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

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. 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 , 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!

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.