Question:
O.K. as ive seen by reading the forums here and other sites it is next to impossible to start in this business by owning you own truck from the getgo with little experiance because you will not be insured. I would love to buy my own truck and go right into the deap end of the pool. My question is not how expensive my insurence would be but is it possible to get insured anyway? I and my wife agree she and I would not prefer to go galivantin all over GODs green earth with a total stranger together whos first name is bubba. Next question if I get insured somehow, would I need my own trailer? If yes Van or refer till I get experiance? Yes I have driven trucks before just not the same weight class as a 18 wheeler, Yes I love driving. And my wife and I would love to travel together in our own tractor.

Answer:
Are you a company driver right now? If not don't even think about going into something you know little about. You'll crash and burn badly

Answer:
Please go into all the detail midnight all of it the good the bad and the ugly. I have to admit my experiance driving a truck came from the Army. The business side will be ran from my wife who has an advanced apprentiship in business administration.

Answer:
Found this post for ya bear which does give an insight of how an owner opps life sorta is. See if it helps http://roundtable.truck.net/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=6456013822&f=6766031032&m=5216017392&r=9566098692#9566098692 or try to do a search on "owner operators" in the owner operators forum.

Answer:
by your own admission so how do you even know if you are going to enjoy being a profession driver? It is not for everyone by a long shot. Even people who love to travel, love to drive, and think that truck driving is a career tailor made for them often end up hating it. Picking up and delivering freight is a lot different than jumpin into the family wagon and going road tripping. A LOT different.
Beyond that, and the insurance issue, you will find it next to impossible to find a carrier who will let you lease on with no experience. 1 year is the minimum I have seen (and that is rare as it is usually 2 plus years) before a carrier will hire an Owner operater.
There is so much more to the trucking industry than just hooking up to a trailer and pulling it from point A to point B and until someone has an intimate (aka first hand) knowledge of what all goes into being successful (which is becoming harder and harder every year with increases in everything except freight and labor rates) you will find at best find yourself stressed out big time, and at worst homeless and totally broke.
What you need to do is find a company to hire on with as a company OTR driver. Work as a company driver for at least two years and study everything about the trucking industry and being an O/O that you can. Track all the expenses of company truck as well as its income as if you were an O/O responsible for paying for everything.
If you have not done so yet go to Partners-in-business.com and read the info there. At this time they are currently out of stock on hard copies of the manual but the entire manual is still available online.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
_________________
"If men were angels...No government would be necessary."
51st Federalist Papers
"Nichols' Fourth Law says, "Avoid any action with an unacceptable outcome"

Answer:
well ok john guess ill resign to working for a temporary service the rest of my life not taking any chances playing it safe and or i could flip burgers for the king. NOT, John maybe i can talk my wife into letting me out on the road to work with Bubba but I doubt it. Plus we plan on paying cash for our rig and the running with a company like JB Hunt 1-2 years, if we have to to gain the experiance we need.

Answer:
Bear, you’re not taking a chance you’re taking on a business with no clue of how it works.
On the average there are approximately 26,000 new businesses a year that apply for US DOT numbers. Within 1 year most have gone south and a new group has applied for a US DOT number to replace the first group.
You say you’ve never driven a Class 8 truck but now you want to go into business not as an O/O but your own company.
As pointed out by Uturn there are very few if any carriers that will pick you up as an O/O without at least one year’s experience.
Since you’ve never driven a Class 8 truck that means you have zero experience.
There are brokers that rip off trucking companies on a daily basis. Here to day gone tomorrow. It amazing how little a $10,000 surety bond covers when a broker owes $50,000 plus.
How do you think factoring companies came about? There is such an abundance of trucking companies that can’t collect or collect late the factoring companies thrive. So you were offered $1.20 a mile to deliver from point A to B. Now take 10% off the top for the factoring company and you’re down to $1.08 cents a mile. Or even worse, the broker closes owing you $3,000 and you collect zero. But I’ll take them to court! Yeah, good luck. But they have insurance. Like I said it’s amazing how little $10,000 covers when a person owes $50,000.
Like I said, your wife will not be able to drive with you as a team and operate the business. Someone has to call clients, obtain loads, fax requested documentation, and track account receivables. You should have a method of checking credit history on each broker used to see if the broker is reputable and is a solid lead. Without doing your homework on brokers you are doomed to non-payment or at the bear minimum late payment.
I hear horror stories on a daily basis: “The broker called and offered $1.20 a mile but only paid .90 cents a mile.” IOW, I took what I could get or nothing at all. Now for this particular load you when to a factoring company and received a loan for $1.10 a mile. You now owe the factoring company .20 cents a mile out of your own pocket.
You wanted hard facts as to why this wasn’t a good idea, you got them.
Hurt feelings? Better than clearing out the savings account and being homeless.
You had better learn that as a man you have to make difficult and unpopular decisions to survive in life. If momma won’t cut the apron strings for six weeks to let you get the job you want then how’s it going to work when you’re gone all of the time?
Plus we plan on paying cash for our rig and the running with a company like JB Hunt 1-2 years, if we have to to gain the experiance we need.
JB Hunt won't take you, even as an O/O, with no experience. I'd do the research and see who if anyone hires O/O's with no experience without subjecting the O/O to a training program. Also check on the age of tractor limitations and what specs the trucking company is interested in, hate to see you have a 19,000 pound tractor and few if any choices.
By the by, what experience do you have in maintaining a tractor? Oil changes, tire changes, electrical problems, how to identify problems before you break down? Make sure the tractor's warranty is a good one and be willing to get dirty.
John Q.
Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be President, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
[This message was edited by John Q. Public on July 05, 2003 at 18:33.]
_________________
John Q.
"If men were angels...No government would be necessary."
51st Federalist Papers
"Nichols' Fourth Law says, "Avoid any action with an unacceptable outcome"

Answer:
It looks like you might have missed one other thing here. Lets assume that Bear does go whole hog (truck, trailer, own operating authority etc.) How many shippers or brokers for that matter are going to trust someone (a company) who has zero exprerience in the industry that is a one truck operation with the sole driver being an inexperienced driver. I know I wouldn't want to ship my freight with a company like that (whether I was a broker or a manufacturer.)
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
_________________
"If men were angels...No government would be necessary."
51st Federalist Papers
"Nichols' Fourth Law says, "Avoid any action with an unacceptable outcome"