>Whoa...Step back, and once again take off the rose colored
>glasses.
>
>I think it's quite possible for a team in a D truck to gross
>$2 million in 10 years, but to suggest that a large portion
>of 1.8 million, minus a few dollars for fuel, finance and
>operating expenses is a bit of a stretch, even for the most
>frugal of people.
>
>I suspect that every bit of 1/3 - 1/2 of that 2 mil will be
>needed for business costs, generously leaving $1.0M - $1.3M.
> Does the typical Mom and Pop, single truck expediter net
>$100,000 a year? I don't know because I have no experience
>or first hand knowledge of C or D truck profits.
>
>$100,000 a year is a pretty decent wage, even for two
>people, but since nearly all expediters have a home and
>other personal expenses with which to contend, such as rent
>or mortgage, utilities, medical/dental expenses, clothing,
>insurance, automobile costs, childrens education, IRA, etc,
>etc, etc.
>
>When all is said, spent and done, what's left? No more than
>the slightly above average two wage earner family.
Perhaps this rough analysis will help. Consider a hypothetical team that drives a fleet-owner's truck under the not-uncommon 40/60 split, where the team gets 40% of the gross and the fleet owner gets 60%, and the fleet owner pays all truck expenses, including fuel.
Agreeing that a good team can produce $200,000 a year gross, that sends $80,000 to the team and $120,000 to the fleet owner, before expenses and taxes. (Note to newbies reading this, $200,000 is an above-average figure. While there are teams out there doing it, that level of production does not happen by itself. It would be unwise to expect that kind of gross income without knowing how it is produced and without being ready, willing and able to do what it takes.)
At this point, it does not matter at all how much the truck costs to purchase or operate. Those costs are the fleet owner's to bear.
A team that produces $200,000 a year gross, will be on the road a lot and home little. Thus, there won't be much money spent on high-end fishing boats, fancy pick-up trucks, and the like (if the team is smart). At the extreme, single-family home ownership is not necessary, since the team would spend little time in it. A maintenance-free townhouse or even an apartment will do. Thus, the costs of home maintenance can be reduced.
Now, take it to the next step. Included in the fleet owner's 60% is a profit margin. Fleet owners can correct me if I am wrong on this point. I'll suggest, based on what I have heard from a few, that the fleet owner hopes to clear 10% of the gross after all driver and truck expenses are paid.
If that is true, and if the team buys a truck of their own, they have the same 50% of the gross to use for truck expenses that fleet owners have. That is, the fleet-owner's 10% profit margin plus the 40% the team received before they bought a truck of their own.
That provides the team with $80,000 to $100,000 a year (40% to 50% of the gross) in pre-tax revenue after all truck expenses are paid. As a busy team that is out on the road a lot, they get nice per diem deductions. As truck owners, they get depreciation decuctions. As self-employed owner-operators (or even self-employed drivers for a fleet owner), they have access to a host of qualified retirement plans and other tax-advantaged investments that if wisely used will help them keep the money they earn.
Rose colored? I think not. Above average? Absolutely, but it can be done.
If a team has an upper-middle-class retirement lifestyle as their goal, the ability and willingness to do what it takes, and fifteen to twenty years to work with, I see no reason why such a team cannot achieve what they set out to do.
