Alright guys,

Here's my new dilemma.Recently, the brokerage house that i work with and give me business about 80% of the time offered me to start working with them on brokerage side of business.I don't know anything about it and i will start from scratch firstly by dispatching their trucks and then moving to higher responsibilities.They also offered buying my truck and trailer or just bring it along under my own authority and put a driver on it.I still owe a little money on the truck that i plan paying off as soon as possible before doing this move.I want to keep the truck around just in case as a backup,if things go south.Putting a driver on it is still questionable,since ill be starting something new and want to concentrate only on my job and not the headaches with a driver,but i can consider it as an option.

The thing is this long haul trucking gets on me.I'm 26,been out for 3 years,and I'm just missing so much from my lovely wife,social life with friends and looking for a change into something else.Soon i want to have kids and dont want to see myself on the road missing out from their life.I have plenty of trucker friends that are in this predicament. I love trucking and i see myself doing a career in this industry,either in the brokerage part or o/o.This experience seeing the country and being out is something extraordinary that i think it will help me.Income wise i'll taking a huge hit at first compared to what i make now as a owner ,but im willing to sacrifice this part for a while until things improve and i'll be learning the ropes of the sales part.

What do you guys think?? Any suggestions?

Let me know.....

 

If you want to stay in this business and be home more, then the brokerage side is certainly a way to go. Like any sales position, it will take time to build your business. Good drivers are hard to come by. It is difficult to make a profit with a driver in a single truck. If you can find a good driver you might do all right, but finding a good one can be time consuming. Some drivers with questionable backgrounds target smaller carriers because they think that the smaller companies won't check them out as closely. Even when you check them out you may not get good information. Anyone who has had drivers in their trucks have horror stories they can tell about drivers who steal from them, sell their fuel and abuse their equipment. My suggestion is to pay off your equipment and then try the new job. Park the truck rather than putting a driver in it. Without payments you won't have any costs associated with the change. You can put your authority on hold or allow it to be temporarily revoked. It only costs $80 to reinstate your authority. It doesn't make much sense to pay for insurance unless you are running the truck. Even if you find a good driver, there isn't much profit in running a single truck with a driver. No one will take care of your equipment like you. They can tear up your equipment and go to the next victim leaving you with the bills.If you have multiple trucks you can offset some of that expenses by having more trucks. If you keep the truck and don't have payments all you will need do is pay the insurance, reinstate your authority and you are back in business again. You don't have to worry about having to fix something that was broken by the driver who somehow forgot to tell you about it.

 

Thanks for the reply Gman,

I've been pretty busy lately and didn'get a good chance to visit this forum.Your response couldn't be better.

The route that i want to go is to pay the truck and park it.After talking to others around i kind of got the same response.Having a driver can be a headache and definitely i don't want to have extra stress over my head.I didn't know i can put on hold my operating authority and i'll try to see more into that.It sounds like a good option.My operating authority its been going on for about 4 years and lots of reputable brokers look into how long ive operated before getting a load with them.So definitely i want to keep my company history alive.I just have to see how it goes.

Thanks tough.

 

Hm... I was thinking of doing something similar in winter. I thought I"d put a driver in the truck and learn how to broker loads and then would dispatch my own truck and sell/buy loads as the second business. My truck is going to be paid off, but since I wasn't able to get rid of the Conestoga stepdeck, now I'm stuck paying for the trailer and tarp. I guess, I"ll have to drive the truck myself till the lease on the trailer and tarp ends. That's a very very very long time away

 

I think it's a great idea to give it a try. It's a good way to learn the other side of the business and if you ever decide to go trucking again you will have made some valuable contacts.

 

I think it's a great idea, it's always a great thing to learn new things and get different perspectives. I would definitely park the truck. Judging from your post sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders, you'll make the right choices. Good luck!

 

Something to keep in mind is that some carriers will not do business with a broker until they have been in business for at least a year or two. Some don't care as long as you have decent rates. Like any new venture, it does take time to build your business. Once your truck is paid off you could double up on your payments to pay off the trailer earlier.

 

My trailer is on a lease. I don't think increasing payments would work. The financial company would still like to receive all the 60 payments I signed up for. It'd've been a different matter if it had been financed. One option is to make 36 more payments and then ... stop. We have a law here that says a vehicle cannot be repossessed if you've paid off 3/4 of its value

 

Thanks for feedback guys.

I do see myself making a career in this industry.The road is great.I'm afraid i will miss it more than i tell myself right now that i will not miss it.The thing is family life asks for being more at home.

My dream is that when i retire from anything that i will do, to be on the road with my wife on a huge sleeper truck full of chrome hooping from place to place at 50mph.Just for the fun of it like i see some older drivers around and not for the money.But until then its turn and burn baby!!!lol