To Fleet Owners

are12 · Aug 19, 2006

I am sure this question has been asked somewhere along the line but I have not come across it as of yet.
We would like to buy another truck and put a team in it.
We have been in the business 2 1/2 years and started out in a used truck, then last June, we traded our old turck and purchased a 2006 Sterling with the 96" sleeper. Our truck is just over a year old so we still have 4 more years of payments. Is it even feasible to think of buying another truck now or wait until ours is paid off?
I would appreciate any input on this - positive and negative.

RichM · Aug 19, 2006

I would hold off adding trucks for a while. You could easily be making 2 payments with both trucks down.The drivers of your second truck could quit for whatever reason then you have to scramble to replace them. Meanwhile while you are at home lining up replacements both payments go on.

davekc · Aug 19, 2006

I gotta go with Rich on this one. I would advise paying off your first truck prior to looking for a second. It might work out, but all too many times it doesn't. If for whatever reason you lose your drivers, you are saddled with two payments. That likely will put you under unless you have some very good reserves. If you have $10,000 to 20,000 in reserves after you buy the second truck, then it might be a doable option.

Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

LDB · Aug 19, 2006

If you got at least 3 months worth of reserves put aside for all home bills, the current truck payments and the new truck payments then go for it now. If not be socking away all you can and when you do go for it then. Murphy is much less likely to visit you when you are well equipped to handle the visit. You do have one advantage having warranty so there should be no major expenses surprising you but the routine maintenance and payments still go on regardless. Like the others have said, it can be mighty rough if you've got one truck down without drivers and the other down for repairs and no money coming in from either one. Good luck.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5507, 5508, 5509
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Broompilot · Aug 19, 2006

From an X Fleet Owner-----GOOD LUCK

Your doing well think your only gona double your problem? Think your gona increase your bottom line by 25-50% good luck again. The risk vs rewards even with no increase in rates, soaring fuel charges, your thinking of this? With payments tied to a truck good luck again as that will be the nail in the coffin.

Tennesseahawk · Aug 19, 2006

A former fleet owner I ran for once told me THREE trucks is stable, TWO trucks is suicide. One truck can not take care of two if one goes down. Two trucks can take care of three. If you're in one now, save up and get two more at once, if you're insisting on expanding.

are12 · Aug 20, 2006

Thanks for the input. We were told the same thing from a fleet owner, to have at least 3 trucks, in case 2 should be in the shop at the same time. Maybe we will just keep saving for awhile and see if things are going to even out a little before jumping into adding on.
I hate the thought of giving up my nest-egg at the moment.

ATeam · Aug 20, 2006

are12, you are exceedingly wise! It's nice to see someone resist the temptations of fleet ownership in favor of preserving one's nest egg. I've seen drivers get excited about fleet ownership for the wrong reasons and then get into trouble as a result.

Greed is one of the wrong reasons. While it is easy to construct an attractive spreadsheet of pro-forma numbers for running more trucks than your own, greed can sometimes get the best of people and the attractive numbers are all that they see.

Ego is another wrong reason. I've listened to wannabe fleet owners talk about "having people under them." They consider it a feather in their cap or themselves more important than "mere drivers" to own multiple trucks or have people under them. One fleet owner I know of now is in trouble and near divorce because of his desire to be treated like a big shot when he walks into his truck dealer or carrier's offices.

The successful fleet owners I know talk not about having people under them but about running trucks. They respect their drivers as partners in a mutually-beneficial endeavor. Their spreadsheets include not only revenue, but the costs too and reserves for the times one or more truck may be idle.

are12 · Aug 20, 2006

Thanks for the compliment! My husband and I have tossed this idea around for the last six months and we made a list of the pro's and con's of owning more than one truck. Yes, it would be nice to own multiple trucks but our biggest fear was finding reliable drivers that would take care of our truck as we would. Then there is always that fear of someone abandoning our truck out in the middle of no where.
When we ran for TransAm Trucking and TRL, we did alot of recovery work and I must admit, some of the trucks we had to take back to the yard were horrible!! One truck was so bad, that we called TRL and told them we would not even get in the truck unless they had it cleaned. I would hate to think of this happening to our truck!
Plus, we do realize, the more trucks you have the bigger the headaches ;-)

Ain't No Feelin' Like Six Wheelin'