how much start up money do I NEED?

I'll give the TLDR version first:

I want to become an owner operator transporting cars. I have about 150,000 class-A miles but it was about eight years ago, I'm still licensed. I would be looking to get started as cheap as I realistically can, so I'll be looking for equipment that is functional but not pretty. I'd much rather not have to tow vans to start off, but if that is the best thing to do I can survive that for a while.

So, very roughly how much startup money do I need? (I read the sticky post and the first line said to have enough money for the first 3-6 months, but how much will that likely take?) I want to buy a truck as cheap as I can, but I know if you go too cheap the repairs can drive your costs higher than they'd be if you bought a decent truck.


Now the full version. Around 10 years ago I got my class-A license. I went to TMC's training center in Iowa, then got sent out to run with a trainer on the road for a few weeks. I quickly learned that flatbeds were a pain in the butt and I left TMC before I went solo. A short time later I started driving (solo) OTR for Bolus Freight out of Scranton which is right near home. I drove for them towing 48-53' vans for roughly a year and a half. I was home every weekend but they pushed hard and I wasn't getting nearly enough sleep. I will never go back to driving way more than what is legal, it wore me down more and more until I quit, and besides that I don't want to find myself upside down in the median. After that I drove a dump truck hauling asphalt for a couple months and I haven't used my CDL since but I have kept it current. I think with the new laws I might lose my class-A endorsement in May if I don't use it before then.


My plan is thus:

I want to start up as an owner operator hauling cars. Why?

I am a very active Chevrolet Corvair enthusiast and a member of the national club. There are probably ten events or more per year that I'd like to attend with one of my cars, and there is one event per year I'd like to attend with three cars. The location for that event changes regions every year, this year it's in Michigan, next year in California. I also have a couple of races I'd like to attend with one of my cars and if I break my car I need to be able to tow it back home. Attending all of these events is not feasible if I have to take time off for each one, maintain a diesel pickup and a trailer just for this purpose, and pay for the fuel to attend each event (some clear across the country). As an O/O hauling cars I figure I can pick loads that take me in the right direction at the right time. When an event is coming up I'll put my car on my rig and I'll get paid to travel to the event. It will cut into my profits, yes... but that is fine.

I don't have a mortgage or anything, I do have about $550 in monthly expenses. For the time being that amount will not go up or down if I start driving OTR, but if I knock out approximately $8,000 of debt that will go down to just $250 per month of expenses outside truck driving. I intend to mostly live in the truck, for the time being I have a place to keep my cars and spend some weekends with family. Once that is gone (my father is 86) I'll need a place to keep my cars and such so my general life expenses will go up, but not to the point of buying a nice house and all the costs associated with that. Maybe someday I will, but it is not a priority for me.

Anyway, my point is that for now as long as I make enough to cover all my business and OTR expenses (food, showers, truck wash and maintenance, etc., etc.) plus $700 per month I'll be fine. I expect that is a very modest goal, and also expect that I'd exceed that easily. I'll be running roughly the max amount that is legal for a solo driver, I'm not going to kill myself this time by going way over on hours.

I have A+ credit but low income. I mostly need to know how much cash I need to get started.

Maybe I'm being naive here, but really I don't see how it would be possible for me to not make enough to cover the bills, and at the beginning that's all I need to do to survive. Of course I want to make money, but since I don't own a house or anything I can survive a stretch of meager earnings at the beginning while I'm still learning the business.


So, am I crazy? I figure probably yes, but I also think this should work.

Thanks,

Ray R.

 

Just to clarify my intentions:

How much would it cost me to take a week off (so zero income) and privately drive or haul my car to an event 1,000 miles away?
vs.
How much would it cost me to give up one space on my trailer for a week and "work" my way to that event and back?

I understand your reaction to my plan, but yes of course I want to make money. What I'm trying to say is that since it is probably unrealistic to expect to be making good money for the first few months I am pretty sure I can get through that rough stretch a lot more easily than most people could. I'm used to living on the cheap and my total expenses are low. I will do my best to make as much as I can from day one, but I'm trying to be realistic.

thanks

 

I was wondering the same about insurance. Calling for insurance info and a quote was going to be my first step if I take any action.

For those talking huge start up costs, if I can get insured what is to stop me from buying a 20K well used tractor and starting to haul drop and hook loads as an owner op? I realize something on the truck is like to break before too long but doing an engine or trans rebuild would be doable when necessary if I'd found that things were working out ok for me while the truck was running. If the truck broke big time in the first month that would be really rough.. but life is about taking chances.

I also know that I can get a dually diesel pickup that is pretty decent (and will be reliable) for 20K, that and a three or four car trailer can be had for a reasonable price if you don't mind a well used one. The only thing is I don't know if today's fuel costs would make running that rig profitable at all. If I can make a little money at that, well that could be a start and from there take baby steps toward upgrading to a real parking lot. I know that guys used to run those rigs for a living but that was before the fuel prices went nuts. I'm not sure but it seems like I see fewer of them on the road than I once did.

Thanks for your time guys, it is appreciated.

Ray R.