Starting a trucking COMPANY worth it?

I'm not sure where to begin... you asked so many questions. I can tell you my experience. My husband and I have a trucking company. Is it profitable? Yes. Will it be profitable for you? Depends on the business decisions you make.
To rent or not to rent? I would never, but some do. It's a personal preference. Anybody can give you the pros and cons of it.
To lease or not to lease? Again, I wouldn't but some do and are profitable.
Bank loans or not? I don't like them. Some do. I prefer the least amount of payments. We own our trailer outright and us and the bank own the truck. We will be buying another in the near future and we will pay cash for the truck and trailer this time. That's just our preference though.
Your best bet is to head over to the Owner Operator section and start there. Do your research and you'll figure out which route suits you best.

 

You definitely need to get some years of driving underneath your belt. You need to know all aspects of the job inside and out before you can start dictating to other drivers what to do. It is a tough job and even tougher to run the business.

I am manager for my dads company and it is tough. One wrong decision means the difference between a profit and a loss.

I wish you luck. Sounds like you have the motivation just have to get the knowledge behind you to get a business going. Who knows maybe you will get into the industry and see that it isn't viable to start a business or it is. Try to find a niche to get yourself into and that will make it easier.

 

It can be a profitable biz, but you definitely need to get out there, get in the seat and learn the biz first. It will take a lot of money to start a company the right way with reserves for repairs.

Here's a thread that covers just the basic info of getting going as an O/O.

You need to be able to find loads for your trucks, have a safety program in place along with a drug and alcohol testing program in place. That's just some of the basic info. There's more to deal with if you plan on hiring drivers . . . employment taxes, Unemployment insurance, Workers Comp insurance, and other things besides that.

 

The first thing that I would suggest is that you get your education. If you want to run a business you may want to get a business degree with a concentration in either management, marketing or perhaps logistics. While you don't need a degree to run a successful business, it will offer options in case things don't work out with your trucking business. It is always good to have a backup plan. While you work on your business degree you may find a job working for a trucking company moving trucks around or perhaps working on their docks. During breaks and summers, you might be able to find something where you could drive for a few months until school starts again. No matter what you decide to do, a good education is important to insuring your success.

I have owned trucks for many years. I have owned other businesses apart from trucking. It is a competitive business and is very capital intensive. I saved my money and paid cash for my first truck and trailer. I think that is the best way to go if you have the discipline. Buying is always preferable than leasing. You don't want to start a trucking business by leasing a truck from Pensky or Ryder. The costs are much too high. There are leasing companies who will lease you a truck where you own it at the end of the lease. You are actually buying the truck, but it is set up as a lease. I am not talking about leasing from a carrier, but a legitimate leasing company. If you have a good down payment and good credit you should be able to purchase a good used truck. You can buy a good truck for less than $20,000 with the current market.

I don't work as much as I would like, but when I do work I do so at a profit. A key to making money in this business is to manage your costs or expenses. It is almost a cliché', but this is a business. The reason many fail is that the don't treat this as a business. This business has a very high failure rate. In the last few years we have had tens of thousands who have lost their equipment and gone bankrupt. Nationally, this industry has a low profit margin for the capital investment. Keeping costs low can dramatically improve your bottom line. Some get into this business and buy more truck than they can afford. A shiny new Peterbilt or Kenworth won't make you any more money than a Freightliner or International. In fact, you may make less by buying one of those more expensive trucks. Another mistake people make is over spending when they get into a truck. They buy all the chrome and lights that they can and have little to show for their efforts at the end of the month. Some will go out and buy new cars, ATV's and other toys when they see money coming in on their new venture. They then wonder why they are going broke. Cash flow doesn't necessarily translate into profitability.

You can make money with a single truck. If you want to be an owner and put drivers in your trucks or hire owner operators, you really need to drive a truck for a few years yourself so that you can learn all aspects of this business. You don't learn much about running a trucking business in a few weeks or months.

It will be difficult to make money with one truck unless you are also the driver. You should think about buying at least 2 or 3 tricls to be profitable. Odd numbers of trucks seem to make money. Even numbers don't seem to do as well. It is a peculiarity in this industry. In other words, you can make money with 1 truck that you drive. You may not make much money with 2 trucks. You should make money with 3 trucks. There are a lot of ways in which you can lose your shirt in this business. It takes determination and diligence to make it work. Any of us who have been in this business for any length of time will constantly need to make adjustments to changing marketing conditions. The last couple of years have been the most difficult that I can remember seeing during my years in this business. You need to plan for the worst that can happen. Keep your cash reserves up and it is much easier to weather the low times that will inevitably come.

First, get your education. Next, find a company job and get at least a couple of years experience under your belt. Save your money and either pay cash or at least have a good down payment and money to run on while you get started. Continue saving your money when you buy your first truck and if you decide to build your own fleet try to buy 2 more trucks as quickly as possible if you are going to come out of the truck yourself. You can continue building your fleet from there. You may or may not want to get your own authority before putting drivers in your trucks. Always have a fall back plan. Things don't always go as originally planned and we need to have contingencies when they don't.

 

Well I don't have a business degree, or even a college education, and didn't really drive much as a company driver, but my husband and I do run a very successful small trucking company. If you have the drive to do something, why not, the worst that can happen is you lose the business, but you will never know unless you try. I was just a little bit older than you when I bought my first truck, so I would never tell you you are just a kid.

You just have to be willing to work hard, and be smart about it. I started out in my early 20's as an o/o. I went and got my corporation numbers, the next day I went to the bank and opened up a business bank account with a line of credit, went and put a down payment on a brand new truck. years later when I met my husband, who also owned a truck, we merged our 2 companies together, we now have 4 trucks in all, 4 employees and gross over a million per year.

For a first truck I would recomend a good used truck, I recomend no more than 5 years old, there are some good trucks out there that are older, but you don't want to get yourself into something that is only going to cause you a lot of problems. and remember that fuel economy is key, bad fuel economy means less money for you. Whatever you do, don;t lease a truck from the company you work for.

I would start working that truck with a company for several years until you can build up some money, and get the hang of things, and learn as much as you can about the industry . The important thing is to put money away, to have a successful business you need to have money for a rainy day. Later on if things go well you can consider a second truck. When you feel more confident, consider getting you own running authority, and buying some trailers. Do some research to find out what kind of freight pays well. Go directly to the shippers and sell you services, They may say no, but you will never know unless you try,

Some people can make tons of money in trucking, others just can't seem to do it. Don't think that just because someone drives a big fancy truck that he is making money, I know many who do that are on the verge of bankruptcy.

It won't happen overnight, but it certainly isn't impossible if you are willing to put in the time and do things the right way.

 

I'd like to add my two cents worth here. I've been on this board for about 3 months now. just about as long as I have owned my trucking business. After my painting business tanked, I took all the cash I had and bought a truck and trailer. Worked on it fixing all the things I could and reading posts on this board for hours and hours. Meanwhile my son got his permit and did practice in my yard(I have a big yard). The plan was for him to get his CDL and drive the truck on a comission.
Well he failed the road test, not once but twice, all for dumb little things(forgot to turn switch on for the air brake test) So for 2 1/2 months he and another guy with a CDL split the comission(I added 5% more to it) so the truck and my son could be making some money. I do the dispatch. He now has his licence.
With that said let me say that in addition to all the driver problems, the tag fees, federal and state fees I pay over 16,000.00 a year for insurance for 1 truck because my driver has less that 2 years experience.
Now for the 3 months the truck has been on the road I've put u joints in it 3 times, been towed twice, replaced 6 tires, had all the lug nuts sheer off a set of drives, broke the input shaft on the forward rear and threw the driveshaft and have spent a total of 8 days in the shop.
I've had to factor almost all the loads to keep going.
By all rights and all the advice on here, I never should have started this business and I should have failed by now. But I am no quitter.
The truck is now making money and we are starting to see a profit
In 6 months I plan to add a 2nd truck
Can you make money in this business? yes.
Is it easy? no
Would I do it again? absolutely. I thrive on a challenge and I am determined to succede. Even though I can't spell it.

 

Determination is a big one in this biz! Well done, and glad it's starting to turn around for ya!