Greg, this is a decision only you can make. I will offer a few things to consider. The economy is in flux right now. Rates have dropped significantly the last couple of weeks along with modest savings in fuel costs. If you get your authority, you will pay a high insurance premium for your youth and lack of experience. If you lease to a carrier you will still pay a high premium, but not as high as running your own authority. At least tens of thousands of owner operators have lost their trucks this year. More than 1800 carriers have gone out of business. We are in a recession, whether the government wants to admit it or not. This is not a time to accumulate a lot of debt. On the up side, you can get a good buy in a truck with so many repo's on the market. If you wait until you are 23, you will find it much easier to get insurance or go with a good carrier. You could use this year to gain more solid experience and save your money. You will need a lot of money to get your authority. You may even be able to save money on your premiums with another birthday. I believe things will be difficult with the economy for the rest of this year and much of next year. If you get your authority you will need to buy a trailer as well as a truck. It is difficult to operate without a trailer and be successful.
Even if you lease on to a carrier you will be paying out over $2,000 per month when you include your insurance cost. That is a lot of money to obligate yourself for every month. When the economy is soft it can be tough to make those payments. Those with the big payments are the ones who are losing their shirts during this slow down.
If you are comfortable with risk, then you could take your chances. With the owner's son not wanting to drive, you have a good opportunity to gain more experience while you age another year and save more money. You could use that time as a period of learning.
Something I have found that makes difficult decisions much easier is to get a piece of paper and make two columns. One you write "PROS," the other write "CONS." Underline each word. Then start writing the pros and cons in the appropriate column. After you have written everything you can think of, the decision should be clear. The column with the most written is usually the best decision.
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