low rates, No profit

[Rawze]

I think a lot of people do not know that before I owned a truck, My take-home pay in the automation world, where I was out almost 90% of the year and never saw the house (it required 100% travel) was in fact roughly $110,000 - $130,000 / year take-home. I always looked at it as .... "How much work did I do" vs. "How much by the end of the year did I make"?... ANd when looking at the overall picture, I was satisfied with what I was doing vs. what I got in return.

Fast forward that into truck ownership...

I still do that to this day. I look at the overall picture. What efforts did I put in for the year vs. What moneys that I got to keep?. ... I always looked at it this way. Still to this day, I'll take the mega-fleece deal over other options so far. I don't need to look for loads. I don't need to pay for insurances. I do not need to deal with what happens to the trailer when my truck breaks down, someone else will simply finish the load for me and I will get paid to that point. I don't have to worry about what happens when I want to come home and stay for a few weeks. I don't have most of the headaches that other truck owners have. I don't pay for things like insurance, IFTA, tolls, or much of anythign else. Total deductions from my settlement each week is a steady $130/week to pay for my qualcomm rental (although I do have the option to buy it outright if I like, I choose not to) and bobtail insurance. Trailer and cargo and all the rest is paid for by the mega-fleece. Its their trailers and cargo, not mine. Everything else, even tolls and fees, IFTA, etc. is paid for and does not come out of my pay. They just pay it. They pay for all of this stuff straight up, as part of the deal.

All in all, when I look at it, I call it "Owner-Op on Training Wheels"... And yes, I absolutely know that I could make more somewhere else. Problem is that i do not want the headaches and responsibilities that come along with it. I am always seeking to minimize any needless amounts of "Efforts" or "Headaches" on the business side of things. My situation leaves me to focus on the only 2 things that help (or can hurt) my bottom line. Those are basically fuel mileage and Maintenance. Everything else is taken care of for me and I get HUGE discounts on fuel, like $0.40c on the dollar kinds of crazy discounts, and on tires and some other things too.

- That is the level of responsibility vs pay that I choose. I am very satisfied with what we do vs. what I get in return. That ratio of effort vs keep-in-your-pocket money is still fairly decent.

Now ... Combine this with always being in high demand when we are moving, combined with not having to think about anything outside of keeping my fuel mileage up and keeping my truck running, combined with being able to take as much time off as I want to in between, no one else cares. I have never been screwed out of my pay, i have never had someone tell me they can't pay me this week, I have never seen one damn red cent that was a discrepancy by the time it all is added up. I pay for no tolls, no lumper fees, I pay for nothing and on the occasional time I do pay a toll or fee, I get reimbursed 100% for it back as long as I send in the paperwork for it. All That security and stability in itself accounts for a lot in my book. - In my eyes, all that non-headaches and still decent revenue is worth it because I do not struggle when everyone else around me is. I also do not see other people who have much higher paying loads taking home and then subsequently keeping much more than I do by the time they pay out all their insurances, IFTA, and everything else. That higher level of pay vs headaches and unpredictable income is just not worth that bit of extra in my book. I'll take the mega-fleece low-rent training wheels any day over that. That is what works best for us, but I also know very well that it is not for everyone.