Lately I have been playing with the cost per mile spreed sheet form ooida, I wanted to ask a few questions. Depending on how things go in the future I plan to have my own truck in 2 to 4 years.

mainly I need to get a general idea of the yearly (annual) cost for these items. I know every one's cost are diffrent, but just trying to get a general idea.

Collision/Comp Insur.

Bobtail Insur.

Cargo Insur.

Health Insur.

Licenses

Permits

Accounting Svcs

Taxes(Road, Use, Fuel, Fed)

Tolls

Tractor Fuel/ reffer fuel

 

These are just off the top of my head. Your results may vary.

 

Collision/Comp Insur. 2 1/2-4% of the stated value of your equipment.
If your truck is valued at $30M, then your
monthly premium should run approximately
$120/month at 4%. I always figure the higher
figure when looking at costs.

Bobtail Insur. You don't need bobtail insurance unless you lease to a
carrier. If you run your own authority you don't need it.
Most seem to run between $30-60/month.

Cargo Insur. You only need cargo insurance if you run your own
authority. I don't recall how much my cargo runs by itself,
but I spend about $3,955 per year for liability, cargo and
collision per truck.

Health Insur. This will depend on your general health and whether you
are in a group. I would count on about $300/month or
$3600/yr.

Licenses Your license and permits will vary according to where you live
& Permits and whether you get them through your carrier or not. I paid
just over $1,400 per truck for mine. I would count on
somewhere between $1,100-2,200/year.


Accounting Svcs This will vary according to where you live and how
much the accountant will do for you. I would count on
$45-75/month.

Taxes(Road, Use, Fuel, Fed) I rarely pay more than $75/quarter. In fact
the last few quarters I have spent less than
$35/quarter.

Tolls I avoid toll roads, so I don't pay them. They are way too high.

Tractor Fuel/ reffer fuel If you are running fairly hard, I would
count on about 120 gallons per day for tractor
fuel. I don't recall how much a reefer uses in
fuel. I would think about 1 gallon per hour.
Others who pull reefers could give you a better
idea. To calculate your costs you can go with the
current fuel prices. Right now they are running
about $3/gallon+.

 

Here's what I have so far. If you all see anything that may be too much, or too little let me know.

The truck payment is based on a $40,000 truck, financed for 36 months.

Trailer is a $15,000, financed for 24 months. All those figures on the spread sheet are rounded up a little.

For fuel I cant remember how I figured that one out, the formula I used. But something to me with that number doesn't seem right( or I'm in complete shock 8) ) , so if you all don't mind please check that for me.

For tires I basically figured on blowing all 18 within a year, I did a quick search on truck tires and saw prices anywhere from $280.00 to $325.00 This figure is based on $300.00

For phone, I only pay $20 a month. On my parents plan. 8)



So right now I'm looking about $1.10 per mile. Here is quick rundown of my plan. I do plan on getting my own operating authority. So no matter what my bid is on a load, $1.10 goes into an account for the truck. Rest of it to me. So if get a load for $2.00 per mile, the truck gets the $1.10, I get the rest, in this case $0.90 cpm. For a one truck operation I see this plan working for me. If I ever down the line Decide to add more trucks then the business plan will have to change.


Let me know what you all think, were I messed up, what I might have missed. Thanks all for the help!!

 

Telephone is a fixed cost. The bill comes even if the truck isn't moving.

 

Don't forget Primary & general liability. Figure $5-$10 thousand a year.
Also, salary and tax witholdings. You don't have to figure that but I do. It will give you a per mile number you need to make so you can pay yourself. Put in a set number for whatever salary you need. That could be $500 a week, it could be $1000 a week. Then figure out your cents per mile. You will then know after lets say for example, $1.45, then everything is profit after that. If you take a load for less then that, you are cutting into your own salary, or the business is losing money.

 

Just a couple of things I noticed, Madlux. If you are going to run your authority you must have cargo and liability insurance. I didn't see a cost for liability insurance. Your fuel costs will likely run more than you have listed. I usually calculate my fuel costs at 5 mpg. It will vary according to where and how you run. My cell phone runs about $150/month. My air card runs about $65/month. If you run your authority you will want to have both. In addition, some states require that you have a business telephone listed in the name of your business to enable you to purchase your base plates in the state. That should cost you around $100/month+-. You will also have some miscellaneous expenses for things such as logs, business cards, etc., You are required to belong to a drug consortium when running your authority. That will cost about $100-150/yr. It will save you money to be able to send and receive faxes in your truck. You can buy a printer for around $100 or less. Monthly fax services run around $10/month or so. That is much cheaper than spending from $1-3/page in a truck stop. It isn't uncommon for a broker to send a contract and other information that can easily exceed 15 pages.

 

that insurance looks awful cheap at $3000/yr. I am $15,000 for truck and trailer (liability only...no collision, no cargo). I know that's high, but $3,000 seems way low.

Question about the $15,000 truck/trailer relpacement.....does that mean if you get a new truck and trailer in 5 years you will be able to do it for $75,000 (15,000 x 5). That seems a little light also.....

I might also suggest that you add a little salary for yourself in there.

Also should budget for meals on the road. Some will argue that you have to eat anyway, but I argue that restaraunt food costs more than if you were home eating from a grocery store. They are a cost of doing business and they add up.

I see you're budgeting $.40/mile for fuel. My experience shows that number is low. My numbers are above $.60 with northeast fuel prices, idling, winter driving and 70mph lead foot drivers.

 

He has the $3000 listed as collision, which is a little high. It should be around $1200 bucks for the $40,000 truck he was talking about. He should pay around
$1200 comp/collision
$1000-$2500 cargo
$4000-$10000 for primary liability. This will vary greatly on Experience
and where truck is garaged.
$100 give or take for general liability
I am paying total for everything $9200. That's in Expensive NY. :x
If I lived down south I would probably get a rate of around $6500.
Actually, anywhere but NY I would get a much better rate.

 

Madlux asked me in a PM what my insurance costs are so I figured I would post it instead of replying back. I pay $7,000 total for $1,000,000 liability, $100,000 cargo and that also includes my truck and trailer coverage.