You don't have to offer a discount for early payment. That is your choice. Never say NEVER. If you don't need your money sooner then you can wait 30-60 days. You may not have the overhead that some others do.

 

Thanks for the useful information! We (hubby and I) are considering starting our own O/O and team driving. We really dont want to lease on with anyone so we can keep our driving schedule flexible. We are starting our research into it to see if we could actually put any money in our pocket at the end of the month. This answers a lot of our "expense" questions. The next question is income.....Can you find loads paying better than 1.75? and what types of freight pay the best? We want to run flatbed, and we are centrally located in NE Texas, so we can run just about any direction. We are condsidering leasing with Landstar as one option. Any thoughts on all that? All input is welcome. Oh, and we are about a year or more out from diving into it....plenty of time for research and learning. My hubby was OTR for about 5 years but that was a looong time ago. (no need to comment about the lifestyle...we have a clear vision of that). Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

You can be leased and still be flexible so I wouldn't rule it out totally.

Do your due diligence with reasearch, this is a tough business. There's been times I wanted to sit on back of trailer and bawl like a baby.

Depends on the market you're in at the time. If carriers are moving freight at 1.25 you will hard pressed to get more than that. There are a lot of carriers that will defend cheap rates.

Texas can be rough area for freight. Might do well to look around Little Rock, AR if you're close enough. I was getting some good stuff south of Little Rock last year but I haven't seen it this year.

DON'T
I won't even load Landstar at this point. Piss poor company with lots of cheap stuff and they love to defend those cheap rates.


Take two years maybe by then the economy can support another truck on the road.

All the best in your decision and good luck.
Keep asking questions.

 

that is my problem right now. "getting paid"

i just started running heavy haul 2 months ago and i need $$ every week. waiting 30 days sucks i have to skip out on some pretty good loads. but sooner or later they will be coming in weekly. i been doing a week on and sitting a week at the house.

i got patience! but it sucks!

 

Thanks for the response! We appreciate all input.

 

Where you been hiding? Figured ya dropped out and went on vacation permanently.

 

And part of any consideration of any load is the region where it is going. The load may pay a righteous rate, but anything coming out of where you are going is going to eat up anything you made going in there. Like real estate, it is all about location, location, location. Signing up for one of the online services that track freight rate indexes and watching the trends can help make a more informed decision regarding a load and where it goes. It is best to target your running where the demand is to cut down on the competition and get the best rates.

 

Texas can be difficult to get out, but there are opportunities within the state. I know of freight coming out of Tyler and around the Metroplex. Neither pay well, but it would get you rolling without a lot of deadhead. Once you get your feet wet you should start to find better paying loads. If you want to pulls flats, Landstar and CRST Malone both have freight out of Texas and offer some flexibility as to running. Other carriers are Mercer, Bennett, Texas Motor Freight, Lisa, etc., Of course, you could run your own authority. Interstate authority costs $300. Texas intrastate authority costs $200. If you want to pick up and deliver in Texas you will need the Texas intrastate authority. Living in the state, it would be a good idea to have authority in Texas as well as interstate authority.

It will be expensive running your own authority, especially starting out. I would suggest you check around and see if you can find a carrier you could lease to initially until you get your feet wet as an owner operator. If you run your own authority you will need to front the money for authority, insurance, base plates and permits in addition to the start up costs for fuel, etc., Many carriers will front the cost of base plates and take out small amount each week until they have been reimbursed. They will also pay for the liability and cargo insurance. If you lease to a carrier you will only be responsible for bobtail or unladen liability insurance and if you finance your truck you will also need collision or comprehensive insurance. If you go with one of the agent based carriers that pay percentage, you will find that they offer more flexibility when it comes to running.

Since you live in Texas the Dallas Truck Show is going on this week. I believe that it starts Thursday and runs through Saturday. If you can get by the show there will be dozens of trucking companies that will have recruiiting booths set up. It will be a good opportunity to talk with a number of carriers face to face in a short time.

 

Did my last load today. Packing it up for a while. One of my old customers in construction called me and he has a lot of stuff going on. i can't pass it up, it'll be a lot more money than this truck can do.

$4 fuel....... and offers of $2 a mile or less........... no thanks.

 

Well, I am sorry to hear that you are shutting down for a while, Rosty. I hope that you will continue to hang around and keep us updated on what you are doing.