[AMikonis1980]

I am OTR company driver and looking to buy my first truck. It seems like right now is not a very good time but I hope owner operators still make more than 34cpm after all the expenses. I tired to make some research and calculations. Looking for somebody who keeps very good track of where every dollar goes. Please let me know if I am doing right math and the numbers are realistic. Here are my calculations:


Volvo 780

Truck price out of the door $85,000.00

Trucks mileage 200000

Lifetime of the truck (miles) 1000000


Loan Interest (%) 13

Loan term (years) 5

Payment $1,934.01

All interest $31,040.67



Yearly average miles (loaded + empty) per week 3000
Yearly average pay for 1 mile (loaded + empty) $1.30

Fuel ($/mile) $0.42 mpg 5.5 fuel $/gal 2.3
Maintenance ($/mile) $0.15
Truck value decrease or payment ($/mile) $0.1063 truck price divided by truck's left lifetime
Toll Roads ($/mile) $0.0300 $30.00 every 1000 miles
Fuel tax ($/mile) $0.00564


Interest ($/week) $116.40 whole interest divided by truck's left lifetime
Bobtail insurance ($/week) $23.33 $100 /month
Cargo insurance ($/week) $160.00
Truck registration ($/week) $47.95 $2,500 /year
Permits ($/week) $5.75 $300 /year
Highway tax ($/week) $10.55 $550 /year
Trailer rent ($/week) $116.67 $500 /month


Weekly income $3,900.00
Weekly expenses $2,610.86

Weekly profit $1,289.14

1 mile cost $0.87
1 mile pay after expenses $0.43

[Rev.Vassago]

Your average of 3000 miles per week seems high. Especially in the current market. You aren't factoring in deadhead too, I think.

[mike3fan]

.87 cpm to operate seems pretty realistic, I am in that area.

85k for a 200,000 mile Volvo.....no thanks

Where do you plan on leasing your truck onto and avg. $1.30 a mile for all miles?

If you bought a 30k truck for your first one(which I suggest) for a payment of $700-800 a month what does that do to your take home pay?

[AMikonis1980]

Originally Posted by Rev.Vassago

Your average of 3000 miles per week seems high. Especially in the current market. You aren't factoring in deadhead too, I think.

my average since october for all miles is 3300. Last three weeks been slower.

[Orangetxguy]

You have some realistic numbers and some out of wack numbers. Unless you plan on getting your own authority, you do not pay for Cargo Insurance. If you are planning to get authority, your not including the cost of Insurancce, which as a new entrant, will cost you right at $8,700 a year...or more.

Then your not including cell phone, meal money, "excursion" money, and I think that unless you plan on staying away from the NE, your toll dollars are light.

I have a headache...so missing some I am sure.

[AMikonis1980]

Originally Posted by mike3fan

.87 cpm to operate seems pretty realistic, I am in that area.

85k for a 200,000 mile Volvo.....no thanks

Where do you plan on leasing your truck onto and avg. $1.30 a mile for all miles?

If you bought a 30k truck for your first one(which I suggest) for a payment of $700-800 a month what does that do to your take home pay?

85k for a 200,000 mile Volvo too much or not enough?

well for a 30k truck Im guesing would have 500 000 miles and would be more on maintenance like $0.20/mile. So it comes out $0.01/mile more

Truck price out of the door $30,000.00

Trucks mileage 500000

Lifetime of the truck (miles) 1000000


Loan Interest (%) 13

Loan term (years) 5

Payment $682.59

All interest $10,955.53



Yearly average miles (loaded + empty) per week 3000
Yearly average pay for 1 mile (loaded + empty) $1.30

Fuel ($/mile) $0.42 mpg 5.5 fuel $/gal 2.3
Maintenance ($/mile) $0.20
Truck value decrease or payment ($/mile) $0.0600 truck price divided by truck's left lifetime
Toll Roads ($/mile) $0.0300 $30.00 every 1000 miles
Fuel tax ($/mile) $0.00564


Interest ($/week) $65.73 whole interest divided by truck's left lifetime
Bobtail insurance ($/week) $23.33 $100 /month
Cargo insurance ($/week) $160.00
Truck registration ($/week) $47.95 $2,500 /year
Permits ($/week) $5.75 $300 /year
Highway tax ($/week) $10.55 $550 /year
Trailer rent ($/week) $116.67 $500 /month


Weekly income $3,900.00
Weekly expenses $2,571.45

Weekly profit $1,328.55

1 mile cost $0.86
1 mile pay after expenses $0.44

[AMikonis1980]

Originally Posted by Orangetxguy

You have some realistic numbers and some out of wack numbers. Unless you plan on getting your own authority, you do not pay for Cargo Insurance. If you are planning to get authority, your not including the cost of Insurancce, which as a new entrant, will cost you right at $8,700 a year...or more.

Then your not including cell phone, meal money, "excursion" money, and I think that unless you plan on staying away from the NE, your toll dollars are light.

I have a headache...so missing some I am sure.

eventualy i would like to go with my own authority but for now i would like to know numbers for owner operator working for company.

I dont eat at fast food and restaurants I take food from home. what is "excursion" money?

here is new calculations

Truck price out of the door $85,000.00

Trucks mileage 200000

Lifetime of the truck (miles) 1000000


Loan Interest (%) 13

Loan term (years) 5

Payment $1,934.01

All interest $31,040.67



Yearly average miles (loaded + empty) per week 3000
Yearly average pay for 1 mile (loaded + empty) $1.20

Fuel ($/mile) $0.42 mpg 5.5 fuel $/gal 2.3
Maintenance ($/mile) $0.15
Truck value decrease or payment ($/mile) $0.1063 truck price divided by truck's left lifetime
Toll Roads ($/mile) $0.0300 $30.00 every 1000 miles
Fuel tax ($/mile) $0.00564


Interest ($/week) $116.40 whole interest divided by truck's left lifetime
Bobtail insurance ($/week) $23.33 $100 /month
Cargo insurance ($/week) $0.00
Truck registration ($/week) $47.95 $2,500 /year
Permits ($/week) $5.75 $300 /year
Highway tax ($/week) $10.55 $550 /year
Trailer rent ($/week) $116.67 $500 /month
Cell voice + data ($/week) $23.33 $100 /month


Weekly income $3,600.00
Weekly expenses $2,474.20

Weekly profit $1,125.80

1 mile cost $0.82
1 mile pay after expenses $0.38

[GMAN]

You cannot afford to make a $2,000 truck payment in this economy. You need to look for a truck that you can pay less than $20,000. At the most you should not spend more than $25,000. I have seen some decent trucks for much less than that $20,000 lately. If you start out spending that much on a truck you are already in serious trouble before you turn the first mile. Start with a less expensive truck that gets decent fuel mileage and won't kill you making payments. You could pay cash for a truck for what you will need to pay down on an $85,000 truck. Your down payment is likely to run from 10-30%.

One thing you left off of your costs is collision insurance. That can run from about 2 1/2-4 1/2% of the stated value of the equipment. You will also be required to have either workers comp or an occupational accident policy. The accident policy is less expensive and should run around $140-150/month. When you lease to a carrier they will require you to pay an escrow account. Most seem to be around $1,000. Fuel taxes should not run more than $25/month. If you watch where you buy fuel it could be less. You will take time off during the year. I would expect that you will average somewhere between 80-130,000 for the year.

Rates are very low right now. We don't know where the bottom is. You seem to be fixated on a 780 Volvo. I would look for something that is more affordable. It is much easier to survive when your overhead is low. There are a number of expenses that you don't think about until something happens. Some people have the misperception that a newer low mileage truck is not likely to break down. That may or may not be correct. This is a business. Starting out you need to keep expenses low as you learn the business. While it may not seem like it now, it is a big transition from being a company driver to that of owner operator. When you own the truck those expenses go on whether the truck moves or not. You will likely be doing some sitting, especially this time of year. It isn't that I want to discourage you from pursuing this but you need to be realistic about your expectations and costs. It will be much better for you to buy a truck where you can either pay cash or keep your payments between $500-800/month. Buy an affordable truck and save your money. In fact, you could save the difference between that payment and what you plan to spend. When the time comes you can trade up and either keep your payments low with the additional money being used to pay down the cost of the truck or pay cash and continue saving. I am very thankful that I don't have big truck payments at this time. Frankly, I don't see how you will be able to make it if you commit to a $2,000/month payment.

[southernpride]

Well. Hmmmm.... Your numbers seem ok i guess. I dont have much experience yet as an o/o but here are mine.

Avg pay per mile: 1.04 (including deadhead)
Avg Fuel cost: 0.355/mi
Avg Maint. .04 (NEW TRUCK)
TOTAL FIXED EXPENSES: $840.14
-Payment
-Fuel tax
-Prepass
-Qualcomm rental
-Insurance (upgraded coverages)
-Accounting fees
pretty much everything but income taxes, fluids, and fuel.

After fuel, My pay is 0.645/mi
Heres the kicker..... I'm a driver trainer, and dedicated JIT, and i milk the system for all it's worth. My Miles avg is 4237/wk for the last 13wks. I have also taken over 3 weeks off total over that time. so go figure.

I set up an s-corp and pay myself 1000/wk and if avgs remain the same then ill gross close to $100,000 before training bonuses. after tax and other expenses, ill take home around $70,000. I am not going to be taking nearly asmuch time off, but who knows what this economy is going to do.

Best of luck dude.

[devildice]

I am still "new" as I have only been an O/O for a little over a year now and therefore won't attempt to give you any advice. However......why buy an 85k truck right off the bat? I bought a 2001 Western Star with 500 and something on the ecm and 2003 Transcraft trailer for 51k for both. In the year I have had them, I have spent around 5k in repairs on the truck and 3k (tires) for the trailer (not including regular maintenance). She's a strong running truck and gets decent fuel mileage. I guess what I am getting at is before you commit to that Volvo, why not shop around for a better deal? A good used truck with a few more miles on it does not always mean you will pay more to maintain it than a newer one with fewer miles.