Hi, all.

After more than eight years of making someone else's fortune for them, I decided it was time to take the next step and formed my own company as a sole proprietor.

First step was to get a truck, obviously. I wanted one that had aerodynamic styling and no DEF or EGR. Looking for one that was being sold by a dealer was not an easy job, but I did find one at a small dealer in Indiana, not far from Kentucky where I live. (I say small, but I mean nearly as tiny as it could possibly be.) From what I've been able to piece together, the guy's chief business is attending auctions and buying what he considers good deals and reselling them. The truck happened to fit his specs, so he bought it. I bought it for $13.1k. It's a 2003 Freightliner Columbia with a Series 60. It had 1,488k miles on it when I bought it. I don't know at this point whether it has ever been overhauled or not, but in less than 2 months, I expect to know for sure. (More on that later.) It was previously owned by Aurora Caskets out of Aurora, IN. The last driver left a inspection log in the cab and I've looked it over. He was pretty anal about having every little thing fixed, so I had some confidence that it had well taken care of.

I bought the truck in the 2nd week of June. I looked at trailers, but the cost of a new van was beyond my reach for the moment. So, I looked at used trailers, wanting to find one that wasn't already a rust bucket and thought I had found one for $7.8k in Cleveland. The salesman sent me pics of that one, but also of another that showed the interior wasn't beat up, but the outside had quite a bit of rust, plus it had boxes welded on underneath, adding unwanted weight to the trailer. Both were the same price. I thought I had made it clear to him that I wanted the un-rusted one, but when I got up there, the one I thought I was going to get was already sold. I had hoped to begin earning money the following Monday and it was now Thursday, so I took what he had "saved back".

I took the trailer back to Georgetown, KY and had Clarke Power do an inspection and got all the brakes and drums replaced and was ready to roll on Monday morning as hoped. The Friday prior, when I went to haul the trailer up to Clarke, I experienced the first sign of trouble. The truck died within a couple of minutes of starting. The Check Engine and Protect Engine lights had come on. I checked the coolant level and found it was below the sensor, though it was really hard to tell exactly what the level was due to the fact that the surge tank was very yellowed with age, nearly brown, and no longer translucent. Anyhow... I put a gallon of coolant in and took the trailer for service.

On Monday, I got a load going from Lexington to Georgetown to Hopkinsville, followed by a load going from Beaver Dam, KY to Conover, NC. Routing from Beaver Dam to NC, I followed Western KY Parkway east to William Natcher Parkway, south through Bowling Green. I had only gotten a few miles down Natcher when the Check Engine / Protect Engine lights came on again. Fortunately, I had a couple of gallons of coolant in the truck and put in a gallon AGAIN. To make a long story short, I've put a gallon in every running day since mid-June. Clarke says it's likely a blown head gasket. My oil level is fine and doesn't increase with the amount of coolant I put in. I put a jug below the surge tank to see if it was being pressurized out of the overflow tube -- it's not. Clarke did a pressure test on the coolant system and there were no leaks and no loss in system pressure. So, the theory is that it's being burned up in the exhaust system. There was a notion floated that it might be going into the transmission, but considering how much coolant I've put into the engine, that isn't a likely answer, either. I know the surge tank isn't relieving any pressure. I've been boiled a few times by the sudden exhaust of hot coolant through that cap, which makes me wonder how closely that cap functions to its counterpart on a car or pickup. The only sign I see that there is an issue is the missing coolant. There's no streaks coming down the stack and only a small cloud of white smoke when I first start the truck up.

I keep the fluid levels topped off each day and will have no choice but to drive it until I can afford the repairs. Clarke says, considering how much work they'll have to do to get a blown head gasket fixed, it will be nearly the cost of an overhaul and I might as well do it, which does make sense and it's something I was planning on, anyhow, but not right out of the starting gate.

So far, I've put on 22k miles and earned almost $33k, so... about $1.50/mile average for all miles, including deadhead. Paid miles are averaging $1.82.

I'm learning that going west of the Mississippi River isn't really worth the effort. I can make just as much, or more, just running from the area south of NYC over to the Mississippi River. For instance, my last 6 runs... Hamilton, NC to Springfield, MO.... Springfield, MO to West Chester, OH (Cincy)... Blue Ash, OH (Cincy) to Baltimore, MD... Baltimore MD to Munising, MI (is it BlueBeetle or GMAN that's a Yooper?)... Green Bay, WI to Nabb, IN... Austin, IN to Winchester, KY...
That covers 9 driving days and a total of 3900 miles, only about 100 miles total deadhead, paying $7300.

My first 3 weeks were only 3-day weeks, due to concerns about the engine the first 2 weeks, and then a trailer rejection on a Thursday afternoon by a shipper that killed the rest of my week. Since then, I've run 5 and 6-day weeks.

Colorado runs are off the table from now until eternity. the pay going out is decent. But, loads coming back east from there are hard to find and when you can find one, its pays $1 OR LESS / mile. I will leave a shipper's goods to rot in his warehouse before I'll take that kind of money to haul a load. I'm in BUSINESS, not charity. the same goes for anything going into the northeast, of course, and Texas, too. I don't run west of the Rockies or into Florida, either.

Oh... the trailer. I took that back to the dealer in Cleveland and worked out a deal with them to take a much newer trailer (2015 versus 2004) on a lease @ $400/mo until what I previously paid them is used up. At that point, I'll probably buy a new one. My credit should have recovered enough to do that by then. (Starting up knocked my credit score down over 100 points because of getting lines of credit established.) I had 3 shippers turn my trailer down due to age and a couple more that nearly turned it down due to odor, all in the first 3 weeks. Maybe that was just luck of the draw, but I had to get rid of that impediment.

Question for you guys: I have a Fleet One fuel card (RTS) and haven't been particularly impressed with the actual discounts I get. What card do you guys use and are you happy with it? So far, I am getting a consistent $.12/gal discount at PFJ, but all others vary a great deal, from $.00 (mostly at Kangaroo) to $.37/gal (mostly at AMBEST). The guy who talked me into it said I would see discounts, other than PFJ, at up to $.80/gal. BULLSTUFF.

 

best of luck to you, your employees and such

 

Best luck to you! Running your own company is not easy, but it is the best way to become a successful man.

 

%$#@ we failed you. Guess we didn't teach you nuthin'.

 

LOL @ Roadhog.... Thanks for the effort, anyhow, RH. =)

SO FAR.... this is what my results have been. As of 11/15/17 with a start date of 6/12/17 (running only 3 days/wk the 1st 3 weeks), revenue has been $73,250. A total of $5050 for insurance. Fuel expenses averaging $700/week.

Paid $5250 in quarterly taxes (state and federal, social security included) at the beginning of September and will likely pay just over that amount at the end of the year again. [This worked out REALLY well for me since I had saved up $11.5k for taxes. Got myself a kayak. ]

Bought 8 new Dayton LP tires this past Sunday: $2118. Broke down right at St. Regis, MT due to a blown fuel injector the end of September. Had to be towed back to Missoula, MT for the repair. The shop in Couer D'Alene said it would be at least 2 days before they could get it into the shop, so Missoula appeared to be the better choice. $790 for the tow bill. $2300 for the repair. They had to get the part from Reno. Fortunately, I was getting $4500 for the load out to Spokane, otherwise I'd have been in the hole on that run. Got a decent load from Spokane back to Greer, SC ($4000). Other than that, I've spent about $4k on minor repairs. Pretty much what you'd expect on a truck that's got 1.5M miles on it.

I was talking to another driver this past weekend in Brunswick, GA and he was telling me that as far as he could tell, any successful O/O is having to make trucking his life, practically living out of the truck. I don't have to do that and reflected on what makes the difference for me. It boils down to one thing: I bought a used truck and have kept the maintenance up on it. I pay a measly $178/mo note on the truck due to having taken out a loan for $7500 to complete the deal. Rather than having a note that's $3000-5000/month, mine is totally insignificant. I don't have to live trucking. I can have a LIFE because I made a smart choice right from the start. All my bills get paid, both personal and business, on time, if not early. I support myself and my fiancee as well as pay down credit cards and I take whatever time I want off, whenever I want it. Because I don't have a huge note to pay on, I can be picky about loads. I refuse to haul any cheap freight. If it won't pay $1.85/mi or more, I won't haul it. I don't have to. And if that means I deadhead back home, so be it. I will do it. I have deadheaded all the way from Lakeland, FL to Lexington, KY, and just deadheaded this past weekend from Brunswick because there were no loads paying decent. Is this detrimental to my bottom line? Yes, it is. BUT, I refuse to encourage bad behavior on the part of shippers who don't want to pay a fair price to get their loads hauled. PERIOD. Won't do it. Someone else will probably haul it, so perhaps the shipper learns nothing from me turning down his cheap load. Doesn't matter. I still won't haul it, even if it harelips the Pope.

I also won't haul any loads for trucking companies that are part of the ATA. I get email from a few of them wanting to give me their overflow, but I won't do it. They'll make some profit from the load if I haul it, then turn around and buy some new regulations to shove up my tailpipe. That's like giving the guy the gun he shoots you with. Not terribly bright.

Got news on the funding for the overhaul. It's going to be delayed until mid-December because the organization that's going to give me the loan wants the state to give them... well, it amounts to loan insurance, from the state. If I default, they get some cash back as well as my truck and my car. And, they're not going to loan me the necessary entire amount to get the overhaul done. I'll have to pony up about $3700 to get the overhaul plus replace the steering gear box. Meh. Okay.

I was talking to my dad a few weeks ago and he asked me how I liked being my own boss. I told him, all things considered, it's good. For the first time in my life, I can actually have options. Poor folks can't afford options. They do whatever they have to when they have to do it (and that's usually all the time). I only wish I'd have been able to do this years ago.

 

I am glad to hear that you are doing well. Not having big equipment payments makes a huge difference in your bottom line as well as your ability to survive if the economy goes in the toilet again. Having saved money and low equipment payments are the only way I was able to survive when the crash happened in 2008. Thousands of carriers and tens of thousands of owner operators went out of business during that time. It is great to hear a good success story, especially in this business where so many fail, even in good times.