Pictures of the semi I used to own

[Tobin S.]

I owned this truck and trailer from March of 1998 to June of 2000. I wish I had it back sometimes. I'm thinking about getting back into owner/operating.


In an industrial area of Seattle. My first trip to the west coast with the rig.




In a real oasis outside of Pahrump, Nevada, home of talk radio host Art Bell. As far as I could tell that was a load of bagged dirt. It had been finely ground to make it into a chemical spill absorbant...I think. I don't know how the guy managed to locate his dirt factory in an oasis.




In a deserted rest area in Wyoming. I remember taking that in April, but as you can see there was still a lot of snow hanging around. Wyoming is beautiful, desolate, harsh, and mysterious all at the same time.

[david13]

1. Ah, the good old days. But I do believe the trucking business is

extremely competitive and the profit is very slim. Tires, truck repairs and gas are all so expensive. And they don't pay much per load.
So I suspect it ain't easy.
dc

[Tobin S.]

2. You're right. It's hard to turn a profit sometimes.

The thing about owning a truck that a lot of drivers don't understand is that you have to be very careful with your money. They start getting the big checks and blowing the money on stupid stuff. They don't seem to understand that they'll have a big tax bill to worry about 4 times a year and you have to set enough back for maintenance and the unexpected. Some drivers get out there driving that big expensive rig thinking that they are making big money when they actually might be doing worse than a company driver.

You have to have a good understanding of what your costs are and how much you need to make driving your own rig truly profitable. I think it can still be done.