[coastie]

Originally Posted by person

quick calculators

http://www.peterbilt.com/index_our_too_cst.asp

http://www.truckershelper.com/operationscost.php

Thanks for posting this links. I checked my numbers of guessing of wahat I will do and what I figured and by the these forms, I would been better off than my figures showed.

[Teal 95 KW]

Oh, I can guarantee you you won't. You have to remember how little time I spend driving, and how much time I spend lifting furniture, loading my truck, running heavy pieces in/out of a house. On top of that, after I am done loading, or in the morning before I load I am in the gym. And, I can guarantee you that I will not be doing this in 30 years, when it's time to settle down and start a family, I won't be holding the title to a truck at all, I don't want to be gone from family like that. I'm not that hardcore into the business....I'm the only person in my family that drives a truck, or moves people so kinda the odd duck right now so to speak.

Originally Posted by Teal 95 KW

On top of that, after I am done loading, or in the morning before I load I am in the gym.

I can vouch for that. I almost sprayed this muscle bound skin head with mace when he knocked at my door when I was asleep.

[Teal 95 KW]

Yeah, I guess I shoulda put some clothes on before I came and saw you :lol:

[no_worries]

Pepe, I hope you didn't take my post as an attack on you. It wasn't meant to be taken that way. However, your question comes up all the time on various forums and it rarely changes.

If what you want to accomplish is to get back your investment and make a little for yourself, you're certainly entitled to that. Basically what you're describing is buying a job rather than running a business. I just can't fathom buying a job when so many will give you one for free. And what I think you'll find is that, in the end, the job you bought will pay you less than one you could have had for free.

Here's my point about the operating expense difference between a cheap truck and a newer one. Say you buy your tractor for $9000 and trailer for $6000 and you expect to get 2 years out of that equipment at 100,000 miles per year. I spend $80,000 on my tractor and $20,000 on the trailer and expect 5 years at the same mileage. Using a simple calculation for equipment cost, yours will be .075/mile while mine will be .20/mile. Assuming no significant repairs, I would expect maintenance and repair costs to be in the neighborhood of $12,000 and $7000 respectively. So I've picked up .05/mile on you. At this point, you're operating for .075/mile less than me. Now, the biggest cost of a repair is downtime. With a truck that much older, you will likely have more instances of repairs needing done. Downtime combined with missed appointments will also take a significant bite. You'll recoup some of that cost via cheaper insurance, although it's pretty negligible. This might also be offset by loss of goodwill if you have a performance issue. Maybe you find a good broker with a sweet deal. On your first load you have a mechanical issue and miss an appointment. This broker may be wary of dealing with you again. I'm not saying that buying an older truck isn't a good way to go. I'm just saying that the difference in operating costs is rarely anywhere near as large as some guys convince themselves it is.

Having said all that, you have one huge thing going for you...the fact that you don't need to make much. The problem is, you're wanting to use this in the wrong way. Don't look at it as meaning you can take cheaper freight and still get by. Because you don't have huge bills at home, you don't have to constantly be generating cash-flow. Use this to your advantage by being picky. Don't be afraid to sit and wait for that good-paying load. Know what you need and use it to your advantage. Loads inevitably have trucks drop off and have to go now and they pay. If you have the luxury of being picky, that's how you bring your rate up. $1.30/mile at 120,000 miles is $156,000 gross. If you can get your average up to $1.45/mile, you can gross the same amount on 107,000 miles. That's 4+ weeks of running you don't have to do that you can be looking for a better rate. In actuality, your operating costs will be lower on less mileage so it takes even less time to equal the same net to you.

[brian]

i`m averaging 2.11 for all miles this year, it`ll even out to around 2.25 a mile as i`m running for one drilling company almost exclusive now, my wifes truck is averaging 3.64 but it doesn`t move a whole lot.

[person]

Anybody posting what rate they're getting should post all info that makes their info meaningful. Like what ALL the rate includes (tarping, loading, etc.) What kind of trailer. Is it OTR or short local- not very many miles. I could say I got $3.50 a mile and it could have been 20 miles and it took all day. Rate is worthless w/out more info.

[brian]

my rate is hauling equipment for drilling companies, alot of drill pipe mainly, averaging around 570 miles a day, very little tarping and maybe a half hour throwing chains.

my wifes rate is for a heavy haul truck, loading can take all day or 20 minutes and he never tarps, I never figured out an average for that truck but i`d guesstimate around 200 a day.

[Teal 95 KW]

Originally Posted by brian

my wifes and he never tarps

:P ops: :? :shock: :lol:

[rank]

Now, the biggest cost of a repair is downtime

aint that thte truth.

.....you have one huge thing going for you...the fact that you don't need to make much. The problem is, you're wanting to use this in the wrong way. Don't look at it as meaning you can take cheaper freight and still get by. Because you don't have huge bills at home, you don't have to constantly be generating cash-flow. Use this to your advantage by being picky. Don't be afraid to sit and wait for that good-paying load. Know what you need and use it to your advantage.

Truer words were never written. Use the downtime between good paying loads to fix the truck BEFORE it costs you a good broker.