Got my license after 2 months I bought a Schneider pumpkin truck cash and ever since 12 years later still an owner operator with a w900 18 speed. Buy your truck cash and lease on with a reliable company. Learn to fix your own Truck RU-vid will help and you will be fine.
@@autopaintandrestoration2620 AS a small business guy. Every loan you take out, that is a brick around your neck. Interest is what will destroy you. I went through 80k in a year. Just bad luck. 15k was a hazmat cleanup in a parking lot from a blown hydraulic line that got into a fish runoff. That is not covered under insurance i found out.
I’m in Maryland, home every day right now hauling mail with a small company (3 trucks) taking home about $88k. Been thinking about buying a truck and putting it under their authority bcuz they have a shit Ton of work available. Had my CDL since I was 20. I’m 23 now…. This video has me about to make this move!!
You might take home more than $88k with your own truck, but you might make significantly less with maintenance costs, insurance, truck payment, fuel, etc. If I could get a company driver job where I was home every day, getting benefits and taking home $88k, I'd sell my truck and eliminate all the work, worries and hassles of being an owner.
@@rburroughs1077 How much do you have saved? what are their rates? Is that a fair rate? Can you buy a truck cash? Where will you have it serviced and inspected? What are insurance rates in your area? what are business license requirements? who is going to administer piss tests for your company? Thats off the top of my head. Before you even climb into your truck. Are you willing to put in an extra 12 hrs a week for paperwork? And know, your truck has to be reliable as you. You break down with an empty bank account and your house is on the line. I'll leave you with one last bit of wisdom from the big boys. "The debtor is slave to the lender."
How much do you have saved? what are their rates? Is that a fair rate? Can you buy a truck cash? Where will you have it serviced and inspected? What are insurance rates in your area? what are business license requirements? who is going to administer piss tests for your company? Thats off the top of my head. Before you even climb into your truck. Are you willing to put in an extra 12 hrs a week for paperwork? And know, your truck has to be reliable as you. You break down with an empty bank account and your house is on the line. I'll leave you with one last bit of wisdom from the big boys. "The debtor is slave to the lender."
@@danielsimonson3484 All valid points that I can't disagree with. Even with paying cash for a truck and doing 90% of my own maintenance, for me it wasn't worth it anymore. On 3/1 I sold the truck and hired on as a company driver with guaranteed pay of $81k/year working 9-10 hrs a day Mon - Fri or Tues - Sat. Other than the freedom to take time off whenever I want, there is absolutely nothing I miss about being an owner. At times I made good money as an owner, but the amount of time (long hours on the road, doing my own maintenance on resets, etc.) required to turn a decent profit wasn't worth it.
@@Barmelo-Xanthony973 it’s not easy to do if you’re gonna do it right, most guys jump in with no money and they fail quickly If it was easy, everybody would do it, but keep your head down if you want something bad enough you’ll make it happen, might have to drive an old car might not be able to get the thousand dollar iPhone every time it comes out might have to cut out eating out our vacations sometimes you have to make sacrifices in life to improve your life…. God Bless
I skipped step 3, and step 1. I guess I was lucky . But everything you said , it is the truth! My used truck and brand new reefer are paid off . As 100% independent O/O , I drive about 4 k or less miles per month , which is enough for me to stay alive . I run if I get pay my rate . That is the reason that I don’t drive more than 3k or 4k miles per month . Try to drive the less I can , for the most amount of money I can make . I’m not in this industry for the money . I’m here because I love my freedom . Thank you! Good information!!
I’ve been owner since 2017 and I’ve gotten my truck paid off learned and ran tanker for a year. Now learning and running flatbed. I have an accounting company. So that minimizes my paperwork pain. I did learn to register my truck and get my own plates tags and stickers. I’ll go for my own authority once the market changes and I get a trailer. My goal is to run 60% over sized loads a year. But that takes times. Flatbed is great
Around 2017 I decided to learn a trade and fell into a job locksmithing. I did that for a few years but waa only making cents over minimum wage. A friend of a friend recommended I get my cdl, so I took a sponsorship to go through truck school. Have been driving since Summer of 2020, vans, flatbed, tanker x, and roll-off trailers. Most recently the company I was hauling flatbed for closed shop and the company that bought their equipment offered to take me on as a lease operator. I turned it down, as I just don't feel I have the financial resources and experience to take on the risk. I maybe could have made a go of it, if I had good luck and could float 3-6 months without a major repair. God is good to me and lets that fly sometimes. But I am just not a business man at heart.
I’ve been learning for 23 years going on 24 years and I still haven’t went into business I don’t think there’s anything wrong working for a good company I’m still learning every day and studying the business probably won’t ever buy a truck I guess I just like learning lol
Best hack listen to audible and podcast and videos like these while being a compay driver . You’ll be doing 3 things in one. #1 Getting educated in business #2 getting paid as a company and save the money #3 you’ll be getting driving experience. Also learn about trucks like maintenance etc. and you’ll be on your way to be a O/O
New subscriber here. Concerning number 1, it made me laugh just for where im at. Im going to cdl school may 13th. I put it off that far( almost 2 months from the time im posting this comment) just so i have money in the bank while im in the school for 3 weeks. Im paying for the school(TDI in Sanford, FL) myself which comes oit to 6k. Im paying myself so im not time locked going through a carriers school program. By the time may 13th comes, ill have 5-6k in my bank, all my current credit cards have a 0 balance which comes out to almost 3k in reserves if i absolutely need it. So that part made me laugh about preparing to be O/O because i already have that mindset, granted on a much lower scale, but my goal is O/O at around the 5-6 year mark. Ill be putting money back that entire 5-6 years so im ready for the financial part when i get there!
Driving as an owner operator with your own authority is not worth it anymore.There’s bid wars going on dropping an already cheap rate to even cheaper not to mention brokers don’t even want to work with you if you only have one power unit .The spot market is not steady.It better to be an owner operator with a company that takes a percentage leave the paperwork headaches and finding a load to the office
Hey I am a lease purchase driver for CRST and I agree with your video. I started out with the company back in September and started making a couple hundreds of dollars but ended up in three months without making any money. I have seen a lot of drivers started out and quit the company because of many things; we are on the load board 24/7 vs of contacting the broker directly. Most of the loads which are high dollar amount doesn’t hit the load board at all. I was able to build a relationship with some brokers and I will finally break up top next week. Second thing is , not having a business model. I can do it two ways, keep my rate con around 2.30 cent per mile by running 4 loads or average 900 after expenses but make sure my last load for the weekend is cover by making my truck payments and was other expenses. That way you will be making profits vs of going in the negative. Third thing I noticed not understanding the back office of trucking. Thankfully I had the experience as a fleet manager and supervisor along with being a truck driver to understand what it takes to become a true owner operator. If I would have started back over again, I would need at least 4 months of bill money to cover my expenses at my house to be on the safe side. Be blessed driver.
Exactly and that’s why having money set aside is number one, I said in the video a month or two but that’s just the minimum four months five months, the more the better… So many guys come into this deal with $20 in their pocket and you just know man they’re not going make it, i’ve had to dig $10,000 into my reserves to get through the last couple months. If I didn’t have that set aside I would be filling out job applications today. God bless you brother and hoping nothing but the best for you in the future to come
I've been driving for over 27 years as a company driver and would do it all over again. I've done LTL, dry van, dump trailer, beverage trailer, flat bed, a little bit of reefer and now doing tanker. I've managed to stay local, paid by the hour and home every night. I considered becoming an O/O a few times but when I crunched the numbers, it seemed like I would be working way more hours for the same or even less money.
@@scottcpan68 working more yes, same money? Only if you’re doing it wrong… I had a $100K a year union job at UPS and I still make more now… But at the end of the day this is not , never has been, and never should be about money. It’s about freedom, and not answering to no man anymore. I would literally take less to have the freedom I have now …. I But that’s just me🤷♂️
@@sturgelltruckingllc4074yeah boss something is wrong with mine. I’m grossing around $170-200k, paying myself 35k a year with hopes that the business account will flourish, but it barely creeps ahead week by week.
This is gold! Your number one is what has me starting over, no money. I was in the wrong industry secondly, your second reason. I should have been in the industry I spent 17 years in, your third reason. 20 years driving I had to take a long look in the mirror to figure out I was the problem. My engine head went out at 940k miles, I just paid my truck off too. $23,000 for a in frame rebuild and I was going home with my tail between my legs.
I came right out of trucking school in to being a oo 20 years ago but I guess I was one of the fortunate with my family having a big shop built two trucks before I even had my CDL now have 13 trucks
Good video well put most people don’t understand how a business works they see big checks and like I’m rich in reality know your not your cash flow is your life line revenue doesn’t mean anything it’s just what goes threw the door Number one rule don’t loose money rule two remember rule one I live in my car been doing it 2 years now and want to get into trucking I work retail right now but the public just spend money like know tomorrow and are like I’m broke and don’t know why it’s like well your not operating below your means I run my lifestyle like a business right now money in the bank for repairs money for living and money for an emergency I document every penny coming in and everything going out I live on the cheapest side possible so I’m profitable every month let me tell you it makes a difference when you document everything So it’s safe to say 6 months living expenses maybe even 12 months 25,000 for break downs 10,000 for emergency Maybe buy your truck cash or pay really big down payment debt is a downfall for a lot of everyday people probably best to stay away from it great video some really good knowledge especially on the part about just being a driver for several yrs with the drive to be an owner operator eventually there is so much to learn about trucking it’s not just driving like some people think💯💯
My whole family drove,some still do but my dad got out after 30 years moved to Florida told me there’s no money in it anymore.I know there is,my grandpa owned the company they all started at,but I know it will never be like it used to be again but there’s still money out there.
I saw a video the other day and they were talking about the high numbers of authorities that were ending - probably a lot of those guys who jumped in when the rates were real good. My grandfather and all my uncles were truck drivers so I know that trucking is cyclical. It will come and go like it always has. Just hope the mega carriers and those who they have in their pockets don't kill off owner operators!
2000 MC numbers canceled last week alone, they’re dropping like flies.. The mega carriers dream is and always has been to get rid of all owner operators, they’re going to have their puppets at the FMCSA roll out, speed limiter‘s to try to put the last nail in the coffin in the next couple months
It is cyclical, but this time may be different. We've never had potentially millions of new CDL holders in one year who are willing to work for substantially less than the existing wage like we're gonna have when work visa are issued to the millions who have claimed asylum in the last 3 years. They are gonna have to issue work visas or send them home and we know that aint happening.
@@micclay I don’t know about that. I haven’t seen a rise in foreign drivers so much as I’ve seen people jumping in trying to get rich off the Covid catch-up rates that are now gone. They’re leaving the industry by the thousands and we’re starting to go back to normal. But who knows 🤷♂️
@@micclayYou are absolutely spot on. There is more than meets the eye going on, and most people won't realize what's happened until it's too late *cough cough* as in the reply this gentleman just gave you.. oblivious
@@sturgelltruckingllc4074 i don't think most of them have been given work visas, yet. They will have to at some point. There will be no mass deportation, no matter who is in the white house. Most people think truck drivers are overpaid, anyways. ATA claimed the supply chain breakdown 2 years ago was caused by the driver shortage. My local community college will give a free CDL to anyone that can fog a mirror. For somone with a new work visa and limited to no English, truck driving will be their best option.
45 year old plumber here. I'm in a situation where I can buy a truck. I need a profession I can do for the next 25 years without breaking my back plumbing aint that. I'm taking first steps into this. Gonna work for a company for a few years to learn the ropes. I'm need of good advice. Appreciate you
Live cheap. If your goal is to get somewhere, invest as little as possible into where you’re at. OTR company drivers shouldn’t have more than 1000 bucks a month in overhead if they’re trying to move to O/O. Rent a motel room when you go ‘home.’ Save every dollar you can.
I did it since the mid 80's Local work, driving the truck, doing all the maintence, all my own customers, doing all the billing, keeping compliant. It can be done, but you spend all your time working and if you are a one man band it can really push your limits. You do a couple of local runs early in the morning, put brakes on one of your trailers when you get back to the yard, then go home and have to do paperwork.
It never stops man. Can definitely get old. I been owner op for 3 years. Used to be off on weekends as company driver now I can’t even make plans because stuff always comes up
The crappy exhaust systems to deal with keeps me out of o.o. sector. Engines were meant to have intake and exhaust. It's like putting a hose from your mouth to your ars. It don't work.
As I’m watching this right now just got my mc# and Dot# and drove for company 5 and half yrs but I bought my truck on March leased it to company now I’ll be on my own after 6 mth but little nervous, thanks for your advice
I would highly recommend NOT running under your own numbers EVER, unless you have direct customers, you will starve to death on the spot market brother
Awesome content! My son is a Marine who will soon be coming home and mentioned getting his CDL and that started my journey looking into the trucking industry. We are doing research to start our own company in 3-5 years. I manage a multimillion dollar Insurance Restoration company and I'm very comfortable on the business side. I have 20k to start up with access to another 40 if needed. Ideally I would love to start the company and one day turn it completely over to him. One thing that intrest me is hauling high value cargo. Do you have any experience in that or know anyone that does? I can't seem to find much online about it. One thing I have learned in my research is how little truck drives are paid and that's making me hesitant. In what out profit margins are 40%. I won't put a truck and crew on the road for a day for anything less than 5k so it absolutely blows my mind to see truckers hauling loads hundreds of miles for 1800 dollars. Maybe I'm wrong but the only way I seen this being anywhere near worth it is if the RPM is a $4.25 and I'm positive it's not anywhere near that. I'm about a week into the research and I'm sure I'm missing something but as of now I can't figure out how it's worth for anyone to do it. If you have any thoughts or advice please share.
Here is the most honest answer your ever going to get=Only a fool gets into trucking for money! There is a lot better ways to trade your time for money than this… I’ve said it a hundred times “if you don’t love it you’ll hate it!” If it’s not in your blood, if it doesn’t excite you, if it’s NOT about the money, if you just can not not do it= DON’T!!! And that’s the truth my friend
Also, your cost per mile to operate a truck varies based on fuel price, but with a truck payment of $2000 a month and fuel at $3.50 a gallon on 10,000 miles per month it will be around $1.30-$1.50 per mile depending on repairs so I’m not sure where you come up with $4.25 a mile as a base, trucking is not a 300% profit margin business, never has been never will be the only time it did that was after Covid when the supply chain was almost completely diminished. I don’t think we’ll ever see that again. Well at least I hope not.
I have my own truck paid off already. But I’m still scare to go into business. I bought my truck cash. No trailer thought been having the truck for two yrs still driving for a small company
It’s a risk, but as Nelson Mandela said “there’s no reward to be had in playing small” And I can honestly say that throughout my life, the more I risk the greater the reward was Best wishes
I would think so, but only if you have spent the last couple years, studying the industry and what part of it you want to be in, 3-5 is better though But If you do everything wrong, it will eventually eat away at even that amount of money, for example, if you go out and buy a $200,000 truck (which will be hard for you, because you’ve never been in business for yourself and that’s a good thing ) but if somehow you got someone to finance it at a higher interest rate, you’ll probably be done within six months to a year at best if you try to make a go of it in the spot market with a dryVan, right now, plus your insurance will be through the roof… You’ll wanna get leased onto a big company to start, in fact, I would never run under your own authority. Unless you plan on having multiple trucks and getting customer, direct freight, That’s my take. On it after 35 some years anyways, I’ve been there and done that but it’s a choice you’ll have to make… To summarize, I would probably give it another year or maybe two and study the industry as much as you can in your free time, no such thing as too much knowledge, but there is such thing as not enough.. Best wishes brother I’ll be praying for ya
Everyone is different. Nobody’s situation is the same. I started with 8k truck, 3500 down on insurance, rented trailer, and 15k in savings and another 20k in bitcoin and stocks just in case. Some people start with 100k trucks, some start with $5000 ones. 71k is definitely enough. 😂 but like he said it can be fumbled and blown very quickly in this industry. Good luck to you! Gather your knowledge, set your mind, and CONQUER!
Hey I am thinking about making the move to Crst. I’ve been watching your videos for some time. From your videos, you give a lot of details. About such things to whatever you are doing. I’ve been intrigued about the flatbed world for a while. I would like to talk to you more on a personal note. To grasped a few things better. If you are willing to do that? Let me know the best way to get in contact with you, when you have some free time. Thank you and have a great day! Keep on doing what you’re doing, excellent work!
Hello sir, I have $120,000 saved and I want to go into trucking business, I don't have any idea about how I should go about it.i don't have CDl driver and I don't want to drive myself Should I buy the big truck and giving out to a company who can take care of everything for me and give me proceed everymonth or be a ower operator, getting my own drivers? Please I need directions and I will appreciate if you could provide the best way
It’s harder than most realize, and eight out of every 10 that try their hand at it fail, if it was easy everybody would do it … You really gotta want to do this and be half bat shit crazy lol, just keep your head down and keep grinding. That’s the only thing I know to do and that’s how I did it.
Biggest thing I can say, is set up a corporation, and pay your taxes. Otherwise you will be running from the IRS man till he catches you. And he WILL catch you.Then you'll pay big time.
Looking into going o/o got a few questions brother if you dont mind. 1. Ive been trucking for a total of about 6 years but ALL of my experience is oilfield, flatbed and pneumatics. I have however ran all of 11western and some eastern states. But its not really otr, will this affect my ability to get on as an o/o with ie crst's flatbed division or even lease purchase program? 2. Shorter one here, do lease purchase guys have to ride with a trainer for x amount of days like a company driver does? And im spacing the other question i had lol, ill ask ya some other time if i remember! Lots of good info keep it up, thanks!
I’m sure your experience will count and be more than enough but call Tonya in recruiting to confirm that. No you don’t ride with a trainer , you don’t even take a driving test when entering the lease purchase program.
@sturgelltruckingllc4074 awesome thank you! I will as soon as I'm ready it was always something I wondered I'm a very "solo" driver one of the many reasons I enjoy truckin 🤟
There is an agent out of South Dakota that does some of that but it’s real hit and miss, a flatbed is much better, they have them for rent, mine is $225 a week
@@DudeDude491 but I wouldn’t trade the freedom of it despite the extra work, my worst fear is having to go back to work for somebody else, that’s such a trap and dead-end road that leads nowhere, I walked it for many many years! You can’t possibly understand the freedom that comes with being an owner operator till you do it and don’t have to answer to anyone anymore , to me that’s worth more than money…
No it’s not, it’s actually the best time, if you set your business up to survive in this market, which is actually not that bad you’ll do fine in the good times…. Freight is still paying $2.50-$3.00 a mile and fuel is $3.50 a gallon. I remember when Freight was well under $2 a mile and fuel was $4-$5 a gal… Trucking goes up and down and if you’re looking for a reason not to be an owner operator, you’ll always find one
@@sturgelltruckingllc4074 You don’t need to tell me. I’ve been owner -operator for 26 yr with my own authority MC & U.S. dot with 22 trucks with mix of van,flatbed, refrigerator, containers out of NJ. We had big contracts with Wegman’s, GM, Ford, USPS, Also, worked along side with C.H. Robinson,Landstar, TQL, J.B Hint in between started my own freight brokerage. Sold business to Falcon Express. Ended up driving local for a trucking company and retired at 51 in 2017. Don’t miss it anymore. Not with fuel here at 4.39 a gal. As of today freight per mile for vans is $2.30- $2.86, Reefer per mile avg $3.19. With lowest rates being at $2.47 per mile. Flatbed avg $ 3.14 per mile.
@@sturgelltruckingllc4074 national truck protection. One of the biggest 3rd party warranties for trucks. They say up to 1m miles coverage. They "cover" many items from the list they provided. But i was curious if it's hogwash or true on coverage.
Most drivers (including myself) would be way better of to be a company driver and invest in the stock market or rental properties, unless they truly love being on the road living in a truck. OTR is an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle. I've come in and out of OTR more than a few times in my career and while never getting terribly overweight, I've always gotten out of shape compared to when I has access to a gym and a kitchen. I think there are too many drivers for there to be upward pressure on driver wages and rates anytime soon. I've already heard of programs to get the 8 million recent illegals into CDL school because of the "driver shortage". I wish everyone the best of luck, but I'd recommend anyone (especially someone under 40) to learn another skill. There are fields that are keeping up with inflation, but it ain't trucking. A dollar or two raise is meaningless when cost of living had doubled from 4 years ago. There has to actually be a labor shortage for wages to adjust, It can't just be ATA lobbying for taxpayer funded CDL mills and work visas for foreigners.
Agreed that’s why I say over and over again in my videos “if you don’t love this, you’ll hate it !!! “and “there’s so many better ways to trade your time for money” than this crap… With that said, I wouldn’t do anything else, the freedom is worth the price , I don’t answer to anybody and I’m home every weekend and take a lot of weeks off a year so I don’t have to stay out in a truck because some company tells me I have to ….again it’s all about the freedom, working for someone else in any industry is a trap that leads to nowhere IMO… Plus, I like being out on the road. I guess I’m part gypsy, although after 35 years of it, it’s definitely fading
@@sturgelltruckingllc4074 i dont know man. The E Logs took all the fun out of it and added so much stress. Plus they encourage you to put yourself in unsafe conditions like parking at a shipper in a bad neighborhood overnight, because it's the only way to make delivery on time.
