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JimT

Ok, this is long because I decided to throw out some numbers for you to consider. Don't think these numbers are in any way accurate or even typical (the rate per mile is probably higher than most people see). But they can give you a starting point to think about. Fiddle around, try different numbers. When in doubt, always budget high. Don't think I'm trying to scare you. I wish someone had laid things out for me like this before I jumped in to this game. Information always helps.

Well, you sound like you want to learn how to do things right. Just don't make the mistakes that so many others make by jumping in to ownership too early. It's much different than being a company driver and it's not all fun. Not that I'm trying to dissuade you, just seen plenty of people get caught up in the desire to own their own truck before they even understand what that truly means. Also, if you have less than a year experience in this industry as a driver then you have a very limited understanding of how things really work. I would highly suggest you get some experience at 2-3 other companies. Big or small, you will start to see some of the diversity that makes up this industry. Dryvan, refer, flatbed, intermodal, heavy/specialized. These are all very different in so many ways. Even Local, Regional and OTR have very large differences and can seem like night and day compared to each other. Simply driving the truck is only a small part of the overall job.

Remember, leasing a truck in any form is a type of ownership. Companies might make it seem easy and painless or "risk free" but ownership is ownership. There is always risk. Even the most well cared for engine can have a catastrophic failure AT ANY TIME. Warranty sounds like a great solution but it doesn't always cover what you need and it rarely ever covers your loss of income.

One other thing that I found useful when I was getting in to business was this tidbit about budgeting:

A driver typically earns about 25% of the total revenue from a load. Some companies that are really well managed get that number up to about 30% and some of the mega-fleet may get that number even higher. But as an owner-operator you can expect to fall in to the 25% range. That means, roughly 25% of what the customer pays to move that load will be the driver's income. Fuel will probably run somewhere in the 25% range. Another 25% will probably come off the top as the Carrier's percentage. That leaves about 25% for ALL other expenses, including maintenance and taxes.

Now, lets think about that in cents per mile (since that's what the industry is obsessed with). Lets say you're making $.50/mi as a company driver. To achieve the same income you would need to have roughly $2/mi freight. Your carrier will get about $.50/mi right off the top. Your fuel costs would need to be less than $.50/mi (which is roughly 6mpg with fuel prices at $3/gal). Of course better fuel mileage will result in more profit, but there are many factors that result in your fuel costs, including maintenance and market prices, so you have to budget for a high cost. Ideally maintenance costs would only run you about $.15/mi but until you get a truck running perfectly you're more likely to see $.25/mi or more.

Unless you have very regular and consistent miles every week/month then many of your costs will be hard to estimate as a cost per mile. Take your truck payment for example. Either weekly or monthly payments. Lets go with the big number you mentioned, $2800 / month. That's about $700 / week. If you run 3,000 miles per week at $2/mi then, after carrier % and fuel estimate, you get $4500. Now subtract another $500 for settlement deductions (this amount will vary with each carrier) and maybe another $500 for some sort of escrow (again, this will vary, or be nonexistent). That brings you down to about $3500 / week. Fuel is handled differently depending on your carrier, but the cost doesn't change. Again, budget high at $.50/mi and you're looking at $1500 / week. Now you have about $2000 left. Subtract your truck payment of $700 / week and you're left with about $1300. Put aside $.25 / mile toward all future maintenance costs and that's another $750. Now you're down to $750 / week for your personal bills, savings and taxes. Now, let's say taxes run you about 11% of your gross income... That could end up being as much at $495 / week! Hopefully that number is higher than you end up paying, but this is just an estimated budget based on very rough numbers for income and expense. Now, imagine if your truck payment was half at only 1400/month... or maybe you're maintenance expenses were more than $750 a week... or your mileage or RPM were different.

Oh, don't forget to budget for time off. There's no such thing as PTO unless you save up in advance. Let's say you take 2 weeks vacation and an average of 10 standard holidays (that's 2 five day work weeks). Now add at least 1 work day per month for basic scheduled maintenance. That's another 12 days, we'll round that up to 15 days or 3 additional work weeks. So, you're only going to work a maximum of 45 weeks per year (assuming you don't have any unplanned downtime). Soooooo, if you manage the numbers mentioned above you will have something like this for the year:

3,000 miles per week @ $2 / mi = $6,000 / week
3,000 miles / week x 45 weeks = 135,000 mi / year
If your contract says you get about 75% of that (or less!) = $4,500 / week
Gross income is $4,500 / week x 45 weeks = $202,500 / year
Your fuel cost is $.50/mi: 3,000 mi/week x .50/mi x 45 weeks = $67,500 / year in fuel costs
Basic Lube/Oil/Filter PM (10,000 mi interval because of a 6mpg fuel) @ $400/service = about $5400 / year
Overall maintenance costs @ $.25 / mi is $33,750 / year (135,000 mi)
$33,750 - $5,400 = $28,350 in non-PM maintenance
OR
Overall maintenance costs @ $.15 / mi is $20,250 / year (135,000 mi)
Tractor Payment @ $2800 / month = $33,600 / year
Income Taxes (total) estimated @ 11% of gross revenue = $22,275

Gross income = $202,500
Settlement Deductions = - $3,000
Fuel = - $67,500
Maintenance = - $33,750
Tractor Payment = - $33,600
Taxes (Income) = - $22,275
-------------------------------------
Total Personal Income before taxes = $64,650
Total Personal Income after taxes = $42,375

Oh, did you want health insurance too? Well, THAT'S gonna change things!

That is super simplified and what I would consider as a best case scenario, based on running maximum miles at a generous rate per mile.

At the end of the day, best case, you end up with roughly the same amount of money as an experienced company driver (at least that's what local company drivers average up here in the northeast US).

Now lets look at some of the maintenance costs you might see in a given year:
Shop Labor: $100 - $150 / hour
Roadside Assistance: Time + Mileage and/or flat $150 roadside charge in addition to cost of parts and labor
Roadside flat tire repair (umount, patch, remount): around $350
Towing: this I'm not sure about typical costs, but the 1 tow I had was 3 miles, I was about 70,000lb gross and it cost me about $850
Tires @ about $500 each for good tires, maybe as low as $350 each for cheaper tires (you get what you pay for)
Various Sensors: $20-$150 each
New Windshield: $450
New Batteries: 3-4 batteries @ $250-$300 each
DPF/Aftertreatment repairs: $1,500-$15,000 (depends on how many parts get replaced before the problems magically fix themselves)

Someone chime in with other stuff, that's all I had off the top of my head.