Aspiring Driver With Some Questions ?

I'm starting class A cdl school n a couple weeks...my goal is to become a owner operator and own my truck out right within 3 yrs...I just havena couple questions?..first I'd like to know how much truck insurance costs per month ? I'd also like to know the pros and cons bn a owner driving for a company versus finding ur own loads on places like u ship .com ? And as a owner what would b the best kind of trailer to buy...I'm leaning toward a car hauler....but a enclosed box is cool to...where is the best money to b made ? Thank for any and all reply...there appreciated

Jay, welcome aboard! I'm glad you're here. We are not big proponents of being owner /operators. I was in business for myself for thirty years before I retired to a second career in trucking. I tell you that so that hopefully you'll believe me when I say that I understand what it takes to make a dollar. I pencil whipped a full legal pad trying to figure out how to be an O/O and I never could make it come out right. The profits in this business are extremely thin and it is increasingly difficult for an independent operator to make it.

I sincerely hope that one day you don't have to think back and wish you had listened to our advice, but I fear you will, especially if you just jump right in without really knowing what your doing.

Please, if you interested in the business, then get a driving job as a company driver for at least three years before trying to buy a truck. It will take you that long to be really proficient at this anyway.

I've been straightforward with you because I've seen a lot of folks lose their fortunes and their wives by jumping in where there's no solid footing to land on.

I wish you the best.

Have a truck totally paid off in three years? Not happening. BTW insurance will cost you about $200 A WEEK. About $800 a month. Now through in a truck payment at $2300 a month and trailer payment of another 1500 a month. So before you even get any money you are looking at $4500 to $5000 a month. That's not including fuel..maintenance... Fuel tax....road use tax...heavy use tax.

Let me give a real world example. The last full year I had my truck I grossed $275000 for the year. My net income was $48000 that went into my bank account. That's $228k worth of expenses.

Now if you do not know where that $228k went and how it was spent then you do not understand trucking in the least and need to be a company driver until you understand what trucking is about.

If you were ready to become an Owner Operator...those questions you asked would already be answered by you. Sorry to be blunt but those questions are known by those that have done their research.

I'm coming n2 it with a good portion of money to buy a truck and trailer...so my overhead will b road expenses not truck and trailer payments.....I am completely new to this.....that's why I was askn the questions that I did...the cost for used trucks is actually less than I had expected...

So how are you going to get your freight? Broker or through a company? Going to get your own authority or going to lease onto a company? You going to run under the companies authority or your own?

Do you have the money for the research before buying a truck? The research consist of getting a EMC report to look at the back history of a truck to vague its past performance and you need to have the truck dyo tested so you will know the health of the truck.

What company are you looking to work with? Trucking company and/or broker company? Which one?

And once you have all that above figured out do you have at least $10k to run your truck till you start making money? Can take up to a month to start receiving money from the loads you did a month ago.

True independent O/O's have to be apart of a drug testing program. Who are you going to setup an account with?

Do you have help doing your paperwork and tracking down invoices? Its been known to happen a lot out here that some don't pay and you will have to take them to small claims court. Who is going to do that for you?

You said you are new to this and your learning well this is apart of the process to learning. You have to be able to answer all of the questions above before you can move forward...and once those questions are answered there are about 5000 more that needs answering.

Theys exactly the things I'm interestd n hearing..I have money now..but I'm planning on workin for a company for a yr. Or two so I can learn the ropes...was just tryn to basically figure out if it was beneficial to b a owner operator... or should I save my money and drove for someone else.....got a prehire from stephens trucking out of texas....do u know anything about there outfit ?...also applied with swift...what's the word on them ?

Your going to want to drive for a company for at least 3 years. By that time you will have learned most of the questions that need to be answered. You practice running a company truck like you own it. That will teach you a lot.

During that three years you will learn the freight lanes.The first year will be spent learning just how to drive the truck and do your basic job.

Seriously I would recommend not owning a truck. I mentioned I made $48k after expenses. But guess what? I am making that now as a company driver. Starcar may speak up in here later. They just sold there truck cause its hard to make money out here as an independent. The profit margins are razor this at best. Basicly you spend 4 dollars just to make 5 dollars. Not a lot of profit there huh? 1 dollar for a whole lot of work.

Spend your first three years as a company driver and then if you still want to own a truck that will be the time to talk about it. You have a whole lot of learning to do between now and then.

I appreciate all the advice...sounds like more of a cut throat business than I anticipated...can u suggest some good companies to work? Or are they all about the same for a rookie ?

They are all about the same with starter companies. Check out this link How To Choose A Company

We are really a one stop shop for helping new drivers get into trucking. Literally we have hundreds of hours of reading and hundreds of articles that take you almost step by step getting into a truck. Company-Sponsored Training And this link will help with residing which school would be good for you.How To Choose A School

We have many more links but this should get ya started for now.

I appreciate all the advice...sounds like more of a cut throat business than I intesipated...can u suggest some good companys to work for ? Or are they all about the same for a rookie ?

Cut throat is about right. Good example. Let's say you are bidding on a load that pays $2.50 a mile but you do not know the freight lanes and you have no idea of what kind of loads are in the area where this load is delivering. You have to have that $2.50 a miles because anything less and you make no money. Let's say I know the freight lane and I know that there is a load paying $4.00 a mile about 30 minutes from where this load is delivering so I tell the broker I will take the load for $2.00 a mile. Sure I will not make as much money on this load BUT I will make it up on that $4.00 a mile load.

Now you would be stuck without a load chase the broke would make more money on it and cause I under bid you I took the load from you and off to get a really good paying load.

Yes this industry is super cut throat and if you don't know what you need to know before jumping into owning your own truck you will loose the truck within 6 months.