300 mile radius limit, or run an area (like the Southeast ect.),or I can just run 48 states and at the end of the year settle up with the insurance company (how would they know if I don't get into an accident), but they say they will, so I don't yet understand how, but,..... now I will call Western and see if they can use my 8 years of CDL,..thanks again for the info.
I plan on running a stepdeck, so no hazz, which I did not renew when it expired last year anyway.
I have seen some of your posts, how is the authority process going for you?
I think I will go with OOIDA for that, I don't want to screw something :? up during the filing process. I have been a member for 3 years (ever since I decided to get back into trucking), now I think I am ready.

 

Good luck to you. My brother is doing it right now. He had 12 years experience driving though. I think there's quite a bit of luck involved to be successful in the first year. He bought a 2004 Freightliner with a Cat engine, not sure which one but he has full warranty on the drive train. He had a sure thing, hauling paper for a paper mill, $1.50/mile to start, including dead heads. 1 month into it, there was a mgmt shuffle at the paper mill and he lost his sure thing. We now know that there are no "sure things" until the money is in the bank. I should mention that he started with less than $1000 in the bank. He bought the truck in December 2006 and the last couple months have been hell. We're now getting most loads from a load board and a couple loads here and there from a friend with contacts with Brokers. I have a full time job so I can only help when I get home and at lunch hour on the phone, my girlfriend (self employed business manager) has the load board running all day on the computer in her office at home. Her and I knew absolutely nothing about a trucking business, I stress "knew" because we've learned alot in a short time but have lots to learn yet. The truck can run any where in Canada and the US, except Oregon I think. After stranding the truck a couple times for 4 days or more out west, we've learned where not to go unless the pay can cover the dead head home. We just had our best week since starting on the load board, $3800 at an average of $2.20/mile. We're finding that where we are, we can make more money in the shorter hops than on the longer hauls of 1500 miles each load. In time that may change with our contacts and learning curve but we're making it and we'll make more money than that. Determination is key. We're learning during the worst time of year to be in the trucking business.
My advice to you would be to keep your operating costs down, talk to as many people in the business as you can, and keep your fingures crossed for the next year. My brother was lucky he had us to help out, I don't know if he would have made it by using the laptop and fax machine at truck stops.
BTW, we're in Canada hauling mostly to the US. Company name Tripple Eight Transport, say Hi to Dino if you see the truck.
All the best of luck in your new business venture.

 

Excellent thread!

I too, am looking, well thinking is more accurate, to become an O/O. But I'm preferring to take the save money and pay cash for everything Before I start Hauling route. I'd like to enter this with as little or no debt as possible. Still trying to decide on what type of freight I would haul, seems like everyone and their mother hauls dry-van. I'm currently learning LTL and have spoken to some owner-ops that haul for Fed-Ex and have heard good things.

But after studying The Rev's posts, HHG might be a worthy career path. High revenue, low miles,,work smarter, not harder right? Not saying HHG is easy. I worked as a mover when I was younger and still have nightmares about grand pianos.

I'll have 3 years exp driving in april, would I still be limited to the 300 mile thing for the insurance or would I be able to immediately start running multi state?
Have a safe trip


Chris

 

Pepe,
Can you send me the contact info for the rep. at Western, I tried today, but was unable to locate the right insurance place. thanks for your time.

 

I don't know if you can truck but you sure can type.

I've only 3 things to add.

IMO, how many miles you drive in a year will determine the age (and therefore price) of the truck required. Planning for a rebuild at 1,000,000 miles and driving 100,000 miles per year means you'll get 2 years out of a 800,000 mile engine and only one year if you drive 200,000 miles.

Plan on spending 15,000 in year 1 to fix any used truck you buy and $10,000 every year after that.

I don't do dry van and I don't do left coast but I bet you would be lucky to average $1.25/mile for all miles if you own the trailer. I don't know what o/o's get. You will be lucky to keep your costs below $1.10 + driver so you make $22,500 on 150,000 miles. That sucks.

Driving less and sweating more saves the truck and makes more money.

Good luck.

 

Scythe, as long as you have at least 2 years of current driving experience and a decent MVR, you should not have much trouble finding someone who will insure you. I suggest contacting Northland. They require at least 2 years experience but gave me the best rates when I renewed this year. My premium was considerably less with Northland than Great West. In fact, my broker could not find anyone who could beat Northland's price. Where do you live?