hey crockett
 

Yeah, I dont buy the truck driver shortage BS. Its high turn over rate for over the road drivers so they are always losing guys and hiring new.

I keep asking if there is such a big shortage then why haven't my rates gone up.

I mean the money is pretty good and all considering I dont do much other than drive down the road and get annoyed by lazy shippers and receivers, but I'd think if there was such a big shortage the load prices would keep going up but they really arent.

Where is the real money at? Leasing trucks? Owning multiple trucks and hiring drivers?

It depends how much money you want vs how much headache. I personally have no interest having a fleet of trucks or dealing with drivers. I lease my truck and pay too much for it, but with that I can walk away anytime I want for a minimal loss.

I usually make at least $2k a week in my pocket for very little risk and just providing my time/labor. If I bought a truck outright via a outside source I could probably pocket a extra $800/week but with that comes more risk/liability.

For now Im happy leasing because as example I hurt myself a few months ago and had to go home. I turned my truck in due to bad timing on payments and my down time b4 I turned the truck in, I walked away owing $1,8k. However if I was buying the truck via a loan I would of been forced to make payments the 2.5 months I was out.

So once I was ready to go back, I took a used truck this go around with a short lease. I turn this truck in mid January and will go home for the winter. Meaning for me the lease works best.

The biggest draw back, is the company I run at requires your truck to be 3 years or newer when you bring it on their fleet. This means getting the truck is expensive so a lot of income goes toward paying high lease payments..

On the flip side, I could buy a older truck outright say like a $30k truck and put it at a company that allows older trucks. At that point I could run when I wanted and just pay insurance and the random other fees these companies hit you with. Doing it this way I could pretty easily run 2 weeks a month or maybe run 4 days out 4 days home or something like that and still make good money.


For the record, this is the guy's house that owns the company I run for...

https://www.news-leader.com/story/ne...cave/97612886/


He has a few jets, a casino, a hotel and a few other things Im sure.. So running big fleets pays pretty well..He did go broke once though..LoL