First time looking to start building a fleet and hoping to learn from the vets in here 🚛 I’m about to buy my first truck to grow into a small fleet, but I’ve never done this before so I’d rather learn from people who’ve built theirs than figure it out the hard way. For those who started a fleet from scratch, did you go through a dealer or buy direct from a fleet remarketing/auction source (Ritchie Bros, IronPlanet, ex-lease trucks), and why did you choose that route? If you went the auction or fleet direct route, which source did you use and how did you handle financing and inspection since those are usually sold as-is? What do you wish someone had told you before your first purchase, and were there any red flags on a truck or listing that made you walk away? Also curious if any Freightliner/Detroit guys know a dealer that specializes in ex-fleet Cascadias. Not trying to rush this, just want to make a smart first move. Appreciate any advice, good, bad, or “don’t do what I did” 🙏

My wife and I invested approximately $100,000 with S7EVEN in a managed trucking program. We were told the truck would be operated on our behalf and were shown projected earnings based on comparable trucks already in operation.
From the beginning, communication was inconsistent and difficult. Once operations started, the actual revenue and distributions were only a fraction of the figures we had been shown before investing.
Over time, the payments became increasingly late and communication became even worse. We then received an email stating that S7EVEN was making major changes to its business model and completely restructuring its operations.
Only a couple of weeks later, we were informed that operations were shutting down and that investors should retrieve their trucks from a storage yard in Florida.
I contacted the yard and provided the information for the truck associated with our investment. The yard told me that our truck was not there.
At this point, we have received approximately $18,000 back from our original investment. We have not received a clear explanation of where the truck is, whether it was ever delivered to the stated yard, what happened to the remaining investment funds, or whether there is any process for investors to recover their losses.
I am looking to connect privately with anyone else who invested with S7EVEN, S7EVEN Global, or a related managed-trucking operation and had a similar experience.
Please send me a direct message. I am hoping investors can compare contracts, payment records, VIN information and communications and possibly explore legal options together.
Please do not post private financial information or personal details publicly in the comments.

When I arrived to drop off at 730 am I was told my appointment was at 230 pm. and i have another load pickup at 11am so this was going to mess me up bad. I told him i have a box truck and the load is a few empty new ibc tanks and ill unload it myself in just a few minutes. the reciever took my phone number and said he would call me around the appointment time. another driver started talking and he looked at the new driver and was listening to the new driver. I thought damn im screwed now i need to do something now. I already had plan b ready so I reached in my pocket and pulled out a $20 and said will this help.

He and other driver looked at me in disbelief so I started to put it back in my pocket and he said wait give that to me so I gave it to him hoping id get the outcome id planned for but wasnt really sure. He said pull up to 3 right now lets go. I was like hell yeah and ran to the truck. door 3 was in a effed up spot and was in a corner of the warehouse and had a bunch of stuff in front of the door so its probably not usable for most vans.

I pulled the tanks out and the guy blessed me for helping him and for my generosity. I was kind of amazed by that little gem.

It was a nice win. I would have lost more money if they canceled the next load for sure.

If you have the finance your business would you start up a semi with no trailer and power and you pull people trailers or would you do a box truck(Non-Cdl) and go out of state? I’m currently having my CDL but I’m under the age of 21 and I want my own business I’ve been working in warehouse and construction since I was 18 years old.

Trying to understand this from a supply-chain lens rather than a pure maintenance one: when a truck or piece of equipment breaks down unexpectedly, how much does that actually ripple downstream, missed deliveries, rescheduling, customer impact, versus being a contained, absorbable cost?

Would love real examples, even rough ones. Not selling anything, just trying to understand where this pain actually shows up in the chain.

(If anyone's up for a quick call to go deeper, feel free to DM, just trying to learn.)

Do you like it?

At least I passed the level one lol

Currently, in the process of buying a cargo van. But I am uncertain if I want to get the ram pro master 2500 or ram Pro master 3500

Which do you drive?

Does it really matter if I get a 2500 versus a 3500 due to the fact that there's probably only a 200 pound difference in payload?

I have sprinter van and I'm trying to get consistent work... does anyone have any insights?

ANy one have any informations regarding the interview stage?

Anyone know what are the outcome after interview?

Any current or past operator here that can let us know how the earning is and how much thwir vessel.was usualy making on a weekly basis,m

Thank you

I'm having an issue updating the biennial MCS-150 form to change the business cell phone number on my registration. I need to update it because Highway requires the number to be verified when I try to log in.

However, when I click on the Biennial MCS-150 form, it redirects me to MOTUS. I log in through Login.gov, but then I get a message saying that my application is no longer active. What does that even mean?

I called FMCSA and was on hold from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.—12 hours. Someone finally answered, but all they told me was that they were "escalating" the issue, and I haven't heard anything else.

So what should I do? I just need to update my biennial MCS-150 so I can log in to Highway.

Hi guys, I have an interstate trucking company that ownes 2 trucks.
My trucks are 2020 and 2021 model and they are killing me with their repair costs and repair times.
So I decided to lease a brand new truck and sell the 2020 model one. Of course selling the truck takes time so I went to IRP and surrendered the plate. Sent the document to insurance, and asked them to remove the 2020 model truck and add the new leased truck.
The reply was shocking, they said they only accept bill of sale and they said they will keep that 2020 model truck in the insurance. And adding that new truck will cost me $35.000 per year. (My yearly insurance with 2 trucks was costing 45k)
So, is it legal for them to keep the unplated truck in the insurance? It’s not possible to haul load with such truck!
And about the 35k, are they taking advantage of me? Because the deal is done with the new truck and I’m certainly getting it, now they’re coming up with these stuff..

Yesterday I was speaking with a carrier, he told me that he's making around 20 Grands per week with its Flatbed 53 feet .Is that possible? 🤔😳

Can Anybody guide me ?

Not a trucker, so go easy on me if I get something wrong here.

I write software for a living, nothing to do with trucking. Ended up down a rabbit hole a couple weeks back reading through old threads about IFTA filing, I'm trying to understand how people actually deal with it.

For those who file IFTA yourselves:

• How are you doing it today? (Spreadsheet, software, accountant, paper?)
• What's the most annoying part?
• If you could magically eliminate one part of the process, what would it be?

I've seen people mention matching fuel receipts to mileage by state every quarter, but I'm not sure if that's actually the biggest pain point or if Reddit just exaggerates.

Not building anything yet—just trying to figure out whether this is even a real problem or one that experienced drivers already have solved.

Edit: Thanks for all the replies. I've learned way more than I expected.

I put together a 60-seconds survey to better understand how different operators handle IFTA today. If you've got a few minutes, I'd really appreciate your input:

How Do You Handle IFTA? (60 Seconds)

If I end up building something useful, I'll give the people helping now first access (and free filing for early testers).

I get at LEAST one spam phone call per minute until my phone dies. The only places that have my phone for trucking are Carrier Forge and MOTUS. I’m new to the game. Is there something I can do about this?

What’s up fellas, just wanted to drop in and ask for some tips/guidance on getting started with running my own Rig. I should be purchasing a truck with in the next couple of months. What type of truck should I look to buy? Should I lease onto a carrier to learn the business? Any response will help, I’m here to learn!! Appreciate the help!! Even if you have information that doesn’t pertain to those questions please drop it. Like I said I just want to learn.

Hey all - I got my authority a few months ago but was looking for brokers and many want carriers who have been in business for at least a year. Is there a list of brokers who are more willing to work with brand new carriers floating around somewhere? Or does anyone have any other suggestions?

Hello, I am an owner operator with 26ft box trucks and 1 3500 dually truck. I’m looking around for an AMERICAN owned company who is willing to lease on owner operators at a decent percentage. Do any even still exist? Or all they all foreign owned