ThinkIng about a change

[MiFamilyGuy]

After 8 years as a company driver I'm trying to decide if buying a straight truck is a good move. I'd love to get away from forced dispatch and more or less be my own boss. Is there a lot of freight close enough to mid-Michigan to stop home a couple times a month without hurting the income? I don't mind running hard but I'm quite fond of my family, too. Is 60k annual net a reasonable expectation for a solo straight truck O/O? Any specific companies have a lot of freight in my area? Any knowledgable thoughts or advice would be appreciated. I'm just starting the research process now but I think it's something I would enjoy.

 

[Rocketman]

After 8 years as a company driver I'm trying to decide if buying a straight truck is a good move. I'd love to get away from forced dispatch and more or less be my own boss. Is there a lot of freight close enough to mid-Michigan to stop home a couple times a month without hurting the income? I don't mind running hard but I'm quite fond of my family, too. Is 60k annual net a reasonable expectation for a solo straight truck O/O? Any specific companies have a lot of freight in my area? Any knowledgable thoughts or advice would be appreciated. I'm just starting the research process now but I think it's something I would enjoy.

Mid-Michigan is a great location for the carriers who do a lot of auto freight and it's at least a decent place for everyone else. With the right carrier, you could get home quite a bit being based where you are. The gross net income is the only place I see a definite flag. I think 60k would be on the top of the scale and being on top of the scale and getting home often can be mutually exclusive. I would expect 35-40 first year and 40-45k after that with 50k likely being a max. This is my opinion as a former solo straight truck (dry box, general expedite freight) o/o. I'm in a van now..and the income here is going to be less...which I expected.

 

[ChanceMaster]

After 8 years as a company driver I'm trying to decide if buying a straight truck is a good move. I'd love to get away from forced dispatch and more or less be my own boss. Is there a lot of freight close enough to mid-Michigan to stop home a couple times a month without hurting the income? I don't mind running hard but I'm quite fond of my family, too. Is 60k annual net a reasonable expectation for a solo straight truck O/O? Any specific companies have a lot of freight in my area? Any knowledgable thoughts or advice would be appreciated. I'm just starting the research process now but I think it's something I would enjoy.

I live in Port Huron. I have been driving a straight truck for 2 years now for FedEx Custom Critical. I don't seem to get home often at all. Perhaps that's because there is a team in the truck ? I do seem to get close to the house by accepting Canadian loads . Hope you find a carrier that fits.

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[MiFamilyGuy]

I drove very briefly for a fleet owner at NationsExpress shortly after truck school. It didn't work out and we parted on bad terms but it wasn't due to the company. He claimed that the company had enough freight in the area to get home most weekends for a re-set. This information is from 8 years ago and I didn't stay long enough even at the time to verify it. Anyone familiar with that company?

 

[davekc]

If your desire is to be home every weekend are you sure on expediting? WIth your handle as MIFamilyGuy, I would give serious reservations to OTR if you have kids at home.

 

[paullud]

Just my opinion but if you want to be home every weekend I would get a class A and run regional. I drove regional for 14-15 months with Arnold and was home every weekend except 2 but they called and asked if I was alright with taking the load since they knew I could not get back. When I took those 2 loads they made it up by getting me home the following Friday and letting me stay until Monday morning.

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[MiFamilyGuy]

If your desire is to be home every weekend are you sure on expediting? WIth your handle as MIFamilyGuy, I would give serious reservations to OTR if you have kids at home.

I don't expect to be home every weekend but I certainly wouldn't turn down the opportunity either. The job I have now gets me home every weekend but it hasn't always been that way. I get home Saturday for my reset and leave again Monday morning. I'm quite often right at the 70 hr mark when I park the truck. The pay is far more than I ever made doing long haul in a company truck and my family loves to see me. The trade off is that I'm hand unloading a 53' trailer every day at dollar stores, quite often at 4 in the morning in bad looking neighborhoods. I've had 2 friends get robbed during a delivery in the past year. One got hog tied along with the store manager in Indy. The other got pistol whipped in Flint, MI and just played dead until the thugs left. Like any big company, USX won't allow a weapon of any kind on the truck and my flashlight will only do so much against an armed thug.

I don't know if expiditing is for me or not but it's worth researching to make an educated decision. Like my name indicates, I'm totally committed to my family. That means playing an active roll in their upbringing. It also means doing whatever it takes to support them and keep them in a safe neighborhood. I think I've come as far as I can as a company driver and I believe I have the motivation and work ethics to be a successful owner if I decide it's best for the family.

Thanks for the replies and any more thoughts and opinions are welcome!

 

[asjssl]

Where abouts in MI. Do you live....getting home often is alot about where you live...im around kazoo and thet gets me home alot..

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[MiFamilyGuy]

Where abouts in MI. Do you live....getting home often is alot about where you live...im around kazoo and thet gets me home alot..

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Lansing area.

 

[Jenny]

Lansing is a decent area actually. You are in a centralized location accessible to different directions. I have seen a. FECC straight at a home in Holt quite often, and know of a few FECC cargo vans that live in Lansing also.

 

[Moot]

I don't mind running hard but I'm quite fond of my family, too. Is 60k annual net a reasonable expectation for a solo straight truck O/O?

First you should post your definition of annual net income. There are almost as many definitions of net income here on E.O. as members. As an employee my net income was listed on my W-2. Gross income minus taxes, FICA, etc. equals net income.

As an owner/operator business type person, I concentrate more on profit. Gross minus taxes, carrier deductions, fuel, repairs, insurance etc, emergency fund, etc etc. My "net" is what I put in my pocket after all other expenditures are met. 60K in a solo straight truck by my definition? I don't know. I'm in a van.

Like my name indicates, I'm totally committed to my family. That means playing an active roll in their upbringing. It also means doing whatever it takes to support them and keep them in a safe neighborhood. I think I've come as far as I can as a company driver and I believe I have the motivation and work ethics to be a successful owner if I decide it's best for the family.

If you really are totally committed to your family, then before you enter the wonderful world of expedite as an O/O do you understand some of the pitfalls? Income can be very sporadic. Does your spouse have steady full time employment? Can you afford health insurance for your wife and children. Can you financially survive a month or more without income due to an accident or major breakdown? Can you afford the repair bill?

Being an O/O is great! Being your own boss is great! But, with these rewards comes a hefty risk. Do you want to expose your family to these risks. If you are tired of your current job, look into working for an LTL carrier. Here you get a steady income, health insurance and regular home time.

 

[MiFamilyGuy]

I have access to health insurance thru my wife's employer and I do have some money set aside. I'm not in a big hurry to leave my current job but it's not the job I want to retire from. I'd like to be self employed at some point and have the possibility of advancing beyond just a unit number for a big company. Since a lot of people make a living by expiditing and some become fleet owners it seems like a well calculated and planned risk can be rewarding.

What would be an ideal amount of start-up cash beyond the down payment on the truck? Any dads out there that bring their kids out with them during the summer? How do they like it?

 

[moose]

You live in a very good area. IF you do not like your job anymore and IF that carrier do not provide for a line haul ownership, or an O/O opportunity, just start looking around for a carrier that DOSE. over the years i met MANY O/O truckers that started as Co. drivers, to learn the ropes of a carrier, only to become Owners when the time was right. i have yet to find even one SOLO expediter that makes even remotely close to the money that CAN be made over time owning BIG rigs OTR. what i DID find, over the years, are plenty of truckers that tried the Expediting gimmick, only to loose most of all their life saving. ( met a hands-full of them @ this past expo...they do not know it yet, but they failed already.) there's a rezone,
Expedite is not trucking.

 

[Moot]

I'm not in a big hurry to leave my current job but it's not the job I want to retire from.

Even if it was the job you would want to retire from, odds are if you have 20 years to retirement, that company won't exist.

I'd like to be self employed at some point and have the possibility of advancing beyond just a unit number for a big company.

I've been self employed for over 15 years and I'm still just a unit number and owner number with a big company. What can I say, my name is Moot.

Since a lot of people make a living by expiditing and some become fleet owners it seems like a well calculated and planned risk can be rewarding.

Just about any risk can be rewarding in some fashion. A well calculated and planned risk can reap greater rewards while being less risky. My question to you is; can you and your family survive a business failure? Something to think about. Your wife has a job and insurance. Those are two key elements needed to survive as an expediter while supporting a family.

I pulled the plug on a well paying, secure job, to get into expediting when my oldest was in high school and the youngest in junior high. My wife had full health insurance that covered all of us. Our house was paid for and we had no debt. Not even a car loan, until I bought my first van. To us the risk of total failure would not have been catastrophic to our family. While making less money, the tax benefits and my mental well being have far outweighed the risks we took.

If you are certain of what you are doing and can afford the risk, then go for it! "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Just don't put your own dreams before your family. Dreams can wait.

 

[MiFamilyGuy]

Thankyou for the input. That's what I'm lookng for at this point is the pros and cons, especially from a family point of view. I'm not looking to feed my ego. Any decision I make is a joint decision with my wife based on what we think will work.
I want to figure out if my home area has a good freight volume for that type of operation, what specs to look for on a truck, how old to buy to buy to balance out payments and expected repairs, honest opinions about specific companies and probably a million other things I haven't thought of. I have all the time I need to ask questions and think about it before I jump in.

Thankyou everyone for the replies!

 

[tenntrucker]

I don't think you would have trouble getting home on a regular bases with the company I'm with.

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