Newbie Owner needs some questions asked.

bobbygee41 · Dec 3, 2006

Hello. My name is Bob I am 41 years old. I am looking to become and owner and Op for a truck. I have driven for FedEx CC until the owner of that truck retired. I want to run solo. I have some questions on getting a truck.

As my down payment I want to put a lean on my car. It is a 2007 and worth 24,000.00 It is clean title. I did try for a truck once before but they wanted somthing as colateral. well I have that now. OK now somthing else.

Witch is best to get? Straight Truck or a Sprinter Van?

I am looking at the following companys to run for. Witch is best for a solo?

Tri-State

Express-1

Bolt Express

Fed Ex CC

I would like some help please. Thank You!

RichM · Dec 3, 2006

Bob you kinda scare me. I am assuming your car is brand new and paid for. What you said is essentially taking out a loan based on your cars value . Then I guess this loan will be used as a down payment.So now you will have to satisfy 2 significant loans each month.

What I would recommend is to sell outright the car,then buy a beater for about 5K and use the rest as a truck down payment and have a reserve fund to help you when things go south. Try to get 1-2 payments ahead and that will help you sleep at night.

It sounds like you will be running solo. With a straight truck you will havethe HOS rules to contend with you. With a van you will not.

All of the companys you mentioned are reputable,but vans may not be getting put on at this time. Best to check and get approved by a Company before you sell the car. Good luck and keep us posted.

terryandrene · Dec 3, 2006

Once again I agree with that which Rich said. We think you should never use a depreciating asset to buy another depreciating asset if paying the note on both your car and truck is dependent on your success in driving.

If you were happy doing the solo thing in someone elses truck, we'd recommend you do the same with one of those owners advertising in the free EO classifieds. Save enoughh money for a down payment after you are sure that the company you choose is the right one for you.

Paul56 · Dec 3, 2006

>Hello. My name is Bob I am 41 years old. I am looking to
>become and owner and Op for a truck. I have driven for FedEx
>CC until the owner of that truck retired. I want to run
>solo. I have some questions on getting a truck.
>
>As my down payment I want to put a lean on my car. It is a
>2007 and worth 24,000.00 It is clean title. I did try for a
>truck once before but they wanted somthing as colateral.
>well I have that now. OK now somthing else.
>
>Witch is best to get? Straight Truck or a Sprinter Van?
>
>I am looking at the following companys to run for. Witch is
>best for a solo?
>
>Tri-State
>
>Express-1
>
>Bolt Express
>
>Fed Ex CC
>
>I would like some help please. Thank You!

I agree with selling the vehicle.

Also, ensure you have access to capital... at least $10,000. The more the better.

Crazynuff · Dec 3, 2006

Buy a truck ASAP before you get stuck with an'07 with that dreaded new emissions equipment !!

bobbygee41 · Dec 3, 2006

You must of mis-understood me... This car I have has a clean title and all paid off.... I have enough money right now to live off of so all the money the truck would make would go into an account and not move until the payments were taken out fuel insurence and all the other good stuff they need to take. I am thinking on going with a Straight truck. I see Bolt has a nice opertation going... Also found TST Expedite ever hear of them??? I have to see what happends tomorrow. I will keep it updated here.....

Crazynuff · Dec 3, 2006

You say you want to put a lien on your car . That sounds like you want to borrow money using it for collateral . It sounds that you want to do that and keep the car and you would no longer have a clear title . I agree with the advice to sell the car , buy a much cheaper car with part of the money and use the rest as a down payment . BUT , if you need to do this to get the funds for a down payment it means you are starting with little or no cash reserves for operating expenses . Any successful operator will tell you this is not a good way to start .

lanier1 · Dec 3, 2006

As a relative newcomer I don't have the years of experience some of the others have but I will tell you how it has been for me. First, as a solo you can't afford a big payment. Depending on what your other bills, house and what not, you won't earn enough as a solo to pay for a new or nearly new truck. At least I don't think you can. I see these guys running solo every now and then with a new truck and a $2000 a month payment and just don't see how they are getting it done. Second, you will need more to operate than you think. Thats a guarantee. Like the others said the more you have in reserve the better. I started on a shoestring in an older truck with a payment I thought I could afford and I am surviving and making a living. You can too.

LDB · Dec 3, 2006

This is repeating good advice already given but it's my answer so here it is. If you are truly going to do this business you are going to be gone about 25 days a month and home 5-6 days a month. You don't need a $27k paid for vehicle sitting at home depreciating. Sell that vehicle and take about $2-3k to buy something to get you around those few days you are home. Use the remainder for your truck. It makes no sense to have a $27k vehicle turn into a $14k vehicle in 3 years and you've only used it about 180 days in that time.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

Paul56 · Dec 4, 2006

>You must of mis-understood me... This car I have has a clean
>title and all paid off.... I have enough money right now to
>live off of so all the money the truck would make would go
>into an account and not move until the payments were taken
>out fuel insurence and all the other good stuff they need to
>take. I am thinking on going with a Straight truck. I see
>Bolt has a nice opertation going... Also found TST Expedite
>ever hear of them??? I have to see what happends tomorrow. I
>will keep it updated here.....

I suppose I shouldn't talk considering I have a Hummer sitting at home; however, we are home more than most.

If you partner with a company you will be gone for long periods of time and as such it makes no sense to leave your vehicle in the driveway slowly turning into a rusting hulk while you are out there busting your ##### to earn the depreciation on your rusting hulk at home.

jaminjim · Dec 4, 2006

To have a 2007 with a value of 24K you must have paid Tax, Title and plates some where around 30K. To have a 2007 it was bought in the last 4 - 6 months. How long have you been thinking about having your owne truck? The reason I ask is simple, another 6 months of driving for an owner would have gotten you a 3 year old truck paid in full. If the new car sitting at home is not needed for the wife or something, then I agree sell it and take the loss.

lanier1 · Dec 4, 2006

The reason I ask is
>simple, another 6 months of driving for an owner would have
>gotten you a 3 year old truck paid in full.

Please explain.

jaminjim · Dec 8, 2006

> The reason I ask is
>>simple, another 6 months of driving for an owner would have
>>gotten you a 3 year old truck paid in full.
>
>
>Please explain.

Simple. Take the 30k that was paid for the car. ( if you have a 2007 USED car now worth 24k you had to pay somewhere around 30k for it, unless it was a gift to you. ) Hopefully you would make 10 to 15 thousand dollars more in that six month period, put half of that towards the USED truck, buy a 35 to 45 thousand dollar truck and there you have it.

nightcreacher · Dec 10, 2006

after driving truck for several years,i decided i wanted be owner opp
i borrowed enough money on my then 1976 trans am,for a down payment on my 1st truck
it didn't take long to have both the truck and car reposessed,and at the time I was leased to a good union trucking company
what answers you have seen are very wise
I would suggest finding an owner that will put you in truck,so you can get your feet wet,then make the decission whether to become an owner opperator
by the way that was in 1980,i now have a 2000 trans am ws6,hardly driven,just quarter mile at a time

EASYTRADER · Dec 18, 2006

Bob,
Buy a hino from churney's if you keep it under 100k you won't need a downpayment you should easily be below 100k as long as you get a normal 84" or smaller sleeper.

LDB · Dec 18, 2006

I would be extremely cautious about any purchase without a minimum 20% down payment. Buying with nothing down means moving into the open space with Murphy as your northern neighbor and disaster as your southern neighbor. Let's say you find a truck that's $95k and with licensing, getting to orientation, etc. etc. you are at $100k the day you roll on your first load. A month later Murphy or disaster or both pay you a visit. You must get out of the business through no choice of your own. You put your nice used truck with only 8342 miles on it up for sale and after several/many weeks time manage to sell it for $86,432 out of which you owe the bank a $94,873 payoff. In all likelihood the numbers will be worse than that. Contrast that with the same scenario except with 20% down and a payoff of $75,812. Both are bad but how much better would it be to walk away putting $9k into your pocket vs. pulling $8k out?

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

lanier1 · Dec 18, 2006

"""Simple. Take the 30k that was paid for the car. ( if you have a 2007 USED car now worth 24k you had to pay somewhere around 30k for it, unless it was a gift to you. ) Hopefully you would make 10 to 15 thousand dollars more in that six month period, put half of that towards the USED truck, buy a 35 to 45 thousand dollar truck and there you have it. """

Ok, maybe I'm just dense but your numbers don't make sense to me. If he has a car worth $24k and saves half of $15k in 6 months, that comes to about $31,500 by my calculations, not $35 to $45k. I haven't seen many two or three year old trucks in the under $35k price range. Perhaps you mean if he had never bought the car and had the full $30k but thats a moot point and it still doesn't add up. I think you are right in the advice though and should have just used the money to buy all the truck he could for a starter truck. Thats what I did and I think I would do it the same way again.

nightcreacher · Dec 22, 2006

Leo,i agree and disagree,I dont like putting my hard earned money as down payment,so I leave it in bank for rainy day,and just work with our uncle sams money
payment will be higher,but will still equal,interest and depreciation,
and if you go down the tubes,uncle sam takes the loss

LDB · Dec 22, 2006

I guess I'm missing something. When you owe more to the bank than the truck will sell for you have to pay the difference out of your pocket. I've heard it called being upside down and negative equity. I understand having money in the bank to offset Murphy when possible. I don't see an ethical way to not pay off what you owe though. Maybe there's a legal way to not pay a legitimate debt but none ethical that I can see. The case I was illustrating was a guy going in with no down payment and then being forced out right away when the depreciation creates a big upside down situation.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.