how to start out o/o
 

hey all, my husband and i both work for a trucking co. im in office doing dispatch and he's the driver. he currently has a cdl b w/ hazmat, but wants to upgrade to class a and buy his own rig and hit the road. can anyone give us any pointers on how to start up? i know alot of o/o around here do pier work and they say they get paid crp. now as a co driver he suppose to be "local" yet he drives anywhere from va to nh! so he knows the east coast pretty well. he wants to continue to do runs like that. can anyone point us in the right direction on where to begin. :D

Unless he wants to do expedited, he will probably want to get his class A CDL. Unfortunately, if he wants to drive an 18 wheeler, most companies will not consider the Class B as experience. I would check with some carriers, but he will probably need to either attend a truck driving school or go with one of the training companies until he gets a year or two of over the road experience. Expedited freight is often in a straight truck and the Class B is adequate.

A lot of the guys driving straight trucks are making more money than the guys driving tractor trailers

so ture

So could be the opposite! :D :wink:

I sat behind a desk my whole life. Last year I went to a school part time at night, got my cdl, bought a truck and trailer, got my authority and doing very well.

First step would be for him to get his CDL A license. He should be able to get that part time at night or on the weekends without interfering with his current job.

You can get liability insurance from Progressive with a 300 mile radius which will give you pretty good coverage from your home base. Just check and make sure you can get cargo insurance also.

You will need a bunch of cash to get yourself going in the beginning.

I pull a flatbed and make pretty good money. You should do ok on the East Coast.

Most every question you have has already been answered on this forum so sit back, search and read.

The only help your going to get on this forum is advice on doing everything except what you want. Our forum is unique as we have Doctors, Lawyers, Marriage counselors, DOT officals, Police Officers, IRS agents, CPA's and every other profession under the sun who also drive trucks who will be more than willing to give you advise.....OR....YOU WILL FAIL AND DIE

Hey Steve....I was under the impression that you've been driving trucks for quite a while now, so I was quite surprised to read that you only started last year. What made you decide to buy your own truck and trailer and go independant, rather than acquiring some experience driving for a company ?

Quite an intrepid soul you are, my friend !! :)

Got tired of sitting behing a desk doing the SAME thing every single day and always wanted to drive a truck.

As far as experience. That's crapola, you learn on the road like everyone else. 6 weeks with a trainer is nothing compared with really doing it on your own. I figure it takes 6 to 9 months on your own before you have a good handle on it. If you can survive the first few months your just as good as a Swift driver with 6 weeks riding with a trainer asleep in the bunk.

How much money have you got? Not trying to be a smarta$$. Serious question.

You will likely spend $15,000 on maitenace in the first year.
You will have approx $35,000 owing to you before you see a "paycheck".
You will spend approx $7,500 in fuel before you see a paycheck.
It will cost you $20/day to eat.
And you haven't bought any equipment yet.

$100,000 would be a nice amount to start with.

If anyone has 100k laying around to invest it would be a better idea to invest in anything else but a trucking company. :lol: You can buy a decent truck and trailer for around 60k if you are savvy enough and know what to look for. The 15k maintenance cost I agree with. The 20.00 a day to eat I also unfortunately agree with. :lol: It is showing in the cramming of my jeans. :lol: The 100k you need to start with I don't however. Most brokers pay within 30 days of delivery and being the shape the trucking market is in I doubt anyone is averaging 3.50 a mile on 10k miles in 30 days.