Is there money to be made.

horses2 · Jul 22, 2007

Which would be better or which one would be more money a van or a solo D unit with panther. I would get the normal 60/40 but being new I really dont know what would make more money?.

LDB · Jul 22, 2007

There's no way to know absolutely which is going to run more because that depends on company, location, equipment, etc. however it's quick and easy to compare 60% of 0.77 and 1.20 for van/D. You'd get 46.2cpm van or .72cpm D for loaded miles based on Panther rates. If you need $720 in your pocket each month you have to drive loaded 1000 D miles and 1559 van miles to get it. For $1000 to you it's 1389 D miles or 2165 van miles. A D can carry a van load if it's the only truck available. A van can't carry a D load. That sometimes means moving instead of sitting. There are other things to be factored in but this should be sufficient to get you started thinking about it.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

RichM · Jul 22, 2007

One other thing to consider is that you be required to operate under the HOS rules in a D unit and not in a van. This means you will have to log and running time may be limited due to the 14 hour rule. The van will get better mileage then the D unit, but if the D unit is set up right it will probably have larger sleeping accomadations then the van.

Fr8 Shaker · Jul 22, 2007

Unless you have a second income coming in ie: retirement, spouse working with enough coming in to cover household expenses, morgage/rent, utilities, food and so on you will go broke driving a van for an owner at 60%.

nightcreacher · Aug 6, 2007

running solo,you could go broke in expedite

x06col · Aug 6, 2007

Two Horses, you have way too many dollar signs dancing in your head. You, i'm going to suggest, will not, come outa the chute, with a fist full. If'n that's your goal, keep doing what you are doing. Don't know whom you've been talking to, but, this all takes time, AND, attention to detail. SIZE really don't matter. There are extreem success stories, and failures regardless of size. Look at Panther, went broke once, and look at them now. Depends on what you look at, what you retain, and, what you do with it. Not a get rich deal, and, I hope you are a young person to start over, if you tink so.