thanks for the info Baldy, i have a 10.30am meeting with the credit union tomorrow, so ill see what happens, so far they have said 8% fixed over 5 years, starting to think i may get a trailer as well, as crst wanna charge me $185 a week for theirs, just got to decide wether to get a van/reefer or flat, ill be hauling flats with crst, seems to me reefer is the way to go when i get my own AUTH,
Rich

 

id rent/lease a crst trailer for awhile.......flatbed rates are HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so that way when u wanna leave crst for lack of freight you wont be saddled with a trailer you cant find any freight for on....

 

I would agree about renting a trailer for a while to see if you like pulling a flat. It will also give you an opportunity to find a good buy. $185/week is a bit pricey but if you buy a new trailer that is in line with what a monthly payment would run. If you decide that you don't like pulling flats you won't need to worry about selling your trailer. Flat freight should start to pick up a bit in a few weeks. When the weather breaks construction usually starts up and that helps flat bed freight begin to move.

 

At 500k miles is when trucks usually start to have problems or run the risk of needing overhauls. A dyno is not a 100% gaurantee that the truck is in good shape. Just make sure it has a minimum of a 2-year 200k warranty on major components and try to negotiate the NTP(National Truck Protection) warranty which covers the rest of the parts such as turbos and injectors. A good truck can make you and a bad truck can easily break you. Just keep that in mind. Produce should start picking up next month in FL. if you have a reefer but it dies down after 3 months. Getting your own authority with no experience based out of FL will make your insurance go thru the roof. Leasing on would be a good way to test the waters.Flatbed trailers are easy to buy and sell so if you decide to go from flatbed to reefer the transition should be easy. Keep in mind though that it costs more to use a reefer than it is to use a dry box or flatbed.

 

i will look into those points, its always a gamble when you buy a used vehicle, well, im of to the credit union for a meeting, ill let you all know how i get on
Rich

 

Triple Digit Bob makes a good point about your insurance. These insurance companies look for at least 2 years otr experience preferable with the type of equipment you will be pulling under your own authority. There is also a premium most charge for reefers due to the high claims. One of the questions most insurance companies ask is the length of experience, type of freight you will haul and amount of experience hauling the type of freight you will haul. The type of freight can impact your premium.

 

Hello, i got the loan, $608 a month over 5 years!! so now starts the process, form an LLC, talk to a cpa, insurance, get supplies/logbooks, figure out how to do the IFTA thing, and probably allot of stuff that i dont know about yet, any ideas? i am an O/O who will be leased onto CRST, i guess i should ask them, THANK YOU, all for your input so far, the advise on the credit union has been a huge help, i went from a 5 year loan that required $4600 down with a $1155 a month payment on $20k, To a 5 year loan for $30k no down payment, at $608 a month!!!
Rich
the only other thing im thinking about is that Florida produce is gonna start running soon, and i live in the perfect place to cash in on it, Palm Bay Florida, seems a shame to miss out!!!

 

That's some cheap money right there.

 

no reason to form an LLC for a single truck operation, and also the company that you lease to will file and report the IFTA for you. You may or may not be on the hook for the money for the actual taxes.

 

CRST Malone will do your IFTA and take any taxes out of your settlements. I am glad things worked out with the credit union. It sounds as though you will save a lot of money.