Here Goes!!

After 15 years of punching the clock and boss man after boss man breathing down my throat I am think of quitting my job an becoming and 0/0!

Before I got this job I drove for Boyd and Maverick. I have also driven for a couple of 0/0 and STI on my days off over the years!

I make any where from high 5 figures to low 6 figures yearly. But I am beginning to hate this job more and more!

Ironicly I load flatbed trucks with a Taylor forklift for a living. LOL

My plans are to take some money out of my retirement and purchase in full a late model Pete and a flatebed trailer (in full).

I have heard and read all kinds of trucker stories about the pay. Anywhere from making $150 -$200K yearly (before expenses) to just barely making it. Without a truck and trailer payment can I make a good living?

I am a little nervous and my wife is also very concerned to say the least!

I have alway LOVED trucks and trucking since I was a litlte boy and at 46 cannot seem to shake it.

I figured eventually I was going to have to drive again. I believe that as the work force starts to age, my current company is going to either become hard to deal with or start forcing some of the old hands to retire!

I am a big boy and I am open for a opinions!

Thanks!

 

I am working on doing the same thing.

I am putting everything together on paper before I spend a dime. This week I got the help of a small trucking company here in town that called the brokers for me and got rates. I went to the demo version of internet truck stop and and planned my week off it. I then went to the small trucking company and they called and got the rates for the loads I had picked.

I could of made 3 runs of 321 miles out that paid $450 each. The return trip paid $425. To get the return trip there was 50 miles of deadhead to pick up the load, there was a 60 mile deadhead to get back to the orginal pickup to do another round. I haven't sat down and crunched all the numbers yet to see where it all ends up dollar wise.

I was approved for insurance with a 300 mile radius restriction. I am waiting on a call back from them to see if they will increase the radius to 500 miles. There are alot more load opportunities within the 500 mile range.

I had a truck picked out to buy but after a few pointers from the good people here I decided to keep looking for a truck a little cheaper to start out with.

Good Luck and Do Your Homework First!

 

If you are making 100 Large now, you will be taking a cut in pay.

Don't take money out of a retirement account to buy a truck. The early withdrawal penalties are substantial.

There are better (more cost effective) trucks than a Pete. You pay a lot for a name.

You might as well start looking for a new wife as you look for a truck. :shock:

Remember, It's not what you bill, it's what Sticks

 

That $150-200k figure is gross and can be misleading. With a paid for truck and a sharp eye for the bottom line you will be able to retain 35-45% of that as net.

As a benchmark I'll earn $40k this year working 40-45hrs per week as a dockworker/yard goat driver in LTL land. The other guy I trained with is earning ~$60k as a night line driver. Some of our senior line drivers who work 60-70hrs/week gross $75-85k.

Unless you have your own authority you are merely trading dollars and buying yourself a job. You net take home after all expenses will be in the range of what a company driver earns. By owning your own equipment you are taking on significant additional headache and risk.

Paccar makes a good product but you will pay a significant premium of it; they are the Harley Davidson or Toyota of Big Rigs.

Use the search feature to read most everything by Steve Booth and GMAN on here. Read the "Desk to own authority" threads by Steve. Samuel also has a good thread & blog on here about running for Swift flatbed.

The Steve B school of jump into the deep end (O/O with own authority) to learn to swim is not for everyone.

If I were you I'd look into hiring on with a good 1st rate flatbed outfit like TMC to A) See if you and your spouse can adapt to the lifestyle B) Get some quality training and make some of the inevitable N00B mistakes. Going that route if you and/or the Mrs. decide its not for you you're able to just turn in the truck and walk away no harm no foul.

If you go and take $80-140k from retirement savings for a shiny new Petercar you could easily take a $25-50k hit if you decide this is not for you.

Good Luck.

Ian

 

how can there be so many people have the same story as mine? i have purchased a '95 t600 in pretty decent shape and i'm still sitting with the local power company trying to get enough nerve to take the plunge to leased owner operator. i guess i'm asking too many people the samequestion,,,part of the people are positive and part negative.

 

[quote="usedup"]

Don't take money out of a retirement account to buy a truck. The early withdrawal penalties are substantial.

quote]

The penalty for early withdrawl from a retirement account is a 10% penalty plus you have to claim the distribution as income on your income taxes.

Take $50K out and pay a $5K penalty and talk to a CPA and see if you can write off enough with a new business startup to offset the income tax due.

Borrow 50K from the bank at 9% interest for 5 years and you pay $12,275 in interest with a monthly payment of $1,040

I think you have a better chance of making it going in without any large monthly payments.

 

Got kids?

If not I say you may as well go for it. If you hate your job as much as you say, you're going to get fired or quit anyway. And at 46 you don't have much in the way of new career opporunitites.

Be careful...a divorce will make a Pete look cheap.

 

That or sell the wife on the idea and run team. Having the ability to move the truck 22hrs/day vs 11 makes it far easier to cover your fixed costs and turn a profit.

 

Yes, I jumped into the deep end right off the bat. Got my license, bought a truck, trailer and got my own authority. In early 90's I was making $190,000 but the job was incredibly difficult going for 6 to 9 months at a time without anything to show for my efforts. Some of the problems that were given to me took all most a year to solve. This took it's toll on me and I quit to work in a laboratory environment doing research making $115,000.

After doing the same thing every single day for over 30 years I realized I just wasn't happy and took the plunge. I've been on the road on my own since November 19th of last year.

I am making very decent money and average about $1.70 per mile and about 3,000 miles per week. Some loads are over $2.00 per mile and some are as low as $1.40.

If your willing to head out for 3 or 4 weeks at a time I think you will do fine pulling a flatbed like myself. I can't speak for van work or anything else though.

I paid cash for my truck and trailer and don't really have any bills to speak of. As of today I have a little over $20,000 doing nothing in the bank. It was $28,000 until I bought a Rigmaster a few weeks ago. I will continue to bank all my money and would suggest anyone else getting into this to do the same until you have a sizable amount to withstand a major set back.

You really need to commit staying out for that 3 or 4 weeks and going wherever is necessary.

 

I agree with Stve on this. If you need a cheapload back every Friday and a cheap load out every Monday...you are done. Unless you live in OH.