Profile For Davy A.

I didn't have time but, rough operating cost per mile with the truck payment and when the escrows are leveled up will be about .60 to .65.

They would be higher if I was purchasing fuel using the company card, most guys do that. Im using primarily mudflap and greenlane apps. I buy the fuel on my own fleet card or credit card, wich is zero interest, 3 percent cash back, and pay it off out of the settlement each week. Its saving me 40 to 50 cents per gallon over the company. Its why I recommend having good credit for this, and an established company.

I'd recommend staying a company driver until you are efficient enough to outperform your peers consistently.

Next, make sure you have good credit and access to about 35k in credit lines. Preferably with zero percent interest.

Next, I had about 10k in savings liquid. The above steps allow you float your expenses if needed but its a last ditch effort, broken arrow if you have to finance your operations.

Research business formation, taxes and basic business principles of revenue, overhead and profit, cash flow. Its pretty simple revenue is meaningless except for bragging rites, its the percentage of money that you stick after expenses, overhead and to some degree taxes that determines your survival.

Leases are different, go with a reputable company that you have experience with.

First week rough numbers:

6024.00 revenue. Fuel expenses 1849.00, escrow, taxes, tax escrow and matainance funds, insurance, (general overhead) but with a substantial portion going to voluntary maintenance escrow). Total of 1384.00

Pretax net: 2791.00.

That's not what you make though. Notice, there's no truck payment, and what will you pay yourself as a driver? Now a lot of that 1381.00 is setup costs, about 750 is security deposits, escrow that will earn interest. I still consider it a cost, because in all reality, its a cost and won't even enter in this year.

Fuel cost was an average of 3.71 a gallon, mpg were an average of 7.1 in western 11. All i ran was mountains.

This was a 3400 mile week or so, honestly you're not likely to have these every week, in fact, I based my original projections off a 2800 mile week.

Just food for thought. At Hummer for a 3200 mile week I was at 2200 or so pre-tax net. So about the same with far less risk. You need to really ask yourself if you're motivated to do this.

There's a section of my cdl diary that details top gun. I went through it at Knight, one of the first classes, it was still being developed.

I cant recommend it enough. Its a week on a closed course doing close quarters maneuvering, real life backing and safety drills. You live in your truck on campus, so you really get a feel for what its like.

Search Knight in cdl diaries, its in there.

Please save mine as well, in particular my cdl diaries. I'll hop on kearsy's discord as soon as time allows.

Im wondering if we can put together something inspired by what we've had here, but a much lighter version using a stock off the shelf site hosting and building tools.

Thanks for the replies. I definitely wouldn't have done this without the relationships that I have at Knight and especially with my terminal manager. Knight has the resources as well that enables me to shoulder a bit less of the burden.

Another component was finding a truck in the sweetspot between miles, warranty left and price. The leasing dept head worked with my TM so I was able to benefit from that relationship as well.

I decided to lease purchase because I got a better deal on the truck for equivalent miles at a comparable rate to purchasing on the open market. One of the conditions of the freight apocalypse is that the failure rate has caused lenders to effectively cease lending, especially to first time buyers. I had financing lined up but in the end it was a better deal to purchase from Knight, with it being a known commodity.

Another component in the decision was that its milage based pay. Far more consistent right now, and I'm guessing for the next couple years it will be a better source of revenue than percentage based pay as the rates both contract and spot are so low.

The other component is that, though unusual for most lease ops, I prepaid my escrow, bond and other expenses and am getting fuel for significantly lower than I could from Knight. All told, its shaping up to lower my operating cost per mile significantly.

On the surface switching to a lease purchase sounds like I'm insane, but the devil is in the details. If, and its a big if, my calculations turn out to be correct, it should work. I also have solid exit strategies should it go south. Unless one has the resources, experience, relationships and flexibility to do this, i absolutely would not recommend it. Time will tell if I can get this to work.

Well, I was going to wait to post this until I had more time in it.

The long and short is that I went back to Knight Transportation. I am doing a lease purchase with them.

Its something that I've been planning and researching for the last couple years.

There is many reasons why I chose to go down this path. I definitely do not recommend it for most. Also, keep in mind, that I chose to after 4.5 years and 500,000 miles.

Doing it for the money isn't one of the reasons, I'll be lucky if I make what I made as a company driver, with comparatively much more risk and effort. Doing it for a shinny new truck isn't either. In fact, I hate the fact that I have to buy a truck to be a subcontractor in this industry, but it is what it is.

But having owned and operated my own business for years brought up that itch again. Also, achieving a more flexible schedule are high priorities. That doesn't mean having more time off, just more flexibility of when I take it.

Wow. First off Brett, thank you for everything. I wouldn't have the career that I do, had I not found this community. I feel a kindred spirt to you in many ways. We have had many spirited conversations and threads here.

The words and lessons here are such a valuable tool for so many, im certainly willing to help volunteer to preserve them any way I can.

If anyone is inclined to perhaps join me in seeing if we can use Brett for our inspiration and build a site to continue this work so that we can continue to help others, I'd be really interested.

Once again, a massive thank you to Brett and best wishes in your new path.

If you're intent on running otr, have a good safety record, and are good with running without much direction from the office, Hummer would be a great fit. They pay well, great equipment that's well taken care of, no cameras and nanny state equipment on the trucks. Fast paced, lots of work and they trust the driver to make sound decisions.

12 out, 2 in. They have lots of consistent freight in your area. If you run good there, you can figure on 100k a year-ish.

Everyone has brought up some great points and you can see that we all have different experiences within the trucking industry.

I wonder if, in asking the question "Is it worth it?" The op means from a philosophical and or lifestyle point of view.

That's a very subjective area. I think obviously most of us replying feel that it is or we wouldn't still be in the industry. Furthermore, we wouldn't be donating time to help others launch a successful career.

I know for me personally, its been worth it, I've made sacrifices in other areas of my life to accommodate this lifestyle and I very much enjoy enough of the positives of the regional/otr lifestyle that I still do it. I may be in a minority but I don't have a desire to do local or linehaul, p&d and other such. But again, personal preference, goals and objectives define that. One the benefits of the industry is that it is so varied in areas that there are many niches one can find.

In this context, only you will be able to decide if its worth it for you.

Hi, welcome to the fourm. There are a lot of great companies to start your career at. Many of them do not require you to have your permit, some do.

There are many different methods they use but in general, its obtain your permit, cdl, then training then solo. Most cover travel, some cover lodging, others pay to start but not cover lodging. It all washes out to similar ends.

Many of us used the high road training program to prepare for our class, cant recommend it strongly enough.

Check the following links, check out the CDL diaries section, make yourself known here, engage with our members, keep asking questions.

High Road CDL Training ProgramPaid CDL Training ProgramsApply For Paid CDL Training