Becoming a fleet owner

[jewgmw4ever]

Hello, we are long time forum readers. This is our first post. We are investigating the idea of becoming fleet owners. We have come off the road for now and would like to try our hand at building a small fleet. We would very much appreciate any suggestions,helpful hints,or strategies from some of the fleet owners that view this site. (i.e. Pay rate-which % is best? 30 and you pay for fuel or 60 and the driver pays; Contracts-what kind of wording/stipulations do you use; Time off from the road-so many days out,so many days off,etc.) Thank you very much for your time.

 

[mcbride]

>Hello, we are long time forum readers. This is our first
>post.

Hi and welcome.

>We are investigating the idea of becoming fleet
>owners. We have come off the road for now and would like to
>try our hand at building a small fleet.

Well you are off to a good start in my opinion, ie. you have driven and know what it is like out here.

>We would very much appreciate any suggestions,helpful hints,or >strategies from some of the fleet owners that view this site.

Well, we are not fleet owners but I do have a few suggestions as when we first started in this business, we ran for one year for a couple who are fleet owners. We made an agreement that we would run for them for one year prior to purchasing our own truck. I might add, from what I hear out here, they are by the far some of the best "owners" to run for. We were payed 60% of the truck. We payed for fuel. We would still be with them had we not bought our own truck. They have even went as far as buying some of their teams trucks to the team's specifications! Had we known they would have done this...we PROBABLY would still be with them. <g>

Here are a few of the reasons why we feel they are great "owners".

First and foremost, they took great care of their equipment and they bought new equipment. Our agreement was they did all maintainance. They reimbursed us after we had the oil changed or replaced tires...EVEN light bulbs. We had a monthly check list to fill out and send to them.

Second, they gave us 100% of all fuel surcharges, dead head,detention pay and/or misc charges.

Third, they even payed tolls. (I don't think many do this anymore)

Fourth, they never questioned our ability to make decisions regarding load offers/refusals. They let us run our business and we worked hard to make their business and ours successful.

Fifth, they didn't call the company checking on us every other day.

Sixth, they never withheld any money and we never had one problem being paid. They even tried to reimburse us for hotel and car expenses when the truck broke down! In addition, they direct deposited money into our bank account.

Seventh, they allowed us to have our dog come with us.

In return, we ran for them weeks at a time!

They are all around good people. They are very fair and honest and did not treat us like dumb truck drivers. We really appreciated this as we both held profession jobs prior to driving a truck. They still have a fleet and, to my knowledge, never have a hard time finding drivers.

I would only suggest to you...that you be fair and honest. Look for people of equal character instead of throwing warm bodies into your trucks and you will reap the rewards. You will have less turn over of drivers and your drivers will want to run for you.

-mcbride

 

[RichM]

Mcbride could not have said it better.When you go through the archives you can read all sorts of horror stories from both fleet owners and their drivers. But if you follow McBrides guidelines you should do well. One time I had several units and one of the things I did when interviewing potential drivers was to go to their home. You can tell an awful lot about a person by the way they live. If they are slobs at home they will be that way on the road in your equipment.

 

[jewgmw4ever]

Thank you for your suggestions on how to be considered a well liked owner. We want to be fair and treat our drivers with respect and in return be treated the same. Just starting out and not knowing all the ropes we want to make sure that we cover every angle. We would like to be successful at it and be able to take care of our drivers. We know from experience that life on the road is not always easy. Again, we thank you for your time and your thoughts and welcome any additional thoughts that others might have.

 

[pellgrn]

I have one driver and i've had him over 2 years, if i could find more like him i would commit to buying more trucks.You have to know what a good profit is for the truck, the fleet owners with alot of trucks can have a smaller profit per truck cause they have more trucks which creates more cash flow, they pay more out to the drivers and new equipment cause they have more coming, so how much is it worth to you to commit to a driver,truck,lease to a company,a payroll system, and the unknown.I hope some fleet owners respond to this post,i am not one and you can write a book on this topic so i'll leave to the pro's thanks for the post.

 

[jewgmw4ever]

We too were hoping some fleet owners would respond to our post, but do appreciate the feedback we have received. We have not come across many fleet owners from our time on the road. We have a truck and a driver that will soon be ready to roll and we were hoping that we could get as much advise from people with the knowledge so our work relationship can start out as a very positive (and gratifying)experience. You said you do have one truck and a very solid driver. We wish you very much continued success. Would you know the difference between the % pay? For example at 30% what is the driver responsible for compared to 60%? i.e fuel,tolls,cell phone,pagers,etc. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

[jewgmw4ever]

Hello again. Hope everyone is doing well. Where are the fleet owners? Have we offended anyone? Have a safe and Happy Holiday season!

 

[DragonLadyTN]

Hello, I am not a fleet owner, however I did manage a fleet of ten truck for an owner for 2 1/2 years. A few tips if it will help.

Always be honest and up front with your drivers. Let them know you have been out there! Also let them know you can always be reached, not matter what time of day. Offer to help them with dispatch problems if they ask! But the biggest things is listen to your drivers when they have problem with the equipment and keep the equipment in top notch shape. If you won't want to drive it, don't expect someone else to!

As for contracts. 60/40 is what we offered. With 100% of fuel surcharges, deadhead, empty moves, ETC. given back to the driver. Driver paid their own AIG and tolls. Be sure to lay everything out as far as acceptance rate, inservice rate, maintence (when and where), notice needed to term the lease, and where you require the truck to be returned to. I required 85% acceptance,and 80% inservice with 6 days a month down/home time.

Payroll is a major concern for drivers. Pay special attention to the means in which you pay your drive. Find a simple and fast way to transfer the funds to them. Always be open to questions and provide documentation to your drivers. IE..copies of the settlement sheets from the lease company. This leaves no question as to the driver receiving what is due them. Always be willing to go to bat for your driver.

Please keep in mind that GOOD, HONEST fleet owners our hard to find. However once you become known in the industry as an honest fleet owner you will have quility drivers coming to you!

Happy Holidays!

 

[abcwine]

If you want fleet owners names and #'s, I can provide you with a few.
You can call 800-831-8737 x1365.

Good Luck

 

[Lady Expediter]

>Hello, we are long time forum readers. This is our first
>post. We are investigating the idea of becoming fleet
>owners. We have come off the road for now and would like to
>try our hand at building a small fleet. We would very much
>appreciate any suggestions,helpful hints,or strategies from
>some of the fleet owners that view this site. (i.e. Pay
>rate-which % is best? 30 and you pay for fuel or 60 and the
>driver pays; Contracts-what kind of wording/stipulations do
>you use; Time off from the road-so many days out,so many
>days off,etc.) Thank you very much for your time.

Greetings -

Hopefully this will be of help to you. I love being a small fleet owner. In fact I will be putting on two more tractors very soon, we all run with FedEx CC and actually enjoy it, I also like to go out and drive as often as I can.
We hire teams only, which helps alot so that there is not a high turn over. We like same-household teams, for a varity of reasons.
We are also interested in hearing about various incentive plans, driver purchase options, contracts, etc...
ALWAYS LOOKING TO IMPROVE
So far what has been most successful for our drivers and us has been the 40%/60%, 40% going to the drivers, so that they get their whole pay immediately at their PU, then it gets loaded on their comcard.
60% us as we pay for fuel (drivers get a fuel card) then we reimburse for tolls, maintance, etc...with receiving the receipts of course.
We did attempt the % split w/60% to drivers before - - but it did not work out very well - - not everyone can budget their monies, and so they would spend all their cash be out of $, and turn down some runs cause they did not have enough fuel to get to PU.
3 weeks OTR, 1 week home time - I do have some paperwork, I use and would be willing to share with you. Also would appreciate any information you have learned changes can be good
Thanks, Happy Holidays!

 

[jewgmw4ever]

Greetings -< HELLO LADY EXPEDITER. HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON. SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE TO YOUR REPLY TO OUR POST. WE HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY THE LAST FEW WEEKS AS I AM SURE YOU ARE ON YOUR END.>

Hopefully this will be of help to you. I love being a small fleet owner.-< THAT IS GREAT TO HEAR BECAUSE WE HAVE HEARD SOME NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES OUT THERE.>
In fact I will be putting on two more tractors very soon,-< WOW! IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE DOING REAL WELL! THAT BRINGS A FEW QUESTIONS TO MIND - DO YOU PURCHASE NEW OR USED TRUCKS? DID YOU START OUT WITH TRACTORS? DOES YOUR FLEET CONSIST OF ONLY TRACTORS OR DO YOU HAVE A MIXTURE OF VANS, STRAIGHT TRUCKS, AND TRACTORS?>
we all run with FedEx CC and actually enjoy it,-< SO WOULD YOU FEEL FEDEX CC IS A GOOD COMPANY TO START A SMALL FLEET WITH?>
I also like to go out and drive as often as I can.
We hire teams only, which helps alot so that there is not a high turn over. We like same-household teams, for a varity of reasons.-< DO YOU EVEN RECOMMEND TEAMS OVER SOLO DRIVERS FOR STARTING OUT?>
We are also interested in hearing about various incentive plans, driver purchase options, contracts, etc...
ALWAYS LOOKING TO IMPROVE
So far what has been most successful for our drivers and us has been the 40%/60%, 40% going to the drivers, so that they get their whole pay immediately at their PU, then it gets loaded on their comcard.
60% us as we pay for fuel (drivers get a fuel card) then we reimburse for tolls, maintance, etc...with receiving the receipts of course.-< SO ARE THE DRIVERS RESPONSIBLE FOR QUALCOMM, THEIR CELL PHONE, PAGERS, WORKERS COMP, ETC.?>
We did attempt the % split w/60% to drivers before - - but it did not work out very well - - not everyone can budget their monies, and so they would spend all their cash be out of $, and turn down some runs cause they did not have enough fuel to get to PU.-< THE 40%
SOUNDS LIKE YOU COVER YOURSELF GOOD AND STILL PROVIDE A NICE LIVING FOR THE DRIVER.>
3 weeks OTR, 1 week home time - I do have some paperwork, I use and would be willing to share with you.-<YES PLEASE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE TO WORK WITH. A FIRM FOUNDATION IS THE BEST WAY TO START.>
Also would appreciate any information you have learned changes can be good. Thanks, Happy Holidays!-< YES, WE WILL DEFINATELY PASS ON ANY INFORMATION WE LEARN. KNOWLEDGE IS SO VALUABLE FOR SUCCESS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND INTEREST. WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU. WE WISH YOU VERY MUCH MORE CONTINUED SUCCESS. STAY SAFE.>

Lady Expediter

"Dreams and dedication are a powerful combination." William Longgood

 

[guest]

can some of you fleet owners send me copies of your paperwork?

Also wondering in a 60/40 split who pays for computer, cell phone, pager......you get the point.

Thanks,

Andy
[email protected]
fax 360-287-1751

 

[danzman49]

Hello all,

I was just wondering what a fair amount would be to pay a co-driver, if your paying him 60 per cent when on his own?


Thanks

Dan

 

[driven2succeed]

Hey everyone. I'm new to this site/app and just wanted to say I've been looking for a long time for good info like this. My

My wife and I team drive currently and are planning to purchase a truck in a few month to team drive and if that works out we are hoping to own a small fleet of trucks. We are young but I feel like we are ready. While we have a lot of homework to do on this still, we are excited to learn and we would appreciate any helpful supportive advice. Hope everyone is having a great day!

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[paullud]

Hey everyone. I'm new to this site/app and just wanted to say I've been looking for a long time for good info like this. My

My wife and I team drive currently and are planning to purchase a truck in a few month to team drive and if that works out we are hoping to own a small fleet of trucks. We are young but I feel like we are ready. While we have a lot of homework to do on this still, we are excited to learn and we would appreciate any helpful supportive advice. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Sent from my Galaxy Note II using EO Forums mobile app

The first piece if advice would be to research the site but avoid 10 year old threads like this one. I wouldn't go back to far because so much has changed in the industry that information more than a few years old is outdated. Keep an eye on regulations that change the way you will run your business like EOBR's.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using EO Forums mobile app

 

[zorry]

It'd be cool to hear from these posters ten years later.

How have things changed for you ?

 

[paullud]

It'd be cool to hear from these posters ten years later.

How have things changed for you ?

So much has happened in those years it would be interesting to hear if they changed their business at all to get through the tough times.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using EO Forums mobile app

 

[westmicher]

I would NEVER pay drivers 60% of the load AND 100% of the fuel surcharge and all accessorials... being left with the truck payments and maintenance and more! If there are owners out there that do that I'd like to drive for them!!!

 

[KickStarter6]

I would NEVER pay drivers 60% of the load AND 100% of the fuel surcharge and all accessorials... being left with the truck payments and maintenance and more! If there are owners out there that do that I'd like to drive for them!!!

My dad does that on both his vans. Only thing extra drivers pay is windshield washer fluid(he provides one bottle a week) and tolls. Of course vans are cheaper than straights and TT's

 

[xiggi]

I would NEVER pay drivers 60% of the load AND 100% of the fuel surcharge and all accessorials... being left with the truck payments and maintenance and more! If there are owners out there that do that I'd like to drive for them!!!

There are a lot of carriers that the fsc does not cover the cost of fuel so many owners pay the 60% plus fsc. When there is a profit on fsc they suddenly change.

Sent from my - Fisher Price ABC - 123