Total cost to get own authority?

There is no one answer to that question. It will depend mostly on your credit history and driving record. The cost for the actual authority is cheap, it is a $300 filing fee with the FMCSA.

Base plates are about $1,500-2,000 depending on your base state. IFTA is a few dollars for the decal, so is NY HUT and filing for NM weight distance, KYU and Oregon weight distance.

The real expense is the insurance downpayment which will be anywhere from 20% to 100% depending on your credit. Commercial insurance is pre-paid in full for the year, monthly payments are available as a service and costs extra. Insurance for a new entity is currently around $18-20,000 a year, possibly more if your credit, driving history and experience level is subpar.

Truck downpayment depends on what you buy, your credit history and work experience. Commercial lenders base the finance cost on your relevant work history and related experience as much as your personal credit score.

Don't forget revenue to pay for fuel, tolls, repairs and your salary until the money starts rolling in. Average days to pay is 45, so you will be a month and a half to two months before any money starts coming in unless you sell your soul to the devil and use factoring. Bad idea.

All that to say, you need actual cash in excess of $50,000 with the best of circumstances to start a trucking company if you want to be set up for success. It can be done for less, but it will be difficult and more likely to fail.

 

What about driving history, both with your CDL and before? This is almost as important as the credit score.

The 23k is a great start, better than most. Good job.

 

That will put your insurance at the high end of the spectrum. If you have been able to maintain steady employment as a driver then the truck loan won't be so bad, they do look at your stability. Insurance takes that into account as well but it is not as important as actual driving history. Get three years with no violations and 10 years on your DUI and you will be in much better shape.

 

The DUI will be your biggest obstacle to get insurance.
Before you spend any money on a truck or authority get an insurance quote. You may not be able to get insurance at all or it will be too expensive. I’ve heard people quoted $30,000+.
Stay clean don’t get any tickets and in 4 years you’ll be fine.
On a positive note in 4 years you’ll have almost 100k saved.
Good luck.

 

Why don't you just lease to a company.