Looking for insight from being a driver to O/O
 

Well just like the title says, ive been driving for 17-18 years now, dad was a driver, grandad was a driver/owner back in the old days, and had and old mack truck with a maxidine duel stick ......WOW!!
anyway,im a driver for a co. here in san diego (local) and im thinking about making the leap and buying my own truck, the money seems to be much better than what im making now but when i talk to other owner ops they say how fu$#@ ked up it the industry is and that they arent making any money. So now im confused about the whole deal, and i dont want to start a bussiness in a crappy market, only to get the my truck repo'd cuz i cant make any money to cover my costs, permits, truck payment, fuel etc.
So just some feedback, insight ............wisdom, from some you old timers who have been around and have been there and done that!
Thanks in advance, Kevin

Re: Looking for insight from being a driver to O/O
 

How much are you making as a company driver? Yes,trucking right now is a very crappy market.Lots of cheap paying loads and very few good paying ones. You may want to stay as a company driver for now until things start to pick up. Most carriers are only paying O/Os 1.20pm including fuel surcharge with fuel being over 3.40 a gallon. Rates are not matching up with inflation. Remember that this business has a very high failure rate. I would save your money for now and maybe you can make a wiser investment.

just over 3k per mo. most of the work will be local( by the hour)end dump, some produce runs up to LA etc. (those pay by the load ) oh yeah im new to this board so, HELLO TO ALL THE FELLOWS DRIVERS OUT THERE! so if you're ever running in san diego come down to channel 4 and say hi to the burrito bandit

10-4. :D My Mom lives in San diego and several other family members live in the L.A area. I really hope to get out that way.

IMO, $3000/month before tax is about the most you could hope for if you have your own authority, truck and trailer. So you'd be tying up a pile of money and working 3 times the number of hours to earn the same amount.......if you're lucky.

But it should be a good time to buy equipment.

oh my :?: thanks .... think

come feb/march there will be some sweet deals out there.

Hi Kevin!
Some people will say;- "Go ahead! There is money to be made, in this business!" - True!
Some people will say;- "Don't even think about! It's all f#@ed up. After all said and done, you'll make better, working for the company" True.

But the most important i guess :D , it's how it's gonna turn out in your particular case...
You have a lot of driving experience, that's a +, but it's not even a half, of what you need, to survive, or succeed in this business. Cause it's business.

I turned this way about 12 years ago, no regrets!
How it's gonna turn out for you...?
Well, i hope you got my drift! :D

One thing for sure, it's not "get rich fast" scenario, and risky one!
Good luck, on whatever you'll decide! 8)

If your tractor or tractor and trailer is paid for you can make it, but if not, with the price of fuel now forget it,

Let's break it down one more time. I'll use what I know, your mileage may vary. I'll just hit the high spots here. This for a carrier. If you're leased on to someone, that is completely different and the FSC may save you.

3-ish year old truck: $60,000
tarps, chains, straps etc: $2,000
5 year old stepdeck: $20,000
CAPITAL TO BE AMMORTIZED over 5 years: $82,000

Liability Ins: $10,000
Trailer Ins: $1,500
Cargo Ins: $3,000
Collision: none
INSURANCE: $14,500

Fuel costs at 100,000 miles/year & 5 mpg: $80,000
Maitenance & Repairs: $10,000
VARIABLE EXPENSES: $90,000

So it will cost you ~$105,000 a year to run 100,000 miles. Buck a mile.

100,000 miles a year is 2,000 a week. $3,000 a week divided by 2000 miles means you need to earn $1.50/mile to get back to what you were making as a company driver. But you have to figure DH.....say 10% minimum. Now you need $1.65/loaded mile. Remember that $82,000 you invested.....that's another $.17. Now we're up to a cost per mile of $1.82 for all miles.

$1.82 ain't gonna happen. More like $1.25 - $1.50. Now you're breaking even but you have no income.

And you will have no health insurance, no 401K, no holidays. And I've left out alot of expenses.

hope this helps.

It is much different when you own the truck. As a company driver, you call the company when something breaks. As the owner you don't have anyone to call. You must take care of everything yourself. Things are a bit tough right now. We seem to be doing pretty well, but rates are lower than usual. It requires much more effort to make the same money as we were a few months ago. There are a lot of owner operators who are losing their trucks. More will follow. If you have a good cash reserve you should be able to get a good buy in a truck in the few months. Unless you have a good cash reserve I would wait a couple of months or so until the economy picks up. If you plan on leasing to a carrier, they should have a good customer base which should keep you rolling during the slower time. If you don't have a lot of debt and don't over extend when you buy a truck, you should be just fine. Keep in mind that things will be slower until the middle or end of the first quarter.

Good and honest post.
Thank you.

Rank and GMAN are two very good people to listen to.
I can't speak about others that may or may not be as forthright, in their posts.

You don't want to be like so many O/O's, like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../CatCircle.gif

$1.82 ain't gonna happen. More like $1.25 - $1.50. Now you're breaking even but you have no income.


SO are you saying there is no possibility any independent can average 1.82 a mile for the whole year. ??

Wow, thanks a lot of really good solid advice, Im conteplating starting the buss. in the spring( Feb. )I ve got a friend that has a low side that wants me to pull for him local, most of the work is by the hour, approx. 200 mi per day on the average so when the the truck sits im not burning any fuel while being loaded. I think the objective is to stay loacal and not go back out on the road, and dont get me wrong im a trucker thru and thru. Im not afriad to haul azz in the middle of the nite with aload of freight to Sactown, drop and hook run striaght back. However i would PREFFER NOT to do that, (besides im getting to damn old for that sh@%&t) LOL. im still thinking about it. I really like being my own boss, and I tryed the corporate(You're just a number) company driver thing. And i have always liked working for the smaller family owned oufits. Im just thinkin that it might be time for me to start my own family trucking outfit. LOTS TO CONSIDER :shock:

The rate for which you run will depend on where you run, type of equipment and your negotiating skills. You live is Southern California. You will make more money running up and down I-5 than coming East. It is expensive running the left coast. Fuel is usually higher on the left coast and don't forget about the Oregon toll road. It will cost you $0.13/mile to run in Oregon, not including your fuel costs. I have met some who do well running back and forth to Phoenix out of Southern California pulling flats. I have a friend who runs a few of the Western states and seems to do fairly well hauling cars. If you get hooked up with the right shippers and/or brokers you can do fair running back and forth, but expect to spend some time running down the better paying loads.

The last couple of years have been strange for trucking. This time last year it was difficult to find freight of any kind. This year there seems to be plenty of freight but much of it is cheap. This time of year is usually slow for most freight. Vans can usually do well until right before Christmas. Then it is usually slow until at least the middle of February. I usually take off between Christmas until after the first of January. This year we will continue running as long as we can find decent paying freight. The country is in a recession. Most people aren't discussing it much, but I believe things will be off at least until spring and likely through next year. I hope that I am wrong. I have spoken with a couple of friends who have been in this business for many years who agree with me.

Some people do well during difficult times. We are seeing a lot of owner operators and independents fail. There will be many more during the next several months. Is it a good time to enter this business? Any time can be good if you understand the basics of how to run a business, keep operating costs down, have low debt and only run the truck when the rates are sufficiently high enough for you to make a profit. Unless you have a decent nest egg to keep you going, you won't be able to afford to sit and wait on the better paying loads. You can keep a truck moving. Keeping it profitable is a bit more of a challenge. If you can find a decent truck and trailer with low payments or can afford to pay cash for your equipment, then you can still do well. If you are the type of individual who goes out and buys a hood with all the chrome and goodies with the accompanying big payments, then you may find it difficult to make it. Fuel is your most expensive cost. Running a truck with good fuel mileage is critical.

A new carrier with presumably no contacts, averaging $1.82/loaded mile on 100,000 miles with 10% DH.......in current market conditions? Yeah, I would bet against it.

That kind of work is overrated anyway.

IMO, staying close to home is a good thing;
-The pay is better.
-Saves about $25/day on meals.
-You eat better.
-Usually (but not always LOL) less stress on the family.
-Allows you to park the truck and wait for a good rate.
-You get to maintain your house instead of letting it get run down because you're never home to fix anything.
-You're not breathing diesel fumes & CO from 100 trucks every night.
-More time to work on/maintain the truck yourself.

making it in the trucking buss is a tough question. ive made it well. can you ? sure you can. but will you ? every one wants to know how the other guy did it? but most will not want to follow the exact same steps as the other guy who made it. also even if you do, some other drivers way of trucking may not apply to you. i bought a 95' intl cabover with 400,000 mi for $15,000 cash in 99' & was told by all except one of my trucking buddies that i should of bought a k.w. pete. e.t.c. yes i was laughed at a lot. going on 9 years & over a mil miles... i need not say who is having the last laugh. but still to this day all the other drivers would rather drive a new chromed out pete & work for a co, then to be seen driving an ole dependable inexpensive truck. champagne taste on a beer budjet is what drives so many o/o's into bankruptcy. do you want to make money & have peace of mind ,or look good ? if your embarrased at the thought of going down the road in anything less than a shiny pete or k.w. or feel the need to spend a lot of money on a truck, then stick to a co job . i.m.o.

One more thing to think about 379 is the economy. It looks like it will slow down even more before it picks up again. Be careful to not over extend yourself and then get caught with your pants down.

Commercial construction is slowing down now from what I'm hearing and seeing. That's not good.

A good rule of thumb I use in business is under estimate earnings and over estimate expenses. I always hope to be surprised on both ends. If not, then I have prepared myself for the worst. I find when new people start out in business they over estimate earnings and under estimate expenses. Those who prepare are likely to succeed. Those who don't are destined to fail.

A good rule of thumb I use in business is under estimate earnings and over estimate expenses. I always hope to be surprised on both ends. If not, then I have prepared myself for the worst. I find when new people start out in business they over estimate earnings and under estimate expenses. Those who prepare are likely to succeed. Those who don't are destined to fail..

your sooo correct g-man.. i learned one day (17 years ago)while estimating what it would cost to fix my kitchen floor. after surveying what appeared to be slight damage to the floor joists i concluded that a couple days & a couple hundred dollars would do it.. 4 weeks & two thousand dollars later, it was done. that set my mind in motion to the exact rule of thumb your refering to..... it is nice to learn lessons early. :lol:

I started as an o/o at 22 and did fine ina specialty niche. In freight, I probably never would have survived. Times are tough for everyone now. Car haulers seem to be a little busier this time of year, but freight, and even hhg are down. The economy needs its diaper changed.

Southern CA construction is stone dead right now,check the truck trader its full of dumps. It will pick up but I think it will be well into 09 maybe even 2010 before we are working steady again. One good thing is San Diego hourly rates have always been higher than every where else in CA so you are in the right area. My advice,being in construction trucking for 15 years now is to look for your own setup be it and end dump, truck & pup, transfer what ever, pulling someones trailer (end dump) blows they usually want 20% plus 5-7% brokerage and your not going to be able to hold on to much profit that way. Having said that when it's busy and if you get out every day you can gross $100-150k with a 5 axle @ $95 hr. The last and most important point I will make about owning your own truck in CA

http://www.cdtoa.org/pdf_gov/CTN_09TruckSurvey.pdf

We are facing some tough smog regulation in the near future so take that into consideration before you buy a 1998 or older truck.