Hi, all.
After more than eight years of making someone else's fortune for them, I decided it was time to take the next step and formed my own company as a sole proprietor.
First step was to get a truck, obviously. I wanted one that had aerodynamic styling and no DEF or EGR. Looking for one that was being sold by a dealer was not an easy job, but I did find one at a small dealer in Indiana, not far from Kentucky where I live. (I say small, but I mean nearly as tiny as it could possibly be.) From what I've been able to piece together, the guy's chief business is attending auctions and buying what he considers good deals and reselling them. The truck happened to fit his specs, so he bought it. I bought it for $13.1k. It's a 2003 Freightliner Columbia with a Series 60. It had 1,488k miles on it when I bought it. I don't know at this point whether it has ever been overhauled or not, but in less than 2 months, I expect to know for sure. (More on that later.) It was previously owned by Aurora Caskets out of Aurora, IN. The last driver left a inspection log in the cab and I've looked it over. He was pretty anal about having every little thing fixed, so I had some confidence that it had well taken care of.
I bought the truck in the 2nd week of June. I looked at trailers, but the cost of a new van was beyond my reach for the moment. So, I looked at used trailers, wanting to find one that wasn't already a rust bucket and thought I had found one for $7.8k in Cleveland. The salesman sent me pics of that one, but also of another that showed the interior wasn't beat up, but the outside had quite a bit of rust, plus it had boxes welded on underneath, adding unwanted weight to the trailer. Both were the same price. I thought I had made it clear to him that I wanted the un-rusted one, but when I got up there, the one I thought I was going to get was already sold. I had hoped to begin earning money the following Monday and it was now Thursday, so I took what he had "saved back".
I took the trailer back to Georgetown, KY and had Clarke Power do an inspection and got all the brakes and drums replaced and was ready to roll on Monday morning as hoped. The Friday prior, when I went to haul the trailer up to Clarke, I experienced the first sign of trouble. The truck died within a couple of minutes of starting. The Check Engine and Protect Engine lights had come on. I checked the coolant level and found it was below the sensor, though it was really hard to tell exactly what the level was due to the fact that the surge tank was very yellowed with age, nearly brown, and no longer translucent. Anyhow... I put a gallon of coolant in and took the trailer for service.
On Monday, I got a load going from Lexington to Georgetown to Hopkinsville, followed by a load going from Beaver Dam, KY to Conover, NC. Routing from Beaver Dam to NC, I followed Western KY Parkway east to William Natcher Parkway, south through Bowling Green. I had only gotten a few miles down Natcher when the Check Engine / Protect Engine lights came on again. Fortunately, I had a couple of gallons of coolant in the truck and put in a gallon AGAIN. To make a long story short, I've put a gallon in every running day since mid-June. Clarke says it's likely a blown head gasket. My oil level is fine and doesn't increase with the amount of coolant I put in. I put a jug below the surge tank to see if it was being pressurized out of the overflow tube -- it's not. Clarke did a pressure test on the coolant system and there were no leaks and no loss in system pressure. So, the theory is that it's being burned up in the exhaust system. There was a notion floated that it might be going into the transmission, but considering how much coolant I've put into the engine, that isn't a likely answer, either. I know the surge tank isn't relieving any pressure. I've been boiled a few times by the sudden exhaust of hot coolant through that cap, which makes me wonder how closely that cap functions to its counterpart on a car or pickup. The only sign I see that there is an issue is the missing coolant. There's no streaks coming down the stack and only a small cloud of white smoke when I first start the truck up.
I keep the fluid levels topped off each day and will have no choice but to drive it until I can afford the repairs. Clarke says, considering how much work they'll have to do to get a blown head gasket fixed, it will be nearly the cost of an overhaul and I might as well do it, which does make sense and it's something I was planning on, anyhow, but not right out of the starting gate.
So far, I've put on 22k miles and earned almost $33k, so... about $1.50/mile average for all miles, including deadhead. Paid miles are averaging $1.82.
I'm learning that going west of the Mississippi River isn't really worth the effort. I can make just as much, or more, just running from the area south of NYC over to the Mississippi River. For instance, my last 6 runs... Hamilton, NC to Springfield, MO.... Springfield, MO to West Chester, OH (Cincy)... Blue Ash, OH (Cincy) to Baltimore, MD... Baltimore MD to Munising, MI (is it BlueBeetle or GMAN that's a Yooper?)... Green Bay, WI to Nabb, IN... Austin, IN to Winchester, KY...
That covers 9 driving days and a total of 3900 miles, only about 100 miles total deadhead, paying $7300.
My first 3 weeks were only 3-day weeks, due to concerns about the engine the first 2 weeks, and then a trailer rejection on a Thursday afternoon by a shipper that killed the rest of my week. Since then, I've run 5 and 6-day weeks.
Colorado runs are off the table from now until eternity. the pay going out is decent. But, loads coming back east from there are hard to find and when you can find one, its pays $1 OR LESS / mile. I will leave a shipper's goods to rot in his warehouse before I'll take that kind of money to haul a load. I'm in BUSINESS, not charity. the same goes for anything going into the northeast, of course, and Texas, too. I don't run west of the Rockies or into Florida, either.
Oh... the trailer. I took that back to the dealer in Cleveland and worked out a deal with them to take a much newer trailer (2015 versus 2004) on a lease @ $400/mo until what I previously paid them is used up. At that point, I'll probably buy a new one. My credit should have recovered enough to do that by then. (Starting up knocked my credit score down over 100 points because of getting lines of credit established.) I had 3 shippers turn my trailer down due to age and a couple more that nearly turned it down due to odor, all in the first 3 weeks. Maybe that was just luck of the draw, but I had to get rid of that impediment.
Question for you guys: I have a Fleet One fuel card (RTS) and haven't been particularly impressed with the actual discounts I get. What card do you guys use and are you happy with it? So far, I am getting a consistent $.12/gal discount at PFJ, but all others vary a great deal, from $.00 (mostly at Kangaroo) to $.37/gal (mostly at AMBEST). The guy who talked me into it said I would see discounts, other than PFJ, at up to $.80/gal. BULLSTUFF.
Made the leap
