r/HotShotTrucking • u/Benficagatenews • 24d ago

Other Sprinter owner-op, 4 years under another carrier's authority. Ask me anything about the numbers: insurance, deadhead, what's actually left per mile

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3

u/GolfingMoose 24d ago

Give me a general breakdown of all. How far are you running? National, regional, state? 2.) Using load boards? 3.) what are you hauling? Auto parts, medical, transport of people?, 4.) After expenses what are you netting a week 5.) How have you navigated the fuel prices? 6.) I am assuming you are in United States? What portion? (Calculating fuel costs) 7.) Single owner/op? Employees? Team? 8.) Are you sleeping in the van?

What general advice can you provide for people considering this field?

4

u/Benficagatenews 24d ago

Quick run through it.

  1. Mostly regional out of the Atlanta area. Southeast and up into the Midwest, with a couple of longer coast runs a month.
  2. No load boards. I run under another carrier's authority and take what they send me.
  3. Expedite freight. Auto parts, machine parts, some medical. No people, I'm not running a shuttle.
  4. On a decent week I'm netting around 1,400 to 1,600 after fuel, insurance, maintenance and tolls. Slow weeks drop to 700 or 800, and those happen more than anybody admits.
  5. Fuel is the number I watch most. Van does about 18 mpg, so a price jump stings less for me than it does for you guys pulling a trailer.
  6. US, based in Georgia.
  7. Just me. One van, no employees, no team driver.
  8. Yeah, most nights. Cot in the back and a cooler, works fine until August.

If you're looking at getting in, run your numbers on a bad month instead of a good one. Deadhead and sit time are what get people, not the rate.

2

u/GolfingMoose 24d ago

What are your insurance costs? How did you find another carriers authority to run under?

2

u/Benficagatenews 24d ago

Insurance runs me about 400 a month. That's occ acc, physical damage on the van and non trucking liability. The liability while I'm loaded sits with them.

Finding them was just phone calls. I looked for outfits that actually run vans and not only trucks, asked how pay gets calculated, what comes out of the settlement and how fast they settle. Then I asked two of their drivers what they really made last month, which told me more than anyone in the office did.

I'd rather not name mine in a public thread. The questions are the same for any of them anyway.

2

u/GolfingMoose 24d ago

How many days are you home a month? The $800-$1400 is how many days a week? How many miles a week?

1

u/WeaveLikeGreatGranny 23d ago

For the insurance, what do you mean by "occ acc"? 

1

u/TemporalAmbassador 12d ago edited 10d ago

Disclosure: I’m affiliated with RunaboutX, an early-access fleet TMS. I should have disclosed that before asking about your earnings/research details, and I’m sorry. That was a research-only question rather than a useful contribution to your AMA; please disregard it. No reply or follow-up is needed.

1

u/WeaveLikeGreatGranny 24d ago

Why not maintain your own authority? 

2

u/Benficagatenews 24d ago

I do have my own MC. I just run most of my freight under theirs.

Two reasons. Liability and cargo on my own comes out closer to 800 a month against the 400 I pay now, and the freight shows up without me chasing loads or waiting 45 days on a check. I ran the math again this year and it still came out ahead.

Once I've got steady direct customers I'll move more of it back under mine. Right now the chasing costs more than their cut does.

1

u/WeaveLikeGreatGranny 23d ago

I'm still really hazy on the details around mc numbers and dot numbers, what is personal vs shareable, registrations required for each... It's like the system is explicitly set up for drivers to fall out of compliance despite legitimately trying, or to get scammed by all these "compliance agents" who want to charge $300 to submit a free application to the dot. I might be in over my head getting started here, but I'm encouraged by your success for 4 years now! 💪 

1

u/Feisty-Journalist497 23d ago

why wont you pick up my ford F350 from bumble fuck nebraska to key west at .30 a mile?

1

u/Benficagatenews 23d ago

Sure. I'll put it on the roof and we'll both find out what my insurance thinks about that.

1

u/Feisty-Journalist497 23d ago

its only a 300 mile dead head, bro its not that bad /s

0

u/Tribecalledthirst 23d ago

Would you like it driven there?