According to the IRS and CCRA, if you're a sole-proprietor the profit is your net income.

Yes. But to avoid confusions, you should have mention it. Here is an example....

Actually on Schedule C line 31 (of the 2008 form) defines it as profit/loss.

Which rolls up to line 12 on for 1040 (2008) which further is defined as adjusted gross income.

A quick rule of thumb. If speaking of the "business" you use profit/loss

in speaking of the individual it is income. HTH

Great OP. Great because of the realistic numbers for what O/Os are actually doing, great for the realistic expectations for cost cutting and highlighting the other side of maximizing profit.

You totally blow me out of the water in just about every aspect of the profit equation. Before Christmas, I was really concerned about having a contract when I came back. Even now, though my numbers aren't in the same ballpark (I'm that $1 plus fsc guy, pulling heavy...) I'm single-minded focused through August when I ought to be completely out of debt (or, nearly so). For me, being out of work and parked is the major concern right now. I can make it if I keep going at my current rate (paid deadhead, generous layover and detention...) Once I get over my personal hump (debt), once the country gets over our collective hump(*ession, choose your prefix), I'm with you- where's the money!? Where's the revenue!?

Until then, it's the bunker mentality, it's the survival mentality, it's 'how can I be one of the truckers still making a living?' This guy, one of so many, he calls Kevin's show and says I'm just making my truck payment and paying my insurance...oh noooooo...don't want that!

If you have a decent accounting system you should be able to run a "cash projection". Then you can enter a value for labor with all the associated costs(tax,comp,umc,ect)
This also eliminates any depreciation ect so you only have cash flow.

I'm not pretending it's all roses. I make about $1.32 + FSC right now, but I had to buy a trailer and now I pay insurance. That's $1500 a month. I'm only making about 15 CPM more then I was. But it's still more. There's always an option for percentage at this company. But if you think about it, 15 CPM is more then I could ever save pinching pennies.

I'm in a similar situation. I do have lots of debt. I was not working enough at my previous job and had a credit card balance just above 4 digits. That shouldn't have been there. I was basically living on the edge just doing enough miles to get by. I did plan on ramping up the miles but then I was canned. It was sheer boredom of dry van that caused that.

That's true, right now you don't want to be switching companies. So maybe focusing your energy on cutting cost is a pretty good idea, instead of the revenue side.

So in other words, line 31 equals line 12(unless you have other income). So they're the same. You can call it all you want, but my point was you need to "equally" compare two different jobs.

You shouldn't have that problem with a step deck.

I'm not pretending it's all roses. I make about $1.32 + FSC right now, but I had to buy a trailer and now I pay insurance. That's $1500 a month.



The trailer payments and insurance on my trailer are 750.00 a month. 500.00 a month on the trailer and 250.00 for the insurance and that insurance includes my truck too. What is your FSC? .20cpm? I averaged .23cpm more than that and I still don't think it is enough. Unless you run over 120k miles a year the .15cpm difference versus not having a trailer and dealing with it's headaches would be better.

That's kind of my point. What I am saying has nothing at all to do with tax law.

If, after you pay all your bills and "pay yourself" a fair wage to drive, you still have money left over, then you have shown to yourself that your trucking business has just turned a profit. If you have no money left after you pay your bills and pay yourself, you do not a have a trucking business, you have bought a job.