[truckn4u2day]

Thanks gman sounds like you have alot to offer, greatly appriciated here !!!!!

[Matcron33]

really, I would wait. I understand you to travel again. the road sickness is getting to you. I would buy an old coverted motor coach. you can pick one up cheap. and you will beable to travel at your lesure. but if you intend on running your own truck. I thought i would give you the cost stats..

authority/dot numbers/$6500 up front/$14,000 annually

base plates/permits about $2500. depending on the state and year of truck.

cargo insurance a million dallors policy is $1000 to $1500 a month.

mileage tax ranges from .11 to .21 cpm.

maitance cost about $500 on a good month.

fuel cost on a 6000 mile trip at an average of $2.859 a gallon is $3300 at 5.2 mpg.

tips on trucks and engines. stay away from isx motors. they have alot of problems. the accert cat is pretty good. but you will want a tech of your own to check it out. to make sure the twin turbos are setup rite. alot of guys are going bak to the old detroits/n-14 cummins and the old 3406E cats or an older c15 cat.

volvo is about the easiest truck to work on. plenty of room under them. the columbias have alot of little problems with them. the century class seems to be the better of the 2. if you look around. you should beable to pick up an older pete that's in good shape for $10 to $25k. that will handle over the road.

transmissions. the new automatics are nice. the problem is. if you freeze the air system up. you have to have the transmission reset. I had one in the shop over the winter. it sat inside the last bay. in about 100 degree tempature for 3 days. and they owner had to take it to the dealer to have it reset. so stick to a manual transmission.

tips on leasing if you decide to go that route. container port group. seems to have the best pay package. they are offering $1.65 a mile loaded,.88 cpm bobtail or empty container return. they will also get your base plates and permits. and there not picky about the age of the truck... but they are picky about the driver.

that's the most help i can give you.. good luck in what ever you do.. if it was me. i would stay retired. open a small store or resturant. something that requires less start up money. and something i can do part time.

oh, almost forgot! some states do require self employment insurance. it's $151. a month

[GMAN]

Originally Posted by Matcron33

really, I would wait. I understand you to travel again. the road sickness is getting to you. I would buy an old coverted motor coach. you can pick one up cheap. and you will beable to travel at your lesure. but if you intend on running your own truck. I thought i would give you the cost stats..

authority/dot numbers/$6500 up front/$14,000 annually

base plates/permits about $2500. depending on the state and year of truck.

cargo insurance a million dallors policy is $1000 to $1500 a month.

mileage tax ranges from .11 to .21 cpm.

maitance cost about $500 on a good month.

fuel cost on a 6000 mile trip at an average of $2.859 a gallon is $3300 at 5.2 mpg.

oh, almost forgot! some states do require self employment insurance. it's $151. a month

I am not sure where you came up with your numbers, but you are way off.

Authority costs $300 as a one time charge if you do it yourself. There is no annual cost to having your authority other than insurance. There are services who will do it for you, but there is no reason to not do it yourself.
DOT number is free. Again, there are services who may charge you a one time fee to get it for you. I believe the figures you mentioned are for the annual cost of cargo and liability insurance. Carriers are required to maintain minimum coverage of $750,000 in liability and $5,000 cargo insurance (for common carrier) but most brokers and shippers prefer to see $1,000,000 liability and $100,000 cargo. You mentioned a million in cargo, but that is not necessary unless you regularly haul very high dollar cargo such as heavy equipment.

Carriers are required to have a representative in each state in which they do business. There are services which charge an annual fee or if you are a member of OODIA they will do it for you at no charge. Base plates and permits should not exceed $2,000 annually unless you base out of Illinois. The year of the truck should not make any difference unless you live in a state such as Georgia which charges an annual ad valorem tax on the value of the equipment each year. My state doesn't have an annual tax other than the cost of the base plates. Fuel tax rates vary from about $0.10-0.36/gallon. I believe Pennsylvania went up on their fuel taxes and they were one of the highest. It does cost a lot to run Oregon with their distance tax. Running my authority I rarely spent more than about $25/quarter over and above my fuel purchases. If you plan your fuel purchases you should keep additional fuel tax costs to a minimum.

Most states will allow you to have either workers comp or an occupational accident policy. The workers comp rule doesn't normally come into play unless you have a certain number of drivers. I believe North Carolina requires all to have one of the other, even with a single driver. Most carriers will require an owner operator to have one of the two before signing a lease with them. Occupational Accident policies usually run about $140-150/month. I think you will find workers comp to be more expensive. Whether it is required in your state or not it is a good idea for your own protection should you get hurt on the job.