Who Is Wrong? | Hotshot Trucking | DD214 Response
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- Опубліковано 25 гру 2024
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Never losses, only lessons. My biggest weakness is my inability to take risk. I wish I could have the balls to just go out and do it like you. I have slot of respect for ya in numerous ways TP
Well said.
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To be completely fair, you had an answer for each of his criticisms. And if they were all correct, you’d still be up and running but the proof is in the pudding. Anyway I really hope you get your CDL, get back to grass roots and stay out here. You’re a great guy and I hope you don’t get discouraged. If you enjoy doing it, keep it simple and come back out to play!!
You can do everything right. Businesses still fail. If you could get a investor @$500k you might have been able to self insure. If Biden was not screwing up America…
After I started seeing videos by other UA-camr's talking about you shutting down, I was like really guys! You can't come up with some original content by yourself? So no, I don't watch them. Alex, you are a bright young man and have your whole life in front of you. With your ambition, smarts and personality I believe you will find that niche that makes you a very successful man and I for one look forward to seeing it happen!
To be fair. Alex is one of the BIGGEST UA-cam presences that THOUSANDS of people utilized to start their own companies. So when he goes out of business you NEED to analyze it. Theyre not badmouthing him. Theyre analyzing why the biggest influencer in hotshot went out of business.
I agree I did not watch any of them as well and un-subscribed to everyone that had to have their input towards Alex. Man it’s sucks I had the same problem with Progressive and it broke me. Keep your head up man.
@@1nicesonoma934 that's a HORRIBLE mentality. You should be analyzing EVERY one of them!! One of the biggest growers and UA-cam WENT OUT OF BUSINESS and your answer is to bury your head in the sand and not analyze why it happened? That's not being a good business owner. And I like Alex in person, I'm still gonna analyze it.
@@roadtriptinytrucker7829 I think you have it all wrong. I will clarify to you that all these other people used Alex video to just get hits for their own. There’s no reason other to get hits to go one UA-cam and talk about Alex and him going out of business. I have failed before and will fail again at some point but to make a vid on someone’s miss Fortune in my eyes is not cool. I have been in that boat for insurance I got hit with a 10k bill that had to be paid one week before Christmas and it sucked and I truly fill his pain progressive in my eyes are crooks they know that a guy just starting out needs insurance and they know not many people will cover and they take advantage of it. I have been down the rd.
@@roadtriptinytrucker7829 also fyi I don’t watch UA-cam to analyze anyone and how they run their business I watch for enjoyment.
I been in the transportation business for a while . Overall you did what most people can’t . I just think you lacked the sales side which reflects on your rates . I feel as if you would get 2 years of transportation sales , you would be great. You did amazing and will be successful on your next endeavor. You also have thicker skin than me, people are just cruel to you.
It might be cruelty but I think it’s actually jealousy. Jealous of Alex’s ambition and success in a short period of time.
I drive a semi and I see hot shot after hot shot with the hood up on the side of the Interstate and with loads that are too heavy for a pick up truck. Fuel, Insurance, parts are not available or too expensive, DOT stopping them, I don't know how they keep going. I respect their determination and ways to earn a living.
You just learned a huge wealth of information by having the guts to take the risk and build your own business! Any successful person has learned the most from their failures. Move onto your next venture with all the knowledge you have gained from this one. Have had my business for 31 years and still learning every day. Best wishes for your next one.
You are a smart guy. Just keep going. Businesses fail all the time. The point is to fix the failures and try again. Whether it be trucking or something different.
You'll be fine Alex! Someday you'll look back on this and be appreciative of the hard lesson learned and thankful this happened at 29. Keep going, and keep us fans in the loop with your next venture.
Hey Alex. You are spot on with the truck rental. Very hard to put it into positive numbers on this sometimes, breakdown and stop for a week vs breakdown and keep going with a new truck. Also I would always buy the best equipment, you usually do not have to replace them and again more running time equals more revenue. Just remember we learn more through our failures then we ever will through our successes. I don’t think you failed at all, you were very successful, just another lesson. Keep it going.
Shout out to you for responding to these random people's criticism of your career.
You're a good person and I hope that you keep trucking 💯
Trucking is always up and down you are doing great, i lost every thing in '08 when the fuel went to $5 a gallon i think you did awesome and looks like you hade fun hold your head hi and "F" the critic's
Alex, your on such a high level brother, you stan alone. Thank you for sharing, I'm constantly learning from your channel!!!!
Do it all again, now you know where you went wrong you learned a lesson so your next run should be that much more flawless. Most people in life will never go after what they want In life and have the opportunity to fail so I salute you!
Fishing The Carolinas, alex got done in by high insurance rates. how can he change that?
You are correct about Apple. You did extremely well. You could have fine tuned things as you mentioned but ultimately the insurance situation became a burden. Yes stores have loss leaders to get folks in the store such as cheap milk,or chicken. The idea is that traffic will create sales and it does. You did great and have amazing opportunities ahead of you. I’m impressed.
Someone said these guys were making content from your video to draw viewers. I agreed!
Good to see you upload videos , I know that you will go on to great things. keep push forward. Adapt and over come.
Who cares if ur wrong or right learn from ur mistakes and move forward try again fail again than try again
Alex,,, keep doing you.. remember the rear view mirror is small and the windshield is huge. I’m 51 and been watching your videos for a year. Keeps me motivated.. Ty and good luck
@MESSAGE ME ON TELEGRAM TOW PIGLET Alex I don’t know all this digital stuff!! Lol
Hi and thank you for your honesty and what you have done for the Hotshot community. This question comes from a position of wanting to learn: Why did your rates almost double? Would you mind sharing what events took place for an insurance company to double its rates?
Alex, I loved your channel and enjoyed watching everything you did. Don’t let this experience set you back, just learn from it. I retired from being an O-O for 44 years.
We retired in 2020 due to health issues. At retirement my wife and I had a net worth of nearly 3 million dollars, yes you read that correct. One truck, team drive with my wife for 36 years. Never had any kids. We had a great life together and lots of great experiences. Trucking also gave us the time ( and money) to do a lot of things. We invested well, lived below our means, but did what we wanted to do. Unfortunately the pathway that I was able to take is NO LONGER THERE. I could write a book about what I did, but I would not be relevant in today’s environment. I will tell you some of the things that are. There never was and never will be any money in moving 44,000 lbs of Skippy from the plant to a warehouse. ( but I did have to add this to that freight) unless someone is paying you to expedite it. An old truck does not nickel and dime you to death, THEY DOLLAR you to death. After our first used truck I bought new trucks and traded up every few years. That worked until our 2008 KW. That NEW truck nearly bankrupted us ( and would have most people) so I had to add after that truck, a NEW truck with all the emissions CAN bankrupt you, IN A HEARTBEAT. And the last and most important one ( IMHO) is your TIME is the most important thing that you have to manage. YOUR time is the most valuable asset, period. Wishing you well.
The first mistake a lot of truckers made is having kids that they cant afford, that will just slow you down, poor people are always making that mistake.
I think the definition of “truck” is misused. A pickup versus a semi are very different worlds. Running multiple pickups vs semis would yield different gross revenue performance since you can upsize on your trailers plus do power-unit. My critique, an over reliance on pickups to carry the business.
2:59 completely true. It is impossible to calculate the amount of revenue lost due to truck breakdowns. Possible solution without renting? Maybe have at least two used trucks ready to work in case 1 breaks down? Now more insurance, even more maintenance, lol. Enterprise is a fine solution if you can work nonstop.
The bottom line is what is important in any company. If you are making a million dollars and spending a million dollars, the only thing you are doing is breaking even, which doesnt help your company expand a bit. If you are making a million dollars, and spending a million and a half, you are losing money and wont be around long unless you have the money to lose? If you increase your income from 1 million to 2 million, and also increase your spending comparably, you are still just breaking even, and still doing your business no good at all so the bottom line is definitely more important. Ive already given my opinion on leasing so I wont keep rubbing it in to you. What you have to understand is just one of your drivers could wipe out an insurance company the way settlements are doled out anymore. That being said, they are not going to take that lightly when they look at your company to insure you. The more risk they take, the more its going to cost you for insurance. If you have no assets in your company, then obviously they will have to take the brunt of the settlement if there is one so if they assign a high risk factor to you, it will be reflected in the premium. Thats why they are called Risk Management Companies. Thats how its always been in trucking.
When the equipment is operating across 30 states or more, & the truck maintenance is covered under a lease agreement, it makes little sense for a full time mechanic in only dealing w/ trailers, again the mechanic salary must be reasonable for the tasks assigned. There is a difference between a staging area & a new shop w/ a big mortgage + significant property taxes, upkeep. My opinion: Alex worked his a$$ off but may not have been ultra careful w/ $ outlays/expenditures $.
Life is a gamble, same with business, sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. Life is a lesson and we all have challenges, there will always be what ifs, don't let that get to you, your a good man and will be succeed!
Now if this isn't a perfect example of equality of opportunity VS equality of outcome I don't know what is.
Booyah, Alex you have done well. Keep your dreams and DOT and MC alive. Hit it again after this foolish economy finishes crapping out. 👊😁👍🇺🇲
Hi Alex, I've listened to most of the you tubers "Towpiglet shut-down" yada, yada. I've just one question, why did you not just tweek your model a little & take 2 or 3 percentage less of gross & charged the drivers ( leese- ons) a weekly premium for insurance to cover the drastic increase ? They may have be up for that to keep you & them rolling. Just a thought I was qurious about. Ric / Marshall Trucking
Iirc didn’t he need a lump sum payment @3x what he budgeted for? Buying trucks is $$$. But you should save money doing it. I understand steady costs.
I did wonder about buying land, designing shop. In MN I see dozens of places you could buy cheaper with decent shop. But maybe to different?
I bought a dodge 3500 and a trailer about 2 years ago when he was doing good than I decided to sell it and buy a semi and im more than happy for making that decision
Leasing the equipment was a great business plan, as you said fixed cost and forecasting
My own experience in running used equipment is that it's very expensive. I spend a lot of time in the shop. The other issue is obtaining parts. The things I break seem like odd items. They sometimes take weeks to get replaced. Shop repaur people are getting harder to find also. Even if you have a good shop the shop is always short handed and taking a week or 10 days to get things done. Of course there are plenty of videos of new truck owners that are out of service after only 30,000 miles because of bad transmissions (Ford) , electrical (RAM) or emissions (GM).
Alex get back to doing what you love.
Newer trucks are less fuel efficient....ive owned all years dodge diesels....most got 19 ish mph....then the egr...dpf came in...trucks went to 14 mpg....10 to 11 towing
Nice to see some more videos again ! I wish you good luck for the future 💪🏻🤞🏻
Hilarious how people have to use your name to get views to try and break down your business. No such thing as bad press bro.
I actually went from semi to hotshot, wouldn’t have done it without you….and fuel costs 😂 but man I hate to see it shutting down I’m sure was your best option but feel free to reach out hopefully I could help with alternatives. Not insurance obviously but get a few hands in some cookie jars, or whatever the sayings is. Love the channel man
In any business you want to make the most est for the lease est.you set a price per mile and stick to it,if you don't get the price you park it till you do, which can't happen when you lease.you end up taking any revenue to create negative cash flow to pay your inflated expenses in essence working for progressive insurance and Enterprise rental which in turn brings down the whole industry when you're accepting substandard freights. Percentage of net return on gross revenue is the important number.
I'm a very humble person and I learn from you a lot thank you.
Your a smart brilliant guy, start over, do it again. You'll do fine, so many people learned so much information from you, great Chanel, I wish u the best Witt UA-cam and your next business.. keep goin string tp
I agree a lot with you! Weve had repair after repair after repair with our truck... over $35k in repairs over the last 2 years. Much rather have a lease at this point! With freight low and fuel so high idk how wed turn our business around.
I work in construction and still like watching your videos. 👍🏻
Concerning your equipment. Most large fleet owners have figured out the most profitable course is to purchase a truck run it for half it's life then sale it . You get the best out of the truck and then recoupe half your cost. Most don't consider the real cost in owning a high mileage truck. The cost of fixing is only half. The loss of revenue is normally more important. No use reinventing the wheel. Large fleet owners have whole teams the eat and sleep this .
I'd love to hear more about your experience on the insurance side. I've been in the trucking insurance industry for about 5 years now and really try to do my best to learn everything I can from the perspective of owners like yourself so I can better assist clients. Would you be willing to talk some time?
Alex, the only failure is not trying, you went from one truck your own to a fleet and nearly had it in the bag, I know you will get off the ground and dust yourself off and get back on the saddle and move forward, I hope to see more of Tow Piglet
DD 14 is operating one truck, and is running it like a hobby, because he’s probably retired, you on the other hand was operating 16 trucks, and you didn’t wait until you were tapped out, you got out before you went broke. Alex your a hard worker, you’ll do great at whatever it is you do, the key is hard work
Alex, you were put out of business by insurance; you're not the first nor will you be the last. Trucking insurance totally sucks!
The volume (Sound) of the video is low
Can you fix the sound for future videos thanks. wish you the best👍
That's really messed up when you trust someone to give you advice and they turn around and stab you in the back online!
Biggest lesson missed in your plan, as I see it, : Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves. I totally agree on new equipment over running your trucks to death. Where I don't agree is you leasing all these enterprise trucks and buying trailers. If a driver wants to sign on it's up to him to get a truck and trailer. If he can't manage that he's not worth the risk to sign on. All the jetting across the country to pick up trucks and or trailers shouldn't be part of the job. There's many ways you could have cut expenses. That's why you watch net profit and adjust gross to make it work. If a load isn't profitable don't accept it.
I find it interesting that you never brought up overhead. You did speak about your spending habits and from my understanding the thing that toke you out of business was the insurances. so you say that having the whole leased trucks was what makes sense for your business made sense which in a lot of way sure It made you drivers happy and what not and all these nice benefits but at a higher cost instead of owning your trucks and say having a part time mechenic which in the long term would of cut your over head by a ton also would most likely reduce you insurance cost as well because your truck wouldn't have been brand spanking new all the time. I would say if I was one of your drivers sure it was nice to always drive a new truck but now I don't have a job I would rather drive something that well taken care of not having to switch out of a truck after every 60k miles which does turn into a pain and I would still be running. addressing your customer they don't really care what you driving as long as it gets their product from point A to B if appearance was a big fact lets be honest then a lot of companies would go out of business will all these driver that show up to shippers with flip-flops and raggedy cloths just saying. The property might of been to soon but at the rate you were growing was most likely in need maybe a smaller one would of done a better job but idk the whole deal all and all you were doing great if you would of just reduced your over headed maximized you profits and managed your money you could of stomached the insurance cost. I def think the root of your choices lied on the route you went with your equipment in the end that Is what brought you down.
All the best in what ever you do next.
What would happen if you kept tp small and started a second trucking company so you could technically be small?
Alex, nobody can criticize you. You been from "A to Z", and did it on your own. We called taht self made.
If I was operation manager in any sector, I would hire you in a heartbeat. I learned so much watching your in your success and failures.
@04:25
🤟
I said it before and I will say it again, going into business is about failing and learning from those mistakes. Those that can persevere are the one's that succeed. Many successful business owners fail more then once....
QUIT TAKING CHEAP LOADS YALL . The brokers are playing you guys .
I totally respect your accomplishments and energy you put into your business. Any chance I can pay you for a consultation or anything like that? I still want to get into non cdl hotshot!
Alex,
What you are doing right is :
You are always and have always looked to find better ways to meet your challenges and learn from what didn't work. You never quit, you never complain, if you do complain it's more on this didn't work and this did and Had I did it this way 1st then a better result would had happened. It's really not a complain.
What many love about you is; you are not afraid of the what it's and possible failure. You always keep things onnthe learning curve aspects.
With this all said,
You are in college. People pay Big Money to attend school for a piece of paper that said, "Yep You Showed Up". We Alex, you have shown up in many ways. You have a degree and skill. Shit, Many skills that have come with you ventures. You have traveled to more places then the "Over Paid Piece of Paper" person. Will ever see and or do. I know you have had more Fun along the way trying cultivate your dreams where many people just wish about their dreams. You are 100% all in and that is "Sexy". People doing what they say and being all in is sexy. (No, I'm not asking you out onna date. Lol)
Anyways, Keep working at it. I have no doubt that you will hit whatever level of success that you want in life. The last I checked, the most successful thing you have been blessed with is your beautiful wife and kids. You have always provided for then and they have always had a meal even if that meant maybe you eat less. That is being a husband and fighting for your families future. These steps, are all part of The American Dream and You Sir are showing the masses how this works.
Work! Is how it all starts but a Dream and your family drives us to Do Great Things.
God Bless You Alex and of course your family too.
You Got This!
Paul Crews
West Sacramento, California
I actually think that DD214 and TP both make valid points. IMO - The biggest single reason that hotshot is so challenging now is the supply vs. demand aspect. There are too many non-CDL drivers as compared to the non-CDL loads that are available. Because It is now much more expensive and time consuming to get your CDL , I think we will continue to see an imbalance between non-CDL and load availability for another year or so. This will drive down the income for the HotShotter as the costs keep going up. (very difficult to succeed in this situation) It doesn't matter how smart or hard working you are, if you find yourself on the wrong side of supply vs.demand for an extended period of time you will generally lose.
On the insurance, I was wondering: Did you purchase your insurance through an agent, or did you go to the carrier directly? My understanding is that it is much less expensice (usually) to use an agent. Also, were you making monthly payments or could you pay less with an annual payment? Thank you for your candor and self-reflection. It is such a selfless act that is helping all of us learn.
The older generation is quick to put down and point out the mistakes of others. I’ve always been open to opinions from the older generation, but it always ends the same. They either gate-keep or just repeat the mistakes one has made but provide no solutions or suggestions on how it could’ve been avoided. There’s plenty of money to be made in different ways but they always act as if they help someone out they’ll be in trouble. I’ve been in business for 5-6 years now and I think there’s always factors that you can’t control that can affect your business. If Alex was successful they way he was doing things I’d bet no one would say a word. Lesson learned, dust yourself off and continue with your next goal. I don’t even hot-shot but I founds TP’s videos and I enjoyed how he was so transparent about his business to help others, unlike many other older folks. Anything that I could apply to my business form Alex’s videos I would apply. Even now when he’s down he’s trying to teach others on what to do to avoid this out come instead of like these older folks just criticizing.
Hey Alex sorry I’m late to the game on this comment. I hope this helps. I’m 44, and I’ve been self employed both solo and with partner(s). What I can’t overstate is this:
Live Below Your Means.
Use real expense numbers from last year, especially including those surprise things you couldn’t have planned for last year. Subtract those from your gross total $$ and that’s your Means. Living below that means controlling yourself for the benefit of your business. (I hate the term discipline like I hate the term budget)
This is ten times more important than writing processes. Perfecting internal processes while the business owner spends like it’s 1999 will still fall.
Every time. Young people don’t get told this anymore, and the truth is that self-employment and starting a business are actually nothing like a rap video. That’s boring as heck, and disappointing to many. I finally watched some of your old videos and I’m pretty sure I understand. Our family didn’t have much $ growing up, so I had what many kids in that situation had/have which is:
Pent Up Demand. Here’s my embarrassing failure: When I was 21 years old, I got a $50,000 check from an insurance company from an accident settlement. I was rich. I remember telling people “that I didn’t really need to work”. 😳😬. It took 10 months to spend it all. It was fun, but I was dumb. 15 years later when I started a construction framing company with two partners, I realize that they had no idea the difference between gross and net, and they always love to talk about the biggest dollar amount number because it feels good and powerful. It’s only a matter of time until plunging themselves, or the business in debt, which does not allow for a market adjustment, and sadly your team become the ones who don’t get paid eventually “I can’t pay you until I get paid on that”. Pay your own team and drivers first, business next, your self last if you want to keep anyone longer than the first time. We would meet people who said that they sold the company that was worth $4 million, and being wiser now in my middle age I would wonder to myself, so how come you’re not a millionaire then?
Gross versus net. Telling the whole world and esp yourself that you have that kind of $$$$$$$ is a dangerous lie in business and in life. It makes anyone feel entitled as I hope you know.
A suggestion in case your cups not already full my friend? If you spend $1 million to earn $1 million, you made zero dollars. In the real world where real math rules as you already know. Tell yourself the net, dollar amount number and others as well. I can’t tell you how to make UA-cam videos, you could probably explain to me way better that part of this. I really hope the best for you TP I really wish you real success, otherwise sadly this is bound to repeat itself. Take care.
Man.... my respect your business mentality to have business is not easy is a headache but you push it to the limits. as bussines owner I call it DO...Or DIE..... and you did it now you close a chapter on your life and you learn from and it is time to open a new chapter my friend.... don't look back keep walking forward....
Trucking is very difficult at this time. Fuel cost and dealing with brokers is the two biggest problems in trucking. Paying for a truck and high fuel cost are not do able. If fuel costs remain high many owner operators will definitely fail especially if they are making payments on equipment.
Hey Alex, what proportion of your revenue was sourced from the spot market? I feel that this was a big risk that might have been addressed by pulling in more direct customers, perhaps. That might have insulated you from some of the swings in rates and perhaps tied some of your fleet to a set of stable lanes. It wouldn't help with the insurance thing tho'.
You should open a chain of truck stops. Have good food, a gym and wash the pee away daily. I would stop everytime. Or just open up parking places for us with good lighting,
As a small business owner (not trucking related) that has been in business since 2001. I see most business owners don't know when to call it quits. I see a lot of owners just keep on plugging away when they should of closed the business long ago. I am assuming Alex will get capital from selling the equipment he has. This capital will be used to start his next venture. With the state of the economy, price of fuel, and the rate of inflation. I would think that hotshoting will almost be a thing of past. This also goes for owner operators in the trucking business. Things are going to get a lot worse before they start getting better.
It’s ok Alex. Alotta people fail. You’ll be Al right
Hey bro in my opinion we all make mistakes. As I said mistakes and not fail. Bro it's all about learning experiences. I mean damn how many of us is are out here that are really taking a gamble on ourselves. My point.... N think of it like this how many people do you know that go through life that work for someone else n say damn I wish I would have did this or that 4 myself. Bro do what works 4 u!!!!! As u said ur always willing 2 learn n thts the unique thing about good people. Bro keep doing u n keep trucking. MINOR SETBACK.....
All sounds good in theory, but whoever remains standing in business is what matters. Growing too big too soon is no. 1 cause of small businesses failing.
Brian is a wise man, and he’s still in business
I see, the problem is with accidents and operating trucks - fuel, maintenance, insurance. Can you try to use an electric vehicle instead.
Yes but electric for the near future can only be for short load runs
Love both of your content.
You were doing well, ran into headwinds and shut down. But you learned from the experience. To your point, Apple almost went tits up multiple times. You'll apply your learning to your next venture. Good luck!
What was your overhead ratio? It shouldn't be over 35%.
This downdraft is not over yet. I think you were prudent shutting down now. When this bottoms out, you know how to start back up, if you want to. I find it hard to understand how you knowing what the trucking industry is about you wasting your time in it. But you do you.
Best wishes on your endeavors and will be keeping up with you and your new efforts.
Dd214 talking about not having reserves but we have to remember Fred Smith that founded Fed Ex walked into a casino and gamled the companies last $5000 on black jack to try and win enough to pay the companies weekly fuel bill. AND WON. The trucking cookie crumbles at random. You can try your best and still get sqashed, or gamble your last 5k and become a trucking powerhouse. Who knows.
Alex, where can I go to learn dispatch?
I made a couple videos about it but really it’s just practice
Alex you should of focused on local loads with semi trucks there is a lot of money iv been doing local DFW area for about 6 years and seems like it gets better every year I have 4 trucks and dispatch 3 others and we make good money here local most of my guys average gross $5,000-$6000 and fuel consumption very low only about $750-$1,200 insurance $54,000 a year for 4 trucks, I also have an RGN and move excavators sometimes make $8,000-$10,000 a week local on the RGN. If you ever want to look into going local but I see you have other goals just throwing it out there
Alex, please go do 1 month booking and finance course, life will get much simpler then! Your turnover being high does not matter if it eats into your profits. It’s very basic, if you kept it just you driving a hotshot or semi, you would making money! You grew too fast and your overheads too high! Leasing with enterprise should be you last resort, you should have borrowed money from the bank, better interest rates.
Have you thought about starting up your business again in a different state where they have cheaper insurance?
With years of experience, l think the number 1 reason of your shutting down was because leasing a truck , renting a truck it is not sustainable for small fleet , that is over $1k overspend a week, for what you pay every 1 months on a lease , l can install a new engine and transmission every 3 months on a owned truck
Alex I think you should have got into semi trucks. I offered to help you with some costumers.
To give you a head start in the reefer game.
@MESSAGE ME ON TELEGRAM TOW PIGLET great what does that mean.
So how much did they raise your insurance ?
Why did you never get your cdl. Literally could have expanded your market. You could have run your truck light but at actual gvwr when needed not under 26k
Hey man good video would love the opportunity to have you on my podcast to talk trucking
He did have a point about your revenue goals. You kept mentioning how you wanted to reach 1 million. As if that would guarantee you success.
As for owning vs leasing, did you ever calculate how much leasing would have cost for the duration of you owning your ram? And compare that to you owning it? Also, you say you still pay the lease if you break down, but on the flip side, if you own the truck, and take time off, you don't have as big of expense as compared to leasing.
We charge and save as much as we can! On every single job! Its basic math.
Alex. Bottom line. You made the right decision. Knowing when to stop is always the smart way to go when you’re running a business. As a trucker we were on the bottom of the totem pole. Above us and between us and the Shippers were the Brokers, Insurance, government and the companies heavily profiting from us selling fuel. We were under the thumbs of Those 4 conglomerates. Whether they were individually to blame for their practices or they blamed it on each other, it didn’t matter whatever they did trickled down to the truckers and truck companies. And all of it was fueled by greed. If there was something that I learned about business is that if you do not have a greedy bone in your body your not going to be as successful. I have more accounts of my experience with Progressive and other insurance brokers and the FMCSA role in all that. I’d be interested in talking to you privately if you want. Not sure how to private message you though.
I think you could do well just having a company with lease drivers. were you could find loads and advise newer hotshot operator's. or you deal with brokers and dispatch drivers and charge drivers a percent. Now i have a van and work for one company and thy pay me 60%plus fuel surcharge. we deliver truck parts from dealerships. with this company i average about $0.70 per mile and my average expense on the van is approximately $0.22 . with the government mileage deduction I am almost tax free. might be something to consider.
Using Apple is a stupid example for that guy to use, those big companies only have reserves because they go public (ie stock market). Going public gives you an advantage to borrow money from share holders but it’s also a way you can be bought out of your own company. It’s not for everyone. For him to say that at his age shows me he himself can learn a lot.
the gross and profit margin aren't simple. Maybe a simple idea but there is lots to do to adjust those numbers.
An example. Currently have a run grossing 7500 for 4 days. But taking a load foe a week only grossing 4k for 4 days. Why. Because that 4k run will only cost me 100 gallons of fuel verus the other run that takes me 300 gallons. 4k run is no mountains so better mpg and less wear. All increasing my profit margin. Running select lanes for better fuel cost and mpg and less Maint cost is all a days work planning for higher profit margins.
Also I remember times you where down a truck because enterprise had no trucks available.
Alex dont listen to him, he wishes he could have a business grossing that much. He just wanted views and retention to make his You Tube money. Sad. I am a financial analyst and totally agree leasing new trucks is spot on for dependability and a tool to keep the revenue going- very important. And getting torsion axles was smart for dependibilty, along with the better tires. Hotshot is hard on equipment, you know that first hand. And if your insurance remained the same, you would still be in business. Funny he never mentioned that important factor. Do not give up, find another way to get back in. You have alot of valuable hard earned experience that others dont have. Good luck. Look forward to more good videos!
Curious why you didn't have a line of credit you could have pulled from to pay that insurance premium.
In my world, I sometimes take cheap jobs to keep equipment and labor moving. Sometimes downsizing makes more sense than operating at a loss with no plan for changes.
I did
@@TowPiglet gotcha. Just thinking out loud. I am sorry for your business closing but it's just a page turn in the game of life, all is good.
The problem was always ever hotshot trucking. Half the weight half the rate btw
Why did you choose this guy to respond to?
when young, might as well get CDL. going to be more difficult to maintain CDL when older since have possible health issues
You can't right off 300k in millage plus you have to pay miles to enterprise. You failed. ""It's not for everyone who can do math!"" Bad driver every time you brought a truck back it was messed up.
I'm not going to critique the closing of your business bc most situations are different. What I will do is criticize the hot shot industry vs my industry, semi trucks. I have a hard time believeing a fair comparison can be made bc equipment and the market are completely different. We have more opportunities than hot shot. My expenses rose just as everyone else's expenses rose but riding the wave comes with the territory. The last 2 years were my best years, now the next 2 will be challenging
I got my DD214. Hbu?
Semper Fi
Thank you for your service
Dude...you're awesome first of all. That said. .your only mistake was hotshotting. If you had worked this hard at actually trucking instead of "pretend trucking " you would still be in business and your profit margin would have been much higher.
You also fail to fully quantify the impact of the law of diminished returns and increased exposure with growth.
You'll bounce back.
Alex did great, he is just young in his business career. He will do fine in the future. Failure is where we grow most. Alex got a masters from this experience. I personally welcome failure. It is where we learn most. Knowledge is where the real value exist. The rest is just bullshit. Alex will be good....
OMG! Tow Piglet just compared himself to Apple! LOL! I see the issue!
I didn’t