Any owner operators hear? Considering buying a truck to work local hauling fuel or quarry stone, and tring to get the inside scoop on what its all about pay wise. Seems none of the truckers i have met have anything good to say, basicly lots of work and low pay. I curently drive straight trucks and load at the treminal were the fuel trailers load and see the same OO with new trucks , these guys have some big dollars in the truck and some long years with the same company so it would seem to me that they must be making enough to pay the overhead and still make a living, yet a the same time they all tell there aint no money in it....... What the deal?????????????

 

I was looking into the same thing not to long ago. Everybody I talked to said there was a huge overhead and you're pretty much barely getting by untill the truck is paid off, I supposed after the truck is paid off then there would be good money. But I'm not in the business so I can't be sure either, but I sure am curious about the whole business as I'm thinking of getting into it like stated. I don't want to hijack the thread before it gets started though.

 

I am an owner operator.

If you have a decent job where you get benefits and a decent paycheck, DON'T BUY A TRUCK.

For the next 5 years, you'll be reduced to eating your fuel money. You'll have no benefits (read: insurance) to speak of, and if your luck of the draw gets you a truck that spends more time in the shop than on the road, you'll lose everything else. I got lucky in that my truck has been fantastically dependable. I've known others who aren't so lucky. My truck payments were $1500 a month, and mine are on the low end of the scale for a "classic" style rig. How does the idea of spending $40,000 per year on diesel fuel strike you? How about $3500 for a set of drive tires? How about $10,000 for a new engine?

Spend some time listening between the lines about what these guys are saying. Most of 'em are working 70-80 hour weeks to make ends meet. You'll also find that many of the guys who have the shiny rigs and lots of chrome also aren't relying on trucking alone to make the money. Most of the time you'll find that they have additional income from a difference source (usually military retirement) and they can also count the wife's income towards total household income.

The industry is set up so that for the most part, a driver who owns his truck cannot even break even without breaking the rules (read: drive more hours than is legal). Either that, or the driver has to be someone like me who's young, single, no kids, and plenty of time to work the basics of the industry while only having to feed himself.

As you might be able to tell, I'm pretty down on buying a truck. There are a couple of reasons why I bought that have nothing to do with money, though. Being my own boss was only one of them. I also wanted to drive a truck that wasn't strangled or speed limited. But making money was only 4th or 5th on the list.

Now I'm looking for a way out of the whole industry. It was fun for a while, but I'd like to be a first-class citizen again.

-blaine

 

I spent 10 years running up and down the highways. I have been over the road and local. I thought about getting my own truck but after finding out the expenses I decided I liked driving for someone better. I got my check at the end of the week and they had the headaches. I got lucky when I joined a local Vol. Fire Dept. and started getting into classes. I got all my EMS classes paid for and ended up with a total carrer change and havent looked back. Some times I will be in my ambulance and see a sharp looking west coast runner go by with all the crome and chicken lights on it and think how it would be a nice day to be stretched out across Texas (my favorite place to go when I was a trucker), but it wouldnt take long to remember why a gave it up.

 

Blaine, you forgot to mention the $12,000.00 for public liabilty and cargo insurance! The 2290($550.00), and $1800.00 for licensing... But we wouldn't have it any other way! Oh, and our engine was $13,000.00!!!

 

Yep, 13 grand is cheap for a new engine. Up here in Canada, some guys are paying closer to 18 USD. Then you got the maintenance costs. $200 oil changes just for the engine, once a month. Diff and tranny oil changes about once a year, depending on your mileage. You better be a good driver or you'll ruin a clutch and/or tranny real quick.

Then you got inspections every 6 months, and the road side spot checks. Make sure you got your pre-trip done.

Not to dissuade you from owning a truck, but you either get a new one and make the finance payments, or get a used one and make the maintenance payments.

You'd almost be better off buying a truck, leasing it to a company, and hiring a driver for it. That way you can look at it objectively as a business, instead of your livelihood.

I wouldn't drive my own truck, but I would own a fleet. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

My dad used to drive a tandem axle dump. He bought it outright and made good money hauling in the local area. That's probably the route I'd go if I wanted to drive a truck.

 

here in jersey, the immigrants will work for next to nothing. we get between $65 and $75 per hour for dump trucks.
they are working for $25 per hour.

the larger company's with federally funded contracts only use union trucks. but the smaller contractors and stone quarry's are using "free" trucking, and putting a BIG hurt on the trucking industry here.

 

i have 2 trucks,most of us that have them probably do it 1cuzz they love truck and then for the money.i only run in a 300mile radius so my ins is not to bad but its still around 8grand a year figure a grand a week in fuel .10-.15 cent per mile for matanence ,2grand a year for tags(each truck) $550 a year road tax it could go on and on. just look at the expences where you live ie,fuel,ins,tags,ect. shure you could make $150,000 a year with 1 truck but about 2/3's of that will be eaten up with expence. im lucky tho both trucks and trailers are paid for

 

With Mexican trucks being let into the USA and with wonderful Walmart running things, I wouldn't put a lot of my money into any truck.

I would buy the cheapest truck from Ryder I could afford with a dump bed on it and do local like you said.

Getting rich or just surviving is for the person with three or more trucks and having other people drive, imo.

 

Thanks for the info , I am soaking it all in............. Sounds a bit gloomy, but i am convinced thta some of the OO that haul diesel and gas are making a decent wage in the end, how else would they be able to stay in the biz........ Any way I still thinkin, but do appreciate the input....



thanks Jack

 

For what it's worth, some of 'em stay in the industry because it's the only thing they CAN do... not because they lack education or training, but getting out of the industry is difficult. It takes a certain kind to run the road, and many find that they are ill-suited to work elsewhere, for various reasons.

-blaine

 

like they always say you can take the man out of the truck but ya cant take the truck out of the man. its a very addictive job

 

They are probably single and living in there trucks. There has been some good advice offered to you here. To make money trucking you are going to need a fleet of trucks. They don't call owner operators brokers for nothing.

 

Excellent advice there Frankenbiker. Good luck on getting out. I no longer have fun doing it either.