dannythetrucker joining forces with windsmith

It may wind up being the best thing for him to get his own authority. time will tell. I pay him based more on net than gross. Doing it that way helps him to see things from an O/O's perspective. So he is already moving towards O/O. However, I do still handle plates, authority, IFTA, drug consortium, highway tax, UCR, SCAC, etc.... It's not that much harder for me to do it for two trucks instead of one, but it does relieve him of a good amount of paperwork. And me paying the repairs, fuel, etc... relieves him of a good amount of risk. As I get some of my startup money back I also plan to bump his percentage of the net up more and more. Hopefully to the point it's a win-win for him to stick with this arrangement rather than get his own authority. But we'll see, we're already considering some major changes..... stay tuned.

 

I guess I'll update this thread. I'm tempted to gloss things over, but I'm just going to keep it real instead. I ran into a big SNAFU with insurance.

I'm going to tell you about it in hopes people who are considering getting their own authority or owning trucks can get a little understanding of the types of things you will run into. Basically, it was my own ignorance to blame. The company we were with could not insure Windsmith because he's only had his cdl a little over a year. I thought once he had his year in he would be good to go, but that was only with Progressive. It turns out most insurance companies require 2 years or more. And I couldn't go with Progressive because I had two OOS violations last year which disqualifies me for them. I submitted requests for quotes from nearly 40 insurance agents and spent oodles of time with emails and phone calls. I was concerned if I did find coverage it was going to be very expensive and/or with some lousy fly-by-night company. Fortunately, I finally found an agent who could get us coverage. I really like the guy too. I've spent hours on the phone with him and now have a better understanding of how truck insurance companies work, I'm going to be paying a bit more but I feel I have better coverage and I surely understand my policy a lot more than I did before.

So all in all, we're nearly a month behind schedule, but it all worked out for the best I think. During this time Windsmith has been keeping busy doing some necessary repairs and preventative maint. on the trucks and also took my pickup out to NC and PA to take care of some personal matters. We've gotten to know each other better and I believe we are in better shape to hit the ground running than we were a month ago.

Even so, just to be blatently honest, we are stretching our capital very thin. We have two older trucks with high mileage (although we do have one brand new trailer and one 100% restored trailer) So we have a long ways to go, if I wasn't so confident in our respective abilities I would say we were both nuts !! But we'll see.... stay tuned.

One more thing for all you prospective owner-ops. In addition to this major challenge with insurance there have been a myriad of other challenges as well. I'm not going to write a book here, but we had repairs, finding and purchasing the second truck, finding and financing the second trailer, licensing, plates, getting windsmith moved back and forth across the country a couple times, as well as the day to day load booking, etc... for the truck I'm running ! A challenge to say the least, but it is rewarding when you eventually make it happen.

 

yah, I didn't want to say much until we figured out what was going to happen. I was looking at leasing the truck and windsmith on with other carriers, etc... windsmith was considering getting his authority and working out some kind of lease or purchase of equipment from me. We were considering all possiblities. I had really about given up on getting insured and continuing with Plan A.

 

I've been giving him a few shillings for all the work he's been doing on the trucks and paying his hotel bills, but I'm sure he'll be glad to get to hauling some loads !