Very well put N_W. Do you ever frequent the fatwallet pages? I'm sure you do anyway but they have a great section on credit card arbritrage.

 

These carriers don't talk about expenses or what it takes to run a truck. When they post those $1/mile plus fsc, it can sound pretty good to an inexperienced driver who may only be making $.30/mile. He doens't give much thought to what it will cost him to run that truck. If he only works 5 days per week and buys 100 gallons of fuel per day then he will spend in excess of $1,500 per week just for fuel. If he runs hard, he will likely purchase about 120 gallons per day. That brings his weekly fuel costs to $1,800. That is at $3/gallon for fuel. Those who usually get involved with these low mileage carriers just don't have the experience or business background to fairly evaluate whether this is a good deal for them or not. In my opinion, it is not a good deal for the driver. He might get by for a time, but will slowly sink. He will basically be running to purchase fuel and make his truck payment. At the end of the day he has little to show for his labor.

You will find that rates can vary widely from one region to another and one type of freight to another. Most people who pull a reefer seem to do fairly well year around. People need to eat and there are a lot of other things you can haul in a reefer other than food. If you go into the bad freight areas, you are probably not going to get a decent rate. Being successful in this business involves more than getting a good rate now an then. You MUST have a good rate regardless of where you haul or what type of trailer you pull. The more specialized the load the better the rate. If you want to make above average rates, you need to be willing to follow the freight. You need to go into those areas where others are unwilling to venture.

 

Never heard of it...I just thought it was common sense :lol:

 

You need to check it out then. http://www.fatwallet.com/c/52/ They have so much info on this stuff. Ways upon ways how to play this game. More stuff then I could have imagined.

 

Oh no! Another message board to peruse! :lol: Thanks.

 

:lol:

 

I use my checking account debit card to pay for everything. You can only spend up to the amount of have in your account. I do carry credit cards just in case. I can only spend $1,500 per day on my debit card but that has only been a problem once when I wanted new steers and shocks. I forgot I bought fuel that day and when I went to pay for the bill it was declined because I was over my limit for the day. One phone call solved that though.

 

:lol:

 

Yes I have attended a Financial Peace course (offered free of charge by employer) and listen to Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman.

But I have never had big credit card debts. Just a personal preference!!

And still don't plan on!

But whatever works for your business.

 

Having a huge reserve is not a prerequisite for success. It can be a good feeling of security to have it but not having it is not an automatic failure. There are a lot of businesses that started on a thread and became a success. IF you have 30k to go into trucking and you run cheap than it won't last very long. If you don't run cheap and you started with very little than you can build your reserves as you go along. Not running cheap,easier said than done.