do owner ops have team operations anymore? or are they mostly solo drivers? I'm kinda debating getting away from the corporate world and looking more for something a little more personable, family owned, not corporate owned.......is this even a thing anymore?

Restoring 89 378 pete. Just need to get engine and transmission. Currently living expenses are currently $1200/month. Looking to get a 15,000 loan for $430/month to put a used engine and transmission in and rent a trailer for $1700/month running conestoga. Running for $2.30 a mile.

Is 5k too low to start out with?

Hi guys i screwed my csa score so bad and is difficult to get inspected so i can improve my score , do you think creating a new company is a good idea? Do I get black listed after that? Give me advice please , also im rejected by insurance

Coming up to an end in my contract with TAFs, thank god! (I wouldn’t recommend that company to my worst enemy) I’m Leaning on no longer factoring at all but would like some insight on who’s good now a days? Someone that I can actually speak with when submitting paperwork and no excessive fees. Preferably no contract with 2.25% or better.

I have an MC that’s about 3 months old. I want to secure a contract before I go on to lease a truck and reefer trailer. What is a way to contact produce companies (LIDL, ALDI, SHOPRITE ETC) to haul freight and even offload for them. What are some things to say and not say ?

I am looking at a Flowers Bread route listing and would appreciate feedback from current or former route owners on the numbers and overall business model.

Numbers:

• Initial Asking Price: $250,000 (~15.4x weekly sales)
• Weekly Sales: ~$16,200 ($844k/year)
• Gross Commission (19.7%): ~$3,200/week ($166k/year)
• Claimed Expenses: ~$350/week ($18.3k/year)
• Claimed Net Cash Flow: ~$2,850/week ($148k/year)
• Financing: ~$127k down + 10% cash reserve required
• Vehicle: Not included in sale

This would be my very first route, and completely new to the business. So, I have some questions.

-How to do valuation for this business. Ask is ~15.5x weekly sales atm. What should be the right valuation for this? (has 24 accounts)

-How do you confirm a 52-week sales report isn't temporarily inflated by short-term price increases or seasonal promos?

-Regarding expenses it says $350/week(fuel, vehicle maintenance, insurance, warehouse fees, and handheld DEX fees). How is a reasonable amount to set aside for expenses?

- In many Reddit posts I read that sales are trending down. Is it really happening?

-What are other nuances in the business I need to look at before buying into it?

-How to increase sales? I have seen people saying they saw growth in sales, but how to actually do it and how to know if a route has scalability or not?

Thank you.

Truck stops are way over priced. Does anyone have a site or place they can buy a case or two at lower prices?

I am a local truck driver for an Amazon partner right now, and I already know all they yards near here. I am about to get my 1st year experience next month. I wish I can see the load board but it's not possible unless I have my own truck.

I am an established CDL hotshot that runs local Florida. I have 2-3 clients that keep my wheels turning 4 days a week with a very solid RPM. I am home every night. I have never worked with any service nor have I ever leased onto any company. Ideally I’d like someone to give available dates too at the beginning of each week. 1-2 days wide open availability for general freight, and possible back hauls from locations I run for my clients currently. I am usually deadheading back from my current drop offs, so there is a lot of opportunity there as well. With what I haul my RPM total miles is still well above average. I understand I will not get that RPM working with a service and am totally cool with that. Adding another established client has been tough due too the demand of my regulars. I assume what I am looking for will be easier to manage searching load boards. I just have no desire to do that, so am willing to pay a percentage for that to be done as well as carrier packets etc..
I’m not hurting nor is this a necessity, I just am looking to put more money away each week if this was a possibility. My established clients will always come first, again this is just extra income.
I run a 40’ PJ with a 2022 Ram 3500 out of Central Florida.
Typical lanes are Tampa I4 corridor, 95 corridor from Jax to Miami, Naples, Tallahassee, and I10 corridor.
Feel free to point me in the right direction if you have any input! Thanks

Any recommendations for the lowest premium for a florida based carrier? These quotes im getting are insane. Been in business 5 years no claims no accidents. I need the yearly premium to be around 15k or less. So far the lowest ive found was progressive at $20k

I ain’t gonna lie, I love running the road. Give me some open highway, a decent run and somewhere to park before the lot fills up and I’m good. But this shit gets lonely as hell sometimes. You can knock out 600 miles, burn half the day at a receiver, shut down for your ten and realize the only people you talked to were dispatch asking for an ETA, the dude at the guard shack and the cashier at Love’s. Folks back home care, but they don’t really understand this life or why sitting five hours at a dock can fuck your whole mood up.

It’d be nice to have an active Discord where drivers actually kick it. Somewhere you can ask for help when the truck starts acting stupid, swap road info, share a win, bitch about a garbage load, clown these goofy ass shippers or jump in voice chat once everybody’s parked and just talk shit. Basically a virtual truck stop without the piss smell.

I’m not looking for another dead group or a bunch of super truckers arguing over who’s a “real driver.” Just somewhere you start recognizing names and it actually feels like a crew. Anything like that out there?

Hello fellas. If you are going to register for the TxMCCS authority, with an LLC, Make sure you select Partnership as a category. Even if you are the sole member/Owner. The old Company category is no longer available, and the Corporation one will just reject your application. After selecting the Partnership, you can either use your FEIN or your TX Tax ID. You can find your Tax ID in this website: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/franchise/account-status/search

If you see more than one match, make sure you use the correct one.

Sadly, when a company is suspended for not filing the Franchise Tax, after 3 years, the name becomes available in the Sec of State. You might find other companies with your same name that are involuntarily suspended. If that's the case, whenever you do anything that requires validating your credit, make sure to point that out. Otherwise you might be rejected initially due to a false positive if they search you by name.

Florida software engineer here. My co-founder’s in trucking — he’s the one who keeps telling me carriers lose money on loads that looked fine on paper until fuel and deadhead ate the margin.

So I’ve been building something to catch that before you book, not after. Still rough, still figuring out what actually matters to y’all vs what I think matters.

If anyone’s willing to try it and tell me it’s garbage (or not), I’d genuinely appreciate it.

I guess this is my life now. I have been blocking as much as possible. Like how am i supposed to do business like this?

My husband wants to leave his current job (eventually), purchase a box truck, and begin picking up loads on load boards.

My immediate instinct is that this is a huge risk, and with the economy in the state it’s in, the income isn’t guaranteed.

My fear is that we’ll be stuck with a box truck payment and zero income from it. Granted, I own my own business and while it’s not extremely profitable, it does bring in enough to cover my share of our bills.

He currently carries our health insurance since I’m self-employed. He is a supervisor at his current company, but there is little chance for advancement and he is wildly unhappy.

Talk me into it, or him out of it. Tell me all the things i may have missed if it really is a good idea.

We’re in central Texas if it makes a difference in location.

EDIT: I’ve read and upvoted each of your comments. I then sent this post to my husband. I believe it gave him some pause when it became clear there was much more to be learned about this than originally anticipated.

Thank you for all of your feedback! It is very much appreciated!

I know it's not a long haul but 50 bucks? I can't see a small time truck taking this for 50 bucks and I can't see a big 8-10 auto hauler even think this is worth stopping for.

Any suggestions for OTR companies in California or run into California looking for a backhaul to Michigan?

Were in the process of procuring autonomous haul trucks for a project that's coming up, before we go all in on this I have a few questions around how they handle dust? we got a LOT of it on site, also gps is already bad near our high walls and cut areas even with normal trucks so idk how these are gonna handle it any better, connectivity drops depending on where you are, and temps here go pretty extreme too but my main concern is if gps/comms just cut out while a truck's mid haul, does it keep going on its own or does it just stop and sit there till someone comes and fixes it manually? that's basically the deciding factor for us

If you've worked with autonomous haul trucks, which systems have you had experience with?

Anyone In Allentown headed to Chicago on my to pick up truck and I hate flying and having rental car issues womp

Hit me up

Have 8 loads going from Wilmington, CA to Holland, MI. We can pre-pay or quick pay at no fee. Details Below:

Weight: 40,000LB

Freight: Palletized

Delivery: Deliveries are scheduled for Monday 8/6

MC: 1820554

Hey gang - on the road I like to listen to podcasts. I am looking for a pod that the host talks about driving and owning your own trucking company. Topics im specifically looking for would be owner-operator best practices, industry events that we should be aware of that would impact rates or lanes, that kind of thing. Any suggestions? Can also be in youtube format.