Nope - I'm pointing and laughing at Steve Booth.

 

Mainly, cause they have no idea, what are they getting them self into. And got blinded by the "cash flow mirage".....
And your "freedom" exists only when you have money. Otherwise, it's more like voluntary slavery.

 

When you come into this business you need to be prepared for the worst that can happen. There are different levels of rebuilds. It is usually best to have everything done at one time. One thing your figures do not include are those items that may be found to be defective when they get into the engine. With diesel engines, some things may not be working properly but you won't find that out until you get into the engine. I would not expect to get out with the minimum amount quoted. In fact, unless you replace certain parts your warranty may not be good or may not be valid should something go wrong without having done the complete rebuild. Another thing is the head. A head is not cheap. It is a good idea to check it while you have the engine apart. Most of us will have the head worked before putting it back together. If their is a problem you could even need to replace it. Again, this may not be obvious until you get the engine apart. I prefer replacing injectors if I am rebuilding an engine. If you don't and drop a tip in your engine, the warranty will not cover the cost or repairs. I replaced an injector not long ago for $466 not including labor. If it were me doing a rebuild on ANY engine I would replace the water pump, oil pump and turbo along with the injectors. Some will require you to have the radiator done at the time you do the engine in order for the warranty to be valid. It is much less expensive to do everything at one time than go back later.

I recently broke down in New Mexico. The transmission went out. The wrecker bill alone was almost $1,000. That had to be cash, comcheck or it's equivalent. The truck was down for a week mostly waiting on the transmission to get into town. The final bill for everything came to around $8,000 including wrecker and motel. Since they would not take a credit card over the telephone I had to arrange to get them cash. That was in the form of a TCH check. I still had to supply the cash for the check. I lost several thousand dollars in revenue for the week that I was down. These costs include a week's stay in a motel room for my driver.

About a week ago I had a tire to blow apart on one of my trailers. Fortunately, I keep a spare tire on my trucks. One guy wanted to charge $95/hour to repair my trailer. I checked around and got it fixed for $185. Had I not had a tire with me I would have spent an additional $400 (approx) for a tire, even at national tire pricing. Without the discount the tire and mounting would have likely run over $500. Again, when these things happen you must have the means to repair your equipment.

I have had several owner operators and lease operators who have driven my trucks over the years. Every single one of them lost their trucks. The reason they lost their equipment was due to having one or more major breakdowns and not having the resources to make the repairs. Some people can buy a truck on a shoestring and make it. Many have had a major breakdown, lost their equipment and ruined their credit. It is a gamble when you buy any truck regardless of the mileage or age of the vehicle. There is one thing that I can promise you with absolute certainty. If you drive a truck you will break down. If you own a truck and it breaks down you will do one of two things. You will make the repairs and continue on about your business or walk away from your truck because you don't have the money to make it whole again. I can tell you this because I have owned and driven trucks for many years. I have had older and new trucks that have broken down. As I said, they will all break. It is only a matter of time.

 

I recently broke down in New Mexico. The transmission went out. The wrecker bill alone was almost $1,000. That had to be cash, comcheck or it's equivalent. The truck was down for a week mostly waiting on the transmission to get into town. The final bill for everything came to around $8,000 including wrecker and motel. Since they would not take a credit card over the telephone I had to arrange to get them cash. That was in the form of a TCH check. I still had to supply the cash for the check. I lost several thousand dollars in revenue for the week that I was down. These costs include a week's stay in a motel room for my driver.



Who delivered the load?

 

I had the wrecker tow the truck and trailer to the receiver. We dropped the trailer and the receiver used one of their trucks to back it into a dock for unloading. They allowed us to leave our trailer until the repairs could be made on the truck.

 

I would say that it is mostly out of ignorance. The biggest problem with owner operators, leased operators, etc. is that the vast majority of them think that since they know how to drive a truck fairly well or have many years of experience as a company driver, that they can be a successful owner operator. They fail to realize that success in this industry requires the same business acumen as in any other industry. So many of them just aren’t business men or women.

Also, most large companies will lie to these same people and present biased figures to fool them into thinking that success as a lease operator is a no brainer. Anyone with basic math skills and a little common sense can see through these lies, and yet thousands are fooled every day. Sometimes it takes months or even a year or so for the truth to become painfully evident to the leased operator. By then, he or she is indebted to the carrier for many thousands of dollars or has several weeks in a row with literally no pay because of charge backs or other fees the carrier takes out of the operator’s pay.

Too many people lack the patience to learn what they need to know to be successful. Carrier X says all you need is to sign your name on the dotted line and you will be a bona fide owner operator making the big bucks. They fail to point out what repairs on a truck cost, how much fuel taxes can run per quarter if you don’t know how to shop for fuel, what other taxes and fees can run (such a NM, NY, OR and KY highway taxes, Heavy Use Tax, an IRP plate, etc.), what private medical insurance will cost you, what it means to have to pay double social security tax, how to set money aside for fed and state income tax, or that you will in most cases have to file quarterly tax statements and make estimated payments. All of these things will creep up on and eventually do in the non businessman.

 

What do you do when the truck you bought three or four months ago needs a rebuild? It can happen. We bought a 2003 387 with 460k miles on it. We took exceptional care of the truck in every way. When we had about 685k miles on the truck, the head gasket blew in a big way. In a matter of a couple of minutes it dumped just about every drop of coolant into the engine and blew it out the stack. We were dead in the water 1300 miles from our delivery and 700 miles from home.

We got it towed to a KW dealer in Jackson, MS for repairs. After removing the head they found it was cracked and needed replaced. The bill was $16k for a complete inframe (including new injectors and recon head) and we lost three weeks of income on top of that. Meanwhile, the truck insurance and truck payment still had to be made as well as all the usual monthly bills.

Used trucks don’t have good warranties and even when they have been well maintained you cannot always predict when you will suffer a sudden catastrophic mechanical failure. It can even happen to a new truck. Sure it’s under warranty, but what about paying all your bills while you are waiting for repairs? Do you have the cash on hand to rent one and still make your truck payment and all other payments?

I would think that if you want to ensure that you will be financially able to handle any situation, you’d want $20k sitting in the bank just in case the unexpected happens.

 

THIS man has the correct answer. I've always said you should have 100,000 to become a carrier (that's carrier, not o/o). You might EASILY spend $20,000 in maintenance & repairs during the first year you own a truck. The seller got rid of it for a reason. The truck I'm driving ate it's head gasket and required a new cylinder head, turbo and while we were at it, a new bottom end. $13,000 two months in.

You may spend $15,000 in fuel alone before you get your first check in the mail.

$12,000 or so for liability insurance. More if you finance the truck because the lender will want full coverage.

Then you've gotta get a truck and trailer. We had this discussion a few weeks ago on this board and I got beat up. Some say you can get a truck for $20,000 and a trailer for $5,000. I say budget for $40,000 and $10,000 - $15,000 for a (53' combo step deck ) trailer. Whatever way you go, paying cash is ideal. As a bare minimum, you need enough operating capital so you don't need to take cheap freight.

Can you fly by the seat of your pants? Sure. And you may lose your house.

 

Ok y'all I'm new to this forum thing so Couple things Jerry Springer left the air years ago but on serious note I have a 2005 Detroit 60 series with 1,142,317 and it is using massive oil and noticed a lot of blow by so what could be causing this ? Could it maybe be it needs rings and sleeves or is there something else going on? And no it don't leak oil and is not going through the stack or in the water so advice would greatly help me out and thnks now you can return to your daily life hahaha