Since trainers were mentioned, this is something I feel a little comfortible in discussing being a former USX trainer.
One I always had a talk before I took a new student out, I never rejected a possible student, but I am a people person, and I wanted to get a feel for their personality.

By the same token...you as the new student need to ask them the same questions....
1. Why does he train?
2. Does he yell at students?
etc I could go on n on

Dont be afraid to go back to the company and reject their choice for a trainer, far easier before you get on to reject then latter have problems and be branded a troublemaker.

Why I trained....well I cant ever say I wasnt interested in the more $, as I made quite a bit more, but I can honestly say that wasnt the biggest reason.
I come from a family of teachers, my grandfather being a college professor, n this was my best opportunity to be a teacher.

 

I started as an o/o and have done well. i recently bought my 06 KW T600 decked out. I pull hhg, so movng furnitre is a skill that must parallel the driving aspect.

 

Tape hanging from the steering wheel, and all!! :lol:

 

I would have started out as an O/O if I could have. I had to suffer
working for companies for the first year. One of the worst years of
my life. I hated every minute of it. I had always been self-employed
and it was very difficult working for idiots.

I bought my first truck after a year then figured out I couldn't get
insurance unless i just wanted to run a 300 mile radius, and I didn't
have any desire to be a local driver, so I leased on with Landstar, bought
my own trailer, and stayed with them till I had 2 years of experience
and was able to get my own insurance. I then got my own authority,
and haven't had any problems at all since then.

I agree with what everyone else has said, It takes money to get
started. I spent about 50k on equiptment, and it took around 5k
to get my own authority, and then you need at least 20k to buy
fuel, cover repairs ect before the money starts coming back your
way. It ain't a cheap business to get into.

 

i went straight to o/o. as soon as i got my cdl. i looked into all aspects of how i was going to do things. it worked out great for me so far & my wife & 6 kid's think so too. my biggest asset i think.. was not to have champane taste on a beer budget. work alot make alot spend very little. although everyhting has to work out. for me it just did. but i also had the money to lose if it didnt . most people dont.

 

And how many deadhead miles are you not including in that $1.90 per mile rate?
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :roll:

 

I just finished hauling some $2.21 a mile freight..16k lbs, 1100 miles...deadheaded 67 miles to load, and once empty...had to deadhead 58 miles to my next load...can I still call that $2.21 a mile freight? I found a swift driver going into cali., and chained my truck to the back of his..zero fuel consumption that way

 

No, your cost per mile is now 2.0831191088260497000856898029135. You are destined to fail, you will get Chlamydia and....you will die.

You should pull your truck when deadheading and then you could kill 2 birds with one stone and not have to go to the gym.

 

I find this amusing because it doesn't matter whether it's 2.95 or 1.55, it's all relative, because it's net profit that matters.

A guy with lower expenses could run for less money and make more in the end, so are we talking about bragging rights on the rates we get, or profitability?

In other words, if your fixed expenses are already too high, you're probably already screwed, even if you get the higher rates, although you may feel better temporarily, until you do your books. Remember, self deception is only temporarily satisfying.. :wink:

Deadhead miles really don't matter to me in the big scheme of things, but only profitability. I just consider it a cost of doing business, and you probably could affix a percentage to it after a few months of calculation, which I intend to do. After that, I'll just monitor that percentage.

My wife was concerned about how much we were spending on fuel the other day till I explained, the more we spend on fuel, the more we make because I look at fuel as a percentage and try to keep it in a certain range. If it's in that range, I don't stress about it, I just keep the truck moving. I actually would rather deadhead (within reason), to pickup a good load, than just sit around and stress about where I'm going to get the "dream" load.

I for one, have been inspired by what Steve has been able to accomplish in such a short time, and I hope he is able to share "the bottom line" with us at some point.

Boys, be careful, there is a fine line between sarcasm and mockery........

Drive safely,

jonboy

 

How do you increase net profit by lowering your rates? Please don't say running more miles.

Is that so?
Trucker A buys new truck, runs 150,000 miles and banks $50,000.
Trucker B buys new truck, runs 50,000 miles and banks $40,000.

Who did better?