Get a Truck. Haul a load.

We are going to look at the economics of one occupation: Long-haul truck driving.

Long-haul trucking driving has always had a cowboy image. Just you and the open road. One man against the world.

Being an independent owner / operator is still profitable. You make from $35,000 to $70,000 dollars driving depending on the type of load, how far away from home you are willing to go and how hard you want to work. Also, like any other industry, the best loads are "reserved" for "friends" in the network. You must have a CDL.

There are lots of internet load boards with postings for jobs and loads but the quality of the load and payment is unclear.

Here is the business model.

Good used trucks cost $25,000 to $40,000. You need $4,000 - $5,000 for a down payment. New trucks are $80,000 to $100,000. $2500 to $5000 for a flatbed. Less for a container frame.

So the monthly expenses are $500-$900 for truck payments. Insurance is $600. Other expenses: $300. Monthly total FIXED operating expenses: $1600. Or $1600/20 = $80 per day.

Gas is $3.00 per gallon. Six (6) miles to the gallon or $0.50 cents a mile.
Truck maintenance is at $0.10 cents per mile.

So the rig costs $80 dollars a day plus 60 cents a mile. So for a 1000 miles for 2 days it would cost. $80*2 days ($160) plus 0.60*1000 miles ($600) = $760 dollars in costs. $0.76 a mile.

Loads are $1.00 to $1.50 a mile. You profit is $1.00-0.76 = 0.24 cents a miles for a dollar a mile up to 0.74 cents when they pay $1.50 a mile. So thats $240 dollars for two days (or about $15 dollars an hour for an 8 hour day) to $740 dollars ($45 bucks an hour) for two days. The real average is somewhere in between around $20 to $25 dollars an hour. We also use an 8 hour day not a typical 10 hour day.

Evil Black Economist