I admit it, I'm clueless
 

I will try to make this brief as a courtesy... I used to run a nonprofit organization that occasionally needed a truck and someone to drive it, so I bought a truck and trailer, learned to drive it, and got my CDL -- not the usual track but it worked for me and for my org. Truck is financed, trailer is paid off. But now, for reasons unrelated to my org's purchase of said truck and trailer, I am closing down. I won't go into detail on how the asset transfer works (it's all legal and ethical), but long story short, I own the truck and trailer, and have no job. I thought about selling them, but I know as soon as I do I'll regret it. So I decided to hold onto them, but then I began to think it would be pretty stupid to have this rig parked somewhere instead of out earning money, especially when I need a new job. Trailer is an older reefer -- not in awful shape but I think I can swap it for a dry van in better condition, unless of course I can make more money with a reefer. So here's where I am: I have very little experience, but I do have my own truck and trailer and a few long hauls under my belt. I am on the west coast, pretty flexible about where my home base is. I just moved from WA to southern CA, but I am not in a long-term living situation, so I can move wherever, but prefer to stay on the west coast. Truck is registered in WA. I am entrepreneurial by nature, and I know how to run a business, but I don't know much about the trucking business. That said, I am a fast learner. So with all that in mind, what do I need to know? Any threads you can point me to? I basically want to work my butt off and make as much money as I can. Primarily I am wondering if I'm better off starting a new company and working with a dispatch service or working for someone else, and I don't yet know the ins and outs of it all. Thanks in advance. -Steve

You may consider leasing on with a carrier. Most will require a minimum amount of experience, but it is worth the try, providing you want to keep your truck and trailer. Living in California, there are age restrictions for reefers and trucks. If you want to lease to a carrier, you could check with Gilner. They are based in Idaho and pull reefers. Rates seem pretty decent and they pay percentage. Most carriers prefer those with at least 6-12 months of otr experience. There are a number of carriers listed on this forum under company listings that has the minimum hiring requirements. If you want to learn about driving otr, then you could get with a carrier that does training. You have options, but it is a matter of deciding what you want to do and then move in that direction.

Thanks for the tip. I will look into them. Worst case scenario, if no one will hire me because of my inexperience, can I carry my own operating authority and contract with a dispatch company? I have my own DOT# now so I'm familiar with how all that goes, albeit as a private carrier, so I'm sure I would have to do more paperwork. But in that scenario can I realistically be working steadily? I realize I'd be assuming all the liability and all the overhead, but I'm already doing that now and not making any return. Is there a significant benefit in leasing on with another carrier as opposed to just starting a trucking company?

In case it's not apparent, I'm kind of wired to be an entrepreneur more than an employee, but maybe I need a reality check?

[QUOTE=scm;529141]I will try to make this brief as a courtesy...
.........Trailer is an older reefer -- not in awful shape but I think I can swap it for a dry van in better condition, unless of course I can make more money with a reefer.

You can make good money hauling reefers out of Colorado....... as long as you don't get caught!! :cool:

It depends. The main benefit is a customer base, also a lot less "office" work. You also could learn some ropes with less risk. But in your case scenario, i'd recommend to get your own #. You've said you are a businessman and quick learner, that's a good combination.

Useless, good to see you are still here!

I think you should sell the equipment, and if you still want to try trucking for a living, get hired on somewhere as a company driver and learn the trade.

scm… stay a member here and you will learn much. :) …just don't listen to these other guys. :roll3:

Look over this web page Welcome to SummersAgency.com! then give Donny a call and just chat with him for a few minutes. He is honest and a straight shooter and will tell if your ideas are good or bad.

I have been working with him for over 3 years and couldn't be happier with the service.

The reason I suggested leasing on to a carrier rather than getting your own authority at this point is your lack of experience. It would be a way to transition to getting your authority while you learn the business. On the other hand, if you are a quick learner and have some money set aside to run on, then you could get your own authority. Unless you have at least 6-12 months experience, most carriers are hesitant to sign a contract with an owner operator.

Running your own authority is not rocket science. You need some money to get started and a lot of initiative. It costs $300 for the authority. The big cost is insurance. Most require about 20% down and then monthly payments. There are quarterly IFTA filings. A few states also require quarterly filings, such as New York, Kentucky and New Mexico. You don't need to worry about those states unless you plan on running in them. Probably the two most challenging aspects of running your authority are finding, negotiating decent rates and booking the load. Another is billing and collections. You either need to have the money to run your business until the money begins to come back in, factor receivables or work with brokers who offer quick pay. Quick pay is where the broker discounts the rate (usually 1 1/2-3%) to pay you in a short amount of time. Most pay in 24-48 hours from the time they receive your bills and invoice. Cash flow can kill your business. Or I should say the lack of cash flow can kill your business. Anyone who owns trucks should know their breakeven point. There are dispatch services around. JB Hunt and a few other major carriers will allow those with their own authority to pull their trailers. You should be able to get your money quickly with this type of arrangement. Rates are not great, but they will find your loads and all you have to do is drive the truck to the destination and then drop and hook. If you want to pull your own trailer and not look for your own loads, there are dispatch services around. Fees and the level of competency vary. Sometimes, you need to just jump into the water and sink or swim.

Oregon requires an account to.

Leasing would be an excellent place to start and learn the trade since you already own the equipment. I sold my dry van and bought a reefer because of better revenue averaging almost 35-40 cents per mile over dry van.

Nice to see that you're still alive and working.:)

well enough I have actually considered selling the 07 Century and looking at a '12 660.

Oregon requires that you post a $2,000 bond. Unless you run a lot of miles in Oregon, you may just want to buy trip permits each time you enter the state. That is what I decided to do when they started the cash bond nonsense. I didn't run that many miles in the state to justify allowing them to keep that much of my money without paying me interest. You still need to set up an account, but you can order your trip permits online with a credit or debit card. When you lease to a carrier they can usually handle all the permits, cab card, IFTA, etc., Some people even make more leasing to a carrier than they do on their own. You can always go out on your own later. Leasing to a carrier would take some of the pressure off of you for cash flow, too. It would give you an opportunity to learn how to run a truck and to manage your time. You can save your money while learning the business and making money. If you want to go with a carrier, you may check the company listings on the forum. Most of the larger carriers are listed along with their basic hiring requirements.

as I understand working with Oregon.

You apply for an account. As part of that, you have to INITIALLY pay for a $2000 bond. You are paid that back with interest after 1 year.

You can purchase UP TO 5 trip permits for EACH truck in your fleet. After that, you will be required to set up an account with them.

There are a couple of ways to set up your account. One, and the way that they WANT you to do it is to fax the form in. Or else you mail the form in for your company.

One way is to get trip permits. Again, limited to a 5 trip per truck lifetime maximum. Like 30 for your fleet. Otherwise you can set up your account that you file monthly reports with Oregon.

I am going through that process now. I have purchased 1 trip permit. I have 4 more that I can purchase.


These are the "stupid games" that an independent has to muddle through to figure out the lanes you want to consider running.

It has been several years since I have run in Oregon. I don't recall there being a maximum number of trip permits that one could purchase without having to put up the bond. It sounds like Oregon may have made a few changes since I ran out there. If Oregon feels the need to post a cash bond, it should be a graduating scale based upon the size of your fleet. Even if you ran Oregon once a week, it would be difficult for you to use up $2,000 in a year with a single truck. I didn't think Oregon paid interest on the bond. It really amounts to a loan to the state of Oregon. Years ago, Oregon issued a red plate that looked like your regular base plate that had to be displayed on the front of your truck. Back then I don't recall them requiring a bond. You paid for the miles you ran in the state. Oregon recently went up on their mileage rate again. I don't think it is worth the cost of running in Oregon when you look at the freight rates. I am taking them off my cab card this year.

Always has been 5 trip permits/vin#. And they always have paid interest on the bond. As long as you file on time. Wouldn't take long to exceed 2K running from CA to WA and back.

Hmm, I have already done 2 trip permits in OR and have a third coming up ...

So, it appears you have gone on your own, with your own authority.
But to give you some additional ideas.
I activated my own authority, after being inactive for 5 years, just last month.
I was leased on to a small company but did almost all my own arrangements.
But the arrangement left me with far less money and since I did the load bids I knew how much was coming in.
My own authority easy to set up.
Much tougher to keep up with the paper work, not to talk about the , "new entrant", DOT initial inspection coming soon.
many brokers won't touch you because you are a rookie.
But many of the big ones will,
C H Robinson, will and they only take 1.5% for quick pay. Since fuel and cash flow is important at the start this arrangement will get you though.
Since I used to own my own company I found it hard to work for someone else. Letting them take a piece that I already knew how to do.
You don't need a dispatch service. One load board and a positive attitude when ever talking with or emailing the broker will go a long way.
After only 40 days I am getting regular calls from my past load brokers asking for me because I delivered on time and more important, I kept them informed from the dispatch time to the arrival time, to the loaded time, updates during the trip, a quick text at arrival and most important, that call or text or email saying, "load delivered as promised and thank you for the assignment"
Your prior experience will guide you on personal interactions with the brokers, receivers and shippers. This element of trucking is sorely overlooked and the attitude of the dock workers proves it.
Make sure you get your direct deposits set up right. Its nice to get emails that say , We just deposited $3000 in your bank , while you are driving with another load.
You might try to get full communications in the truck.
Receive emails,( load confirmation), driver instructions, send your acceptance back. then with a scanner, scan all the docs, attach to an email, send directly to the settlement office, turn the key on to the next job.
Remember there are about a dozen profit centers in trucking. If you delegate everything to someone else then you will be giving your money to them also. But to take on everything for most people is too much. Start today figuring out which parts you want and can do and which ones need to left to others.
the money is getting better the freight getting more plentiful and more drivers dropping out do to age and regulation.
Keep focused on your mission, push, and you will do fine.
Hope this helps.

Thanks, Solo! How you been??

Sill alive, if that counts. Not bad, not bad at all....

That is a silly idea. My father started this business knowing less than the basics and has done very well for himself. He paid for his own driving school, bought his own truck and flatbed trailer and has run under his own authority since 2008 when he received his license. He had no previous truck driving experience and never worked as a truck driver before. Truck driving is not rocket science.

Quick update: I've gone back and forth a lot on this, but I just talked to the shipping manager at a local mill and I'm going to start trucking lumber for them. I can be home most nights, good pay, and I'll be one of only two of the drivers they use who live here in town. Potential to gross $2000/day if I can get return loads. Being interstate I will be able to go to OR and ID as well, which a lot of their current drivers can't do. So wish me luck.

Just read this thread... and I'm no O/O (yet) and don't know sheit from shinola, lol!

But, I was just wondering about a possible niche for you... if the lumber thing don't work out.

If your reefer is "workable," (and you didn't trade it for a flatbed...) I wonder what kind of money you could make (and trouble you could get into) by checking with the "produce sheds" in Salinas, Coachella and the Ventura area. [The main ones. There's also Bakersfield and the Imperial Valley sheds.]

I'm just mulling this over, but... they need a lot of produce "shuttled" from field to cooler, cooler to OTHER coolers, and stuff like that. I would think they MIGHT pay good money when they are desperate and need stuff moved around to fill a truckload order that their business may depend on.

I used to haul produce back to NC from the west coast (including apples from WA, taters and lettuce from CO, and onions from NV.] I can't tell you how many times I was held up at a shed waiting on a load of something coming from somewhere else to fill my "order."

I'm thinking along the lines of an "on call" EXPEDITER. [Yes, I'm a bit of an entrepreneur as well.]

Let me know what you think of the idea. If I haven't been clear enough... just ask.

Your right it's not rocket science, but if it's so easy why is the failure rate so high?

I see too many that have no business sense starting up. Get those big settlement checks and the loose it from there. Don't invest it back into the truck or save for slow times but toys.


And not just in trucking