Buying multiple trucks

As someone who has done this I can tell you buying the equipment is the easy part. Finding solid reliable drivers who care about the quality of their work is extraordinary difficult these days. I'm not saying it can't be done, I am saying there are going to be days when you would rather light yourself on fire than deal with another phone call.

 

A good driver can make you money in a couple of years. A bad driver can bankrupt you in a day!

 

Lots of "other expenses"
Fuel
Insurance
Maintenance
2290
Ucr
Road taxes
Etc etc etc
And at some point you have to factor in the fact these are machines and do not last forever. And with company drivers the average life of equipment is always shorter than if you drove 1 truck yourself. So you have to always be buying more equipment. Not to mention the cost of parking, having a yard, and you'll need some staff to do the dispatch and day to day office work that comes with running multiple units.

The numbers are just bigger. It really is not a gold mine. There is lots of liability. And when you add it up, what's the actual rate of return running a trucking outfit? How would it compare to investing wisely? How much is that extra liability worth in terms of a higher return?

I would advise start with 1 and get very used to that then go from there. There's lots of folks who had 1, saw the money, expanded, and some years later sold all of them and went back to running just 1. There's good reason for that.

 

Yeah ... um ... unfortunately it doesn't work like this. There is no economy of scale involved as people think.

I get an 8.6% return on my trucks ANNUAL, you can figure out what that number is but it sure the hell ain't $2k a week.

 

This!!!

 

My personal, non-industry related advice would be to take your oil field money and invest in some real estate, possibly the kind you can rent. It will make you money endlessly, and you won’t have to manage a mess of people and equipment. I’d wager that structures are far simpler to maintain than a fleet of trucks.

There is no telling where trucking will be in ten years. There are elements at work trying to kill off the truck driver. As a fleet owner that may be a benefit, but just figure on many things not going according to a script based on current realities. Good luck.

 

I just compared numbers with my buddy who has 8 trucks. My net for 2017 is the same as his, but I only run 2 trucks.
He is on dedicated, I am doing spot. 4 of his drivers just quit within last 2 months to buy their own trucks, because they heard about great rates.
He now is facing penalties, because he can't service his dedicated accounts.
He really thinks aboout getting rid of everything, getting a new glider and just run by himself again, without all the headaches