GAmes

Don't rush out to buy a generator. I've been doing this for nearly 4 years without one. I do have a 12 volt fan, available in truck stops and Camping World. I don't know about Horizon, but the company I lease to also pulls used trailers from auction yards to dealers. You may find a good deal on one of those. One thing you did not list was a W/D hitch for TTs........more money, but don't scrimp on it. I also carry two 2" ***** on different height ball mounts for boat trailers.

RickG

So you have no comprehensive insurance on your truck ? It wouldn't take much to put you out of business . While you are putting money away for tires and repairs you are allowing nothing towards replacing your truck . At 3,000 miles a week you expect to run it'll wear out fast .

cditrani

While I can understand the impulse to want to make a living with these trucks that we are so indefeasibly obsessed with, if it's the lifestyle you're after, become a _real_ truck driver. Make more money hauling big-truck loads while driving somebody else's truck into the ground.

R C Cola

Been with Bennett for 2 years now and almost no backhauls (2) I would do my financial planning without backhauls. Made fairly good while pulling FEMA trailers for a few months after the hurricane (translate that lots of miles). If anyone claims to average 1500 miles per delivery I would watch his lips closely to see if they are moving (indicates lying) I intend to get out of it because I am not making enough money and I do not have a truck payment to deal with, Do You ?? One tranny rebuild per/year is about the norm. $3,000

Justice

Also dont let DOT see your "sleeper" they wont be impressed. sleeper regulations are not met by the back seat area of a crew cab/quad cab. Needs to be something like 70in wide and also if Im not mistaken needs a seat belt too.
As far as makin a livin haulin campers out of Indiana, I dont know if that can be done. And like someone else said earlier dont count on backhauls. They are few and far between.
Also plan on very little work in july that is when they switch over for the new model year and shut down to retool and shut down for a week for the 4th.

GAmes

That is easy, don't log sleeper time without a DOT approved sleeper. I've been checked by DOT and got an atta-boy sticker on my windshield. He inspected lights, tires, safety equipment, all the things required by DOT. I have my backseat removed and a fabricated supended bed back there that I can store things under. The myth that you have to show motel receipts loses believability when you consider they don't qualify as sleepers either.

GAmes

I thought (heard) that Bennett has terminals all over the U.S. I'm not interested in working for a super large company, but was under the impression that the drivers were loaded approx 70% of the time. Not so?

R C Cola

Bennet is in my opinion one of the better companies. In my 2 yrs I have heard from about 3 drivers that say that they get backhauls quit a bit. The majority all agree 98% of the time, none. Before I forgot about Canada. If you run canada from Bristol and some drivers do it year round the trips going west can get close to the 2000 mark avg. with nothing coming out for backhaul. R C

RickG

Oh yeah , Bennett has terminals all over the country . Terminals are usually near a Fleetwood plant . The problem is a terminal outside Indiana might have 4 or 5 trailers a day and have 30 drivers call looking for a load . Most drivers I talked to never got a load back out of Longview , TX . When you call the standard answer is "You're 30th on the list " and you wait for a call that never comes . The people in KY , MD , and Crawfordsville , IN really do the best they can for you but have a very limited number of loads .

2500

I've got a small load (bump pull trailer) for someone that needs a load back from LA (Needles, AZ back to Tulsa, OK.)

can't pay full rate, but beats going back empty. flexible schedule.

Please PM if interested...

Patrick Campbell

The problem is at 150k miles a year, REALISTICALLY a brand new truck will last you maybe 2 years, so you will need to add a 30,000/24 months truck payment on there or????

Also need to get a firm quote on yearly mileage, not weekly or monthly during peak season.

Here is what I've got
2000 miles week overall, at 1.15 loaded mile, 1000 loaded miles

1150 gross weekly
-30 Insurance per week. I would say this is on the low end...
-333.3333333 Fuel Cost Per Week (Miles per week / MPG * Fuel per gallon)
-100 Vehicle Maint Per Week (I put 5 CPM for this example)
-833 Truck Payment (30,000 dollars / 3 years)
-100 Phone Bill I pay $100/month for my cell phone
-1 Tolls: $1 per day. Guesstimate.

-12366.66667 Yearly rev after "weekly" expenses (taxes not taken out)

If you take out the truck payment, the yearly rev goes up to 29k, but in that case I think you need to be more realistic about vehicle maintenance. 5 CPM is probably way low either way, but with a new diesel truck at least you can get away with not doing much but fluids and tires for a while.

RickG

Now Patrick you know there are additional little fees like ComData fees whenever they add money to your account or give you an advance . Then there is the staging fee some terminals charge to bring the trailer to the terminal from the plant - $25 or more . Want to go to the plant and pick it up yourself ? Fine , but you still pay the fee . There's more but I don't like to remember what a fool I was paying those things out .

GAmes

I didn't work very hard last year because I went to Okinawa, Japan to see my grandkids, only 133 days of driving. I put 61167 on the truck and towed 40395 miles. I had a couple of very heavy maintenance bills, the worst of which was an oil leak from the gear housing that required pulling the cam to repair. Of course I wrote off the PDR cam that was installed on re-assembly. I don't have a truck payment. My pay per loaded mile still came to 43.3 cents after all my fuel, maint, etc expenses. My total income was over 17,500 for the equivalent of 19 weeks of work. For someone who has no real estate to pay for I'd say that ain't bad.

RickG

Very honest and informative post . 43.3 cents per LOADED mile which is what many CDL drivers get with no operating expenses plus benefit . Deadhead probably puts you under an actual 25 cents a mile with no truck payment . Paying for a truck or putting aside money to replace your would leave little or no profit . The work is good for you if you're retired with no bills and like to travel but it's no way to make a living .

GAmes

$17,500 divided by 61167 total miles (loaded and deadhead) equals 28.6 CPM which I believe is closer to what non-owner operators get. I work as hard or as little as I want and there isn't a dispatcher urging me to over drive my hours. I agree it is a tough way to make a living if you have a mortgage and kids to feed. However, the OP doesn't have those bills and I am passing this info to her.