Non-CDL Straight Truck Without Sleeper

Through a friend, I got a 24ft box truck w/lift gate in excellent condition. I have gone through all the steps to get my own authority. I live near Albany, NY mid-way between NYC and Boston. It seems like all the owner/operator jobs require a sleeper. Can I do this with load boards? Did I make a big mistake? I thought, I would start out with this truck and then move up, if I was making money. I get my full authority next week and I'm not sure now, what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Eddie

You know Eddie, I'm not sure what got you interested in this type of work, but this current trend of TV reality shows (which are anything, but reality - that is the most stupid name for those shows) seem to have a bunch of people thinking that if they just get a truck they can jump in here in the real world of shipping wars and start making a fortune. I hope you can do well at this new venture, but if you would have come to us a lot sooner we could have pointed you in the right direction. Like I said, I sincerely hope you can make a go of it, but my 30 years of business background tell me you have got some serious troubles coming your way.

I recommend you sell that straight truck, attend one of many private Truck Driving Schools, or go through a Company-Sponsored Training program, and work OTR for at least a few years learning the ropes before you jump in there and start utilizing your own authority. You will have a much better chance at success if you'll follow that path, and I want you to be successful at this.

Maybe you have experience that you didn't mention, but I'm basing my comments on what you posted, and just reading between the lines, I'm thinking you may not have a clue about what you're jumping into.

You know Eddie, I'm not sure what got you interested in this type of work, but this current trend of TV reality shows (which are anything, but reality - that is the most stupid name for those shows) seem to have a bunch of people thinking that if they just get a truck they can jump in here in the real world of shipping wars and start making a fortune. I hope you can do well at this new venture, but if you would have come to us a lot sooner we could have pointed you in the right direction. Like I said, I sincerely hope you can make a go of it, but my 30 years of business background tell me you have got some serious troubles coming your way.

I recommend you sell that straight truck, attend one of many private Truck Driving Schools, or go through a Company-Sponsored Training program, and work OTR for at least a few years learning the ropes before you jump in there and start utilizing your own authority. You will have a much better chance at success if you'll follow that path, and I want you to be successful at this.

Maybe you have experience that you didn't mention, but I'm basing my comments on what you posted, and just reading between the lines, I'm thinking you may not have a clue about what you're jumping into.

Well put.

Thanks "old school" for you reply and you are right that I did not include all the information needed to give me good advice. Permit me to explain further. I am 57yrs old and have been a mechanic for 40yrs. I taught diesel engine overhaul in the Air Force and then in 1979 I taught mechanics with the Peace Corps in Central America. I am just back fours years, from living in Central America for 13yrs where I built a technical school with a library and an ambulance service. I have driven three school buses and various other large vehicles to central america during my time there. I continue to aid the people in Central America by shipping equipment destined for landfills here in the US. As you all know, we throw good stuff away everyday and you all know that we eat a lot of bananas! I put the two together and send things like hospital beds, dental equipment and school equipment to hospitals and schools using those containers that bring us our bananas. I have sent nine containers so far. The organization I work closely with, is in Delaware. They would like to give me a better price, but to do so, they need me to deliver the donations to their location in Delaware. That's one factor, I also have a used auto/truck parts associate here in Massachusetts and buyers in Central America. I ship parts through Delaware. Enter, the truck. I got a great deal on a low miles, Isuzu FTR non-cdl 24ft box truck w/lift gate. I registered and insured it to continue my work in central america. I love working, so I thought, because I live between NYC and Boston and I know my way around both cities, I could find some work to help with the cost of insurance for the truck. the authority was only $300, seemed like a good investment. My question to guys is, is there work out there of a 24ft straight truck w/lift gate that will only haul 8000lbs.? Load boards? Factoring? I'm working on a web site to promote 24/7 freight delivery, what else should I be doing? Thanks for your time and wisdom, eddieOThanks

Above and beyond finding work you should get a hold of the FMCSR book . If your truck has a DOT # it is illegal to sleep in a day cab . If your driving a commercial vehicle that does not require a cdl license and are driving outside of 150 air miles you have to maintain 8 days of Log Book for roadside inspections.

Stay out of trouble and know all the rules.

Hey Eddie, thanks for filling in the details, it gives us a whole lot more to go by. Our main purpose here is to help people understand how to get started in a trucking career. And we would usually discourage someone from owning their own truck until they had gotten a lot more exposure to the career and even then we don't see it as a very good alternative when you factor in the fact that the trucking industry has an average profit percentage of around three percent.

You are getting into this with completely different reasons than most folks would be. I commend your efforts, and understand some of the difficulties with getting goods to the South American regions. I've a friend who runs a school in Bolivia for the jungle dwelling native Indians there, and I once sent him a bronze plaque commemorating a new building they had built which had to take it's last leg of the journey on a donkey's back. Getting freight into some of those regions is archaic at best.

That Isuzu truck should be economical and dependable, which is what you will want if you are to save any money on getting things over to Delaware. I think you can make this plan work, but it will be tricky at best to try and coordinate everything so that it all works out to supplement your current efforts and make it a little more economical at getting things where you want them to be. Your best bet is to find a niche market of something that needs to be moved in the same areas that you will be moving anyway. I can't give you any advice on that, but that is where I would concentrate my efforts were I you. Unless you can find a niche market I think you will discover that other people are cutting the prices down to where it's hard for anyone to clear any money at all when delivering goods in a small truck like you will be doing.

I wouldn't worry too much about sleeping in that Isuzu, if you can find a way to make it work out and you don't mind the sacrifice, I don't think you will find too many D.O.T. officers looking around in the truck stops for people sleeping in day cabs. I see a lot of people doing that and no one bothers them that I know of. There may be a few drivers who will give you a hard time, but you seem like the kind of guy who knows what he wants in life and isn't going to let a few idiotic comments bother him too much.

Best of luck to ya Eddie, and again thanks for filling in a few gaps, it clarifies things a lot when we can actually see what it is you are trying to do.

Eddie what you are looking for is called Expedited. Smaller than truck load. Also search for "Spriter Van" loads. Those are small loads, a pallet or two that has to get some place fast and on time but does not need a class 8 truck.

Brokers and load boards will be your bread and butter. Mostly brokers though do to the limited amount of weight you can carry. Being you will be hauling someone else's freight and you would be considered a "For Hire" truck you will need to look into the regs concerning that type of trucking.