Well since everyone else does it
 

I guess I'm supposed to start a "hey I bought a truck the other day" thread. :)

Well I did buy one. Not a big truck like you big boys drive. I bought a little truck. It's a 1998 IH 22' straight truck. Yeah, I know, I'm going to starve trying to find loads.

The good news is that it's powered by the venerable DT466 engine. 190 beautiful horses baby!

Now I'm having fun structuring my new company, getting my authority and giving the truck the pampering it's sorely needed for awhile. It's kind of fun (while the newness lasts). :)

I guess my real reason for this thread is to acknowledge that from reading so many posts from y'all about how to get started as an o/o doing it is like falling out of bed. Not much to puzzle about, just a case of doing it.

Thank you.

Excellent report!

Keep us informed as to your progress.

Welcome aboard, and good luck!

Good deal MD! :)

Are you going to stick Intrastate?
You should be in a great location for smaller freight loads coming north.
Of course the killer would be keeping product going both ways.

I think Traverse City has one of the largest heat treat in the state.
There is always steel coming up from Grand Rapids, and Detroit and going back everyday on those box vans.

Interstate for me! One of my main reasons for getting into this business a few years back was that I want to see this fine country and the idea of waiting until I retire to do it is just plain dumb (imho). Imagine spending your own money to go sight-seeing! It'd be a travesty I tells ya. Nope, I've been all over the eastern US and managed to get a little west of the Mississippi a couple of times. Now I want to get paid to see the rest of it.

I was in Traverse City last week looking at a truck. You gotta love the roads up there. I took 115 to 37 and it was downright relaxing. If I was getting paid it would have been like stealing. :)

Post a pic of the truck

What type of work are you going ot be doing with it??

Good luck with it Michigan. :thumbsup:

Congrats
Good luck for your future works.

I'm a little surprised that no one has jumped on me for being nuts. :) My job the last few months has consisted of trying to find loads for straight trucks (and 1 semi). What I'm setting out to do is nuts. But having said that, trying to find loads for guys that expect to make it home every night is nuts too. And then there's the guy in the semi, who is downright allergic to leaving the state of Michigan. :) I've spent the last few months saying to myself "damn I wish I had a 'runner'". Well I'm a runner and I'm curious to see if I can find loads for me.

One tip I could use if anyone is willing. For insurance, I called Progressive and the rate they quoted was a little higher than I expected it would be for just a straight. Who else should I call?

I have www.victoriainsurance.com for my tanker truck and www.easternatlanticins.com for my dump truck.

Progressive was sky high for me.

Oh yea and BTW you are NUTS there i said it lol :p

Thanks for the tips Mack. Oh and about your assessment of my state of mind - I plead guilty! :) But damn man, doing it the hard way is so much fun. Er, I'm not helping my case am I???

(I'll be on the phone with those companies tomorrow!!!)

progressive came in at almost 10k a year and eastern came in at alittle less then 6k.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...nd10/point.gif Where does one start?

Nah, you have a pretty good head there Michigan. You didn't go all in with an 18 wheeler, you are starting smaller and getting your feet wet it looks like without losing your rear too much if it doesn't pan out. In these times that's a smart play and you may be surprised at the number of smaller loads out there that you can haul.

Being nuts has been helpful to me, matter of fact it's a requirement in my line of work, I've actually had to prove it on several occasions

Best of luck with the venture

:roll3: yep.. took me awhile to finally get a trailer. :)


http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...d10/truck2.jpg

The nutty part is hitting the road in a day cab. I've pulled the passenger seat so I have room for my stuff but I can't imagine trying to sleep in it. It's going to happen though. Some time or another I'm going to find that the nearest room is too many miles away and I'll end up sleeping slumped over the steering wheel. Good times, good times.

I've done just that last weekend during the snow. I'm moonlighting as a plow driver when the weather hits. My first time out I tried sleeping while strapped into the seat, then I tried slumped across the steering wheel, neither worked. Even tried laying my head against the window but it started making me nauseous. Last weekend I came prepared with a piece of plywood to spread across the seats, worked for about 5 minutes. No sooner had I pulled it out and laid it down the snow rolled in so I had to put it back. Obviously that idea won't work since you pulled the other seat for more room. :)

Just to let you know that will not fly with DOT..

Heysus man... what dead zone are you expecting to deliver to? ... http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...0/icon_lol.gif

join OOIDA, they are a great help in a lot of things

did you look in to a expeditor? or gettig a sleeper for your truck?


good luck with the venture!

I decided against a sleeper, at least for now. A day cab suits me fine.

I was just grumbling that my decision will backfire once in awhile. For instance last year I happened to be passing through Arkansas when they had that freak ice storm. It wasn't too bad until I got to Little Rock and suddenly there were cars off the road and fender benders left and right. I made it to the Pilot and of course it was full. Then I noticed some trucks in front of the Target on the other side of the e-way. They couldn't have had us towed if they wanted to and I slept like a rock. Had I been in a day cab I'm sure every hotel for miles around was full and I would have had a long night.

But I've factored that eventuality into my purchase decision and I'll live with it. Just practicing my grumbling. Next I think I'll grumble about budget cuts. It's been a week since my accountant filed my paperwork and Michigan is still sitting on it.

O/O's aren't very happy people...that's for sure.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...0/icon_lol.gif hahaha hahaha hahaha hah hah

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...cheesygrin.gif heh heh ....hem... cof


http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2..._neutral-1.gif heh cof .... ...................................(sound of crickets)

In the MI, IN, and northwestern OH areas, I've seen straight trucks that were set up like covered wagons. Places I loaded steel, they were picking up smaller loads. Granted, that was a few years ago, before the economy tanked, but I would expect that you should have no problem picking up loads in that area. For the rest of the country, I generally saw box trucks picking up loads (like Panther II). Don't remember seeing any with Mercer on them, but Landstar had a few of them. There should be loads available for you.

What you get to do is look over the country and when you retire, you can pick the areas you want to spend time in, based on what you got a look at. Some really fantastic areas west of the Mississippi.

I'm trying to fit in best I can. :)

Now that's what I'm talking about right there! I'm happy where I'm living. I've got great neighbors and the area has a cool atmosphere. But there's so much of this great country that I haven't even seen yet. I know I'll spend most of the year staying pretty close to home and concentrating on keeping the bills paid but I'm not so old I don't have a little adventure left in my soul. Once or twice a year I plan on just heading out and taking some load that pays pretty well and leads somewhere I haven't been before. If the next load leads even farther into uncharted territory I'll smile and consider it a good thing. There's got to be more to life than pounding the same piece of pavement day after day.

MD, are you going to continue to dispatch, and take an occasional load yourself, for awhile?

I'm just going to try and find loads for myself. Dispatching is much harder (pronounced boring) than I thought it would be, not to mention more thankless. Nope, I plan on running hard, at least for the next year and giving my dispatcher (me) a break whenever I can. Any load going anywhere that pays pretty well and won't leave me stuck finding my next load will be good enough.

One thing though, I've done some programming and I've got some ideas for making finding better loads easier with less time/effort investment. I plan on working on that in my spare time. If anything comes of it, and let's be honest, I'm not exactly a workaholic these days :), maybe I'll post something someday that will be worth looking into. As always, the smart bet is to bet against me. :)

Welcome to our jobline.
Excellent report and I'm really excited to know more.

Well normally I'd just start a thread, see if people think it's fun to offer their 2 cents and let it die. But this time it's getting personal Gawd darn it.

Standing face to face with a huge bureaucracy has a way of humbling a man. It infuriates a man too but that's a whole 'nother story.

I'm thinking 1st or 2nd week of April I'll be on the road. Meanwhile I'm watching my credit card balances gain an impressive stature. The race is on. I was thinking Citi would do the better job of bending me over, but I steeled my nerve, made some calls, and Capitol One will be the one that says 'thanks for the bailout' in the most penetrating way.

It will pay off in the long run. It will pay off in the long run. It will pay off in the long run...

Grumbling is my new hobby.

Don't know what your credit lines are, but you DO know that anything more than a 30% utilization rate on any and/or all cards will start lowering your credit score... right?

Did you make a business plan and talk to your bank about financing for the short term at least?

if you are waiting for your DOT and MC numbers do not wait for the mail. i called the FMCA about 3 weeks in and they were done before the 4-6 weeks i was told. they'll also fax you the certificate