Yes thanks everyone for the good advice! I am still doing my homework and plan to put my 2 weeks notice in after the Christmas holiday.

I am a very hyper person and still have drive in me! I really believe I will be okay!

Need be I will have around $140k to work with and the wife makes $50k a year! Kids all grown and just a fat Maine Coone cat that is not worth killing (LOL)!

I live 10 mins from down town Memphis and 70 miles from major Steel Mills. There is freight everywhere around here! I figured I could get back hauls from Dallas or Chicago coming this way! Anyone know of any good brokers in Dallas or Chicago?

Thanks again for your replies!

To start with, there is no such thing as a backhaul. It doesn't exist in my vocabulary. There are some decent brokers in Dallas and Chicago. Freight coming out of Texas has been very cheap for about a year or so. It takes a lot of work to find the better paying loads. You are fortunate that you live in a good freight lane. Coming into this business during January is probably the worst time for flat bed freight. That doesn't mean that you won't find loads, but your options will be limited, and rates will usually be lower during this time. If you have read some of our posts concerning this subject, then you know your primary expense will come from insurance premiums. Without at least 2 years of recent experience rates are high and insurance is difficult to obtain. There are a few, such as Steve, who have managed to find insurance and seem to be making things work for themselves. This industry has a high failure rate. If you are good with details and have decent management skills, you stand a much better chance of making a go of it. Paying cash for your equipment is always preferable to financing. However, there will be some costs involved with taking money out of your retirement. I would stay away from the Pete's, starting out. Instead, I recommend something more aerodynamic which will save you thousands in fuel costs, in addition to costing tens of thousands more to purchase.

Before quiting your current job, I suggest going ahead and get your authority, if that is the direction you plan on heading. It takes several weeks to get authority back. You won't be able to book any loads until you have your authority and insurance. You must have insurance in place prior to authority being granted. If you quit prior to having your authority, you will be without any income until you do. It also takes time to find a good used truck and trailer. I suggest NOT buying new, starting out. It is your money, but from a business standpoint, you are much better off buying a good used truck and trailer. You spend less going in and should you decide this isn't for you, then you will be able to get more of your money back when you sell it. I would start looking for equipment now to get an idea of what you will get for the money you have to spend.

As a good example :shock: ,..take what I did.
I bought my truck a year ago ($9,000), and started going through it to make sure it was road worthy.
4 months ago I applied for my authority, and have been paying insurance ever since ($2,300 down $750.00 per month).
Now I am finally ready to go out in about a week, and I have been paying loadboards,insurance, and every other cost involved,..because I thought I was ready 4 months ago. So as you can see I've spent alot of money just sittting at home doing posts here and finding things to fix on my truck (you can go through a lot of money very fast).
There is a ton of great advice on this board,...I don't think I could have gotten this far as easily as I did, without the help I have recieved from this board.
I went with a really,really used truck, because I wanted to start from an empty box and build it the way I wanted it.
So far I have about $25,000 invested in this truck,...but it has everything, and I do mean everything. From an APU and a motor oil cleansing system, to a bathroom w/shower/toilet, and a full kitchen.
But there are great used trucks in the $20,000 to $30,000 range that should not run you into the ground.

My plans are to get my own authority before I quit/retire (retire sounds better). Get my name on the shipping boards of the local Steel Mill around here. You have the have your authority, insurance and all your paper work in order before doing that.

Keep in mind I used to drive for Boyd and Maverick. I am a flat bedder, but from January until April I was going to get with one of the van companys, (Swift, Scnhieder, CFI or USA truck) an go out with a trainer to get some practice on a van to open up more options.

I was thinking of buy my unit first, leasing with a company for a little while just to get my feet wet, then buying me a trailer.

There are at least four trucking companies around here (Eastern Express, Utley, CRST and McClure trucking that are constanyly loading running to Chicago and back, Texas and back, or out east and back. I have coming to know alot of those guys personally and they seem to keep very busy!

"BY THE WAY EXCUSE MY SPELLING/GRAMMER AND THANKS ALOT FOR THE GOOD SOUND, COMFORTING ADVICE AND LISTENING TO ME BLAB ON!" AND ON ABOUT MY PLANS!"

I try to be as open as possible because I believe you cannot get good advice if you don't be open about the situation!

Ha ha ha, that was funny.

I know,...I know, but the closing is today for my house and thats what held me up,...so :? :? :shock: :lol: maybe :?:

Well, we better see pictures soon or we'll hunt you down like the dog you are and put bumper stickers on your truck like

"Mexican truck driver, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY"

All I can say is that its been a long time coming. If I had bought a newer truck and wanted to go without the comforts of home (wait till I post the full list of goodies) I could have been out a couple of months ago. The house has been for sale since January, and with its sale I get to slide another $20,000 into my repair fund. That makes me real happy because I didn't want to be under financial pressure during my first few weeks out. I'm the kind of guy who likes to do everything my way, so if I don't want to run,.....I won't run, and having $$ in the bank gives me the ability to say "So you want $1.35 per mile,.......well,..... call me back when your serious"
I can actually say that I like the way the truck turned out, and it should provide me many years of good service. Its no show truck like yours(no chrome,few lights, faded white paint, white steel wheels),..but it will certainly do what I need it to do.
I drop it off at the decal place on Tues. there will be many,many photos shortly after that.

Good Luck and happy trails

Is your bed made, truck stocked with water, coffee....etc....Full of fuel and clean clothes......yada yada yada????

Make sure that sucker is ready to roll when you post it for the next day. Then get ready to throw up a few times and stay up all night. I did.