Thank you, your encouragement is much appreciated.
Starting a Trucking Business, have a few questions.
- Thread starter His Grace
- Start date
Thank you, your encouragement is much appreciated.
The funny and wonderful thing of this all? On my caldesac, the CEO of the company is my neighbor to my right, and my other neighbor who is getting my company set up is a lawyer lol.
Keep them both well greased. lol
One thing you need to bear in mind that you may not have thought of... the "Oilfield" moves.
I've been in the business 8 year, done fairly well out of it, but I've only spent about 2-3 of those years working within an hour of my house. The rest of the time, you gotta pack up and follow the rigs.
I've been in the business 8 year, done fairly well out of it, but I've only spent about 2-3 of those years working within an hour of my house. The rest of the time, you gotta pack up and follow the rigs.
01cobravortech
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Go for it His Grace. Everything you put your hand to is going to prosper, regardless of how difficult the start up or economy may look. Abraham's blessing is on you my brother. :beer:
Also, just another thought to throw out there. It seems basic, but have a good business plan. If you go into this, know exactly what your goals are (do it for one year, then quit....do it for as long as it's filling the bank account...or whatever your main objective is) and make every decision you're confronted with keeping that in mind. Never lose sight of what your original goal is and do it with conviction. After you go through all of this and weigh all the advice the guys in the trucking industry have given you, as well as your lawyer's advice, you should know exactly what you want to do and go after it.
My family runs an electrical contracting business and sometimes the old man loses sight of the business plan. When you keep that in mind it really helps focus the business and it becomes that much more productive. If you're unsure what you really want from this when you go into it, you'll have a greater chance of not being successful.
Being self-employed takes a lot of self-motivation. Especially when tough times hit and before the money starts accumulating. But I'm sure if the payouts are as good as you're projecting it won't take much to get motivated.
I apologize for the rambling, just figured I'd type out my rolling thoughts.
My family runs an electrical contracting business and sometimes the old man loses sight of the business plan. When you keep that in mind it really helps focus the business and it becomes that much more productive. If you're unsure what you really want from this when you go into it, you'll have a greater chance of not being successful.
Being self-employed takes a lot of self-motivation. Especially when tough times hit and before the money starts accumulating. But I'm sure if the payouts are as good as you're projecting it won't take much to get motivated.
I apologize for the rambling, just figured I'd type out my rolling thoughts.
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The encouragement here is good but the warnings are better the trucking industry is ruthless and cut throat. Be very careful, you can get in a hole you can't climb out of fast. Im in the trucking industry in fl and shit has hit the fan and worst, texas may not be as bad as fl but what some are saying in this thread is good advice.
Also if you are not aware of them Truck Driving Jobs, Trucking Jobs for Truckers - Class A Drivers and Truck Driving Jobs, Trucking Forum, CDL Training | TruckersReport.com are two good sites with alot of info.
Go to CRNA school. With a family of 6, I would take the safer option, however, CRNA school is no joke. I'm single and 1 year in and it's brutal! Good luck with what you decide!
Just to input a little. I have a family friend who has done this for a living for many years. He is now running away as far as possible. At one time recently he had 125+ trucks. He has now whittled them down to 40 - 50 and wants to go lower. You will spend so much money on up keep it is unreal. Especially since you are starting out with a USED truck. You will need to schedule at least 1 day a week as down time for maintenance. Also you will need to have money put back to pay the DOT. Once they get you for one infraction then they can come back and do for others. The guy across from where I worked one time was just hauling fill dirt from a mine slippage 1/2 mile to his property to dump it. He had OVER 100 written violations from tail lights out, to damaged mud flaps and even a dirty truck license plate. They finally pulled his trucks and locked them down until he corrected all the problems and paid all the fines.
Believe me, I have friends and family that does this for a living. If you are working for someone else and just driving....GREAT. But owner/operator is for the birds. My father-in-law and brother-in-law both did it for years before they could get paid up and out free and clear. So many expenses. If you can work on the truck yourself, there's your savings. If you cannot get ready to shell out $100.00 + per hour labor costs. I've seen a rear end repair set my FIL back $5,000.00 when someone else had to do it. Diesel engine rebuilds...OMG tens of thousands of dollars per rebuild.
If you had a chance to talk to my FIL and let him tell you about it, I think he would change your mind and quickly.
OBTW...There has got to be a catch on the $30,000.00 a week. Something doesn't smell right. Do you have your EPA licenses for hazzardous waste? Do you have your CDLs? You'll have to get fuel stamps to be able to haul on the roads. There is so much $30,000.00 is just a drop.
Good luck and as Stampede said...........RUN AWAY FAST.
Believe me, I have friends and family that does this for a living. If you are working for someone else and just driving....GREAT. But owner/operator is for the birds. My father-in-law and brother-in-law both did it for years before they could get paid up and out free and clear. So many expenses. If you can work on the truck yourself, there's your savings. If you cannot get ready to shell out $100.00 + per hour labor costs. I've seen a rear end repair set my FIL back $5,000.00 when someone else had to do it. Diesel engine rebuilds...OMG tens of thousands of dollars per rebuild.
If you had a chance to talk to my FIL and let him tell you about it, I think he would change your mind and quickly.
OBTW...There has got to be a catch on the $30,000.00 a week. Something doesn't smell right. Do you have your EPA licenses for hazzardous waste? Do you have your CDLs? You'll have to get fuel stamps to be able to haul on the roads. There is so much $30,000.00 is just a drop.
Good luck and as Stampede said...........RUN AWAY FAST.
SXI, thank you for sharing. One thing I need to share is, I dont plan on being in this for a lifetime unless I am just blessed amazingly for a while. I live in the heart of oil right now, deep in the heart. I walk out my door and I see wells being spudded. Not that it will always be like that, but for the next few years its predicted to be, why not dip my fingers into the river of gold thats flowing by for a minute to be free of debt, or at least give it a shot, you know what I mean, you have done very well for yourself.
Rob, as always, thank you for your encouragement, never a moment goes by that after I am done reading your input that I don't feel encouraged and uplifted. That's what a brother does.
Thank you 61, great sound advice, I will keep that in mind.
I am taking everything you say in, just one exception, FL is a little different as you noted then in TX for right now that is. This place is like a boom town like I have never seen before, people are becoming millionaires over night, I know of three in the last two weeks that have become one. It is honestly out of this world right now, and if you have a truck and a large trailer, I know not one driver making under 6 figures, and they are being leased.
Please don't take that as if I am downplaying your advice, because I openly accept it, just putting a different perspective on it.
Bud, you may never know how badly and how hard I worked in three months to get my CCRN, take my GRE, get my PALS and sit for the interview and get accepted only to just not follow through because my heart was telling me not to.
Thank you for your encouragement.
Some solid advice in this post, thank you.
For starters, I wont be transporting hazardous waste, I will be transporting drilling mud, earth minerals. I have my class B right now, will be taking my written test for my class C next week and after I get the truck and trailer be taking the written portion.
You are right, I will be getting a used truck with 300,000 miles on it, but it will be DOT inspected and is fully serviced when I purchase it. That being, I don't hit a cow or a horse on the oilfield leases, I should be able to get some good work out of it before it breaks down. I guess that's a gamble.
I am only running one truck, not hundreds, I will have a couple grand to spend for maintenance in the beginning if something were to happen, hoping that will cover it until I make it my first month. I personally don't know how to work on a tractor (truck), so I will keep my fingers crossed and pray that with good maintenance and regular inspections of the truck that I will stay out of trouble, but who knows.
I have guaranteed work, so lets just hope I can keep the truck running, that is if I don't get scared away from doing it after reading all the good advice here.
Thank you again for sharing with me.
Don't you need a class A CDL>??? I've never even heard of a class C CDL.
LOL, sorry man, I have been running and gunning today, yes a class A.
Thanks for the links, man, been reading alot there. Pretty harsh world in the trucking, that's no lie.
Most of those guys are on the road hollars, barely making 70k a year. A little intimidating to read their stories of being an owner/operator.
In my little head, just have one truck and doing runs within 50 miles of my house doesnt seem to be that bad, but after reading all their stories I should just run my truck off a cliff because its a horrible gig. I will say, they are not making anywhere close to what is being offered me, with that in hand, I think I may have an inside edge.
I dont know.
If you dont have the ability to do repairs or maintenance yourself, get with a local mechanic before hand and figure out rates. At the very least a brake and tire guy, plenty of independent mobile mechanics out there that would probably like the business.
I still can't believe what they are offering to be honest.
1K for 3.5 hours and 100 miles?
That is around $300-400 max around here.
I know bud,
After reading other truckers pay I cant believe people even do it.
Honestly I will say oil is good right now, and getting mud to the well and doing it timely allows for the drillers to make hundreds of thousands a month.
If I didnt have this inside edge and know the CEO then they wouldnt be offereing this to anyone else, per the CEO. It just happened to be that I offered to help and he said okay, I will bring you aboard to help us directly.
After reading other truckers pay I cant believe people even do it.
Honestly I will say oil is good right now, and getting mud to the well and doing it timely allows for the drillers to make hundreds of thousands a month.
If I didnt have this inside edge and know the CEO then they wouldnt be offereing this to anyone else, per the CEO. It just happened to be that I offered to help and he said okay, I will bring you aboard to help us directly.
Believe it. Its unreal how much the patch pays for anything right now. Was not joking a bit about the water haulers clearing 110k for 8 to 10 runs a day usually less than 2 hours a run.
HisGrace, do not buy a fiberglass truck that is meant for road hauling, you will regret it. Get the toughest (and if you can cheapest) you can find, even then you'll break things, but new trucks are a waste and you'll feel better knowing you didn't pay a ridiculous amount upfront.
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I hear ya bud, thats why I am getting a Mack. That is the preferred oil truck to have.
Its hard for people to understand the money out here right now, its almost unbelievable. I get out on the road to work and for every one car there is two Semi trucks.
Its hard for people to understand the money out here right now, its almost unbelievable. I get out on the road to work and for every one car there is two Semi trucks.
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