Owner/Operator Truth: What Nobody Tells You First

1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:07,520 Everybody wants to be an owner operator, right? Until they actually talk to one, because on paper 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,400 it's freedom. It's big money. It's be your own boss. In reality, it's surprise truck payments, surprise 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:20,879 repairs, surprise deductions. And my personal favorite, a paycheck that shows up already spent. 4 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:26,719 We've all heard the pitch. Oh, you got to be in. O.O. that's where the real money is. Uh. Reality 5 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:33,519 check. That's also where the big bills are. And and really big bills. Okay, today's episode will tell 6 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:39,720 you that I've got one driver coming on here who lived it, another who watched it happen up close 7 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:46,599 and said, no thanks. I like sleeping at night and retiring relatively early, and I had a third 8 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:52,480 driver to make things more interesting that didn't even want to come on the podcast, but he 9 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:57,960 had plenty to say about the subject. So if you've ever thought about becoming an owner operator or 10 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:03,009 if you've been told that's where the money is. You might want to stick around for this episode 11 00:01:03,009 --> 00:01:07,529 because today we're not selling the dream. We're checking the receipts. 12 00:01:12,970 --> 00:01:17,529 Count down to the Cypress Truck Lines podcast starts now. 13 00:01:19,849 --> 00:01:26,769 Your number one professional flatbed podcast here to deliver stories, safety updates and company 14 00:01:26,769 --> 00:01:31,489 news directly to your ears. Let's get down to business. 15 00:01:38,489 --> 00:01:44,050 Cypress and Sunbelt. How's the weather out there? Welcome into the Cypress Truck Lines podcast. I am 16 00:01:44,050 --> 00:01:49,289 your host, Marcus. Thank you so much for being here with me today. We've got an awesome episode 17 00:01:49,289 --> 00:01:55,609 planned for you. So much information, uh, that I actually, I feel like I know more about the 18 00:01:55,609 --> 00:02:01,299 industry as a whole after having the interview that you're going to hear here in just a few 19 00:02:01,300 --> 00:02:06,579 minutes. Uh, welcomed a couple of drivers on very knowledgeable, a lot of experience in the industry, 20 00:02:06,580 --> 00:02:12,979 and they have some thoughts about the trappings of becoming an owner operator. Now, obviously 21 00:02:12,979 --> 00:02:17,739 that's not something you're going to do at Cypress. It's not an option. And we'll get into that a 22 00:02:17,740 --> 00:02:23,699 little bit in this conversation as well. But there are many drivers out there who have tried it and 23 00:02:23,699 --> 00:02:29,299 have not decided that it was the place that they wanted to be and have gone back to being a 24 00:02:29,300 --> 00:02:35,660 company driver. And that's kind of what today's episode is all about. We want to know what it was 25 00:02:35,660 --> 00:02:41,940 like. Why is it that some people jump into it? What are some of the positives, if there are any, and 26 00:02:41,940 --> 00:02:47,419 negatives? Uh, there's a lot of hint, hint. I don't want to spoil anything, but you heard it in the cold 27 00:02:47,419 --> 00:02:54,139 open. Um, you're not going to get the most shining representation of being an owner operator today. 28 00:02:54,380 --> 00:03:01,160 Um, you know, I want to talk a little bit first about actually, let me put the brakes on here. 29 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,679 Let's get to the homework real quick first, because that's what responsible adults do. 30 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:12,400 podcast.cypresstruck.com is the website. Go there and find everything that has to do with the 31 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,720 podcast. That's where you can get in touch with me. Send me an email if you want to be on the show. If 32 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:22,120 you want to hear about something in particular on the show, I take all the suggestions. I make 33 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:27,639 episodes out of as many of them as I can, and I want to welcome every Cypress driver or employee 34 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:34,160 that wants to be a part of this podcast. So podcast.cypresstruck.com, it's real simple. Bookmark it. You can 35 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:39,639 listen to every single episode there. And that's your hub for finding out what all the episodes 36 00:03:39,639 --> 00:03:44,640 are about. You know who was on it, what we're talking about. It's all there. It's your one stop 37 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:49,959 shop, as I like to say. And the nice thing about it being a one stop shop is unlike becoming an owner 38 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:56,449 operator, it won't cost you a thing. Uh, so back to what we were talking about today. I 39 00:03:56,649 --> 00:04:03,169 spoke on the phone for, I would say, about 45 minutes to, uh, current Cypress driver Carlos Trent. 40 00:04:03,210 --> 00:04:10,089 Now, Carlos was an owner operator at one time. And we are going to reference a lot of my 41 00:04:10,089 --> 00:04:15,969 conversation with Carlos in the interview segment that's coming up around the corner. But I wanted 42 00:04:15,969 --> 00:04:21,129 to tell a story here that Carlos left me with, uh, that we didn't get to in the interview segment. 43 00:04:21,130 --> 00:04:28,010 And it's very impactful. Uh, you will hear us talk a little bit about Uncle Sam, the IRS and 44 00:04:28,010 --> 00:04:35,009 taxes that are involved with becoming an owner operator. And the anecdote that Carlos told me 45 00:04:35,010 --> 00:04:41,850 was he did not think that he needed a real, experienced CPA, 46 00:04:41,969 --> 00:04:47,649 uh, especially an experienced CPA, an accountant that had experience with the transportation 47 00:04:47,649 --> 00:04:54,619 industry. Um, it just call it an oversight, call it inexperience. Um, maybe call it. Hey, I 48 00:04:54,620 --> 00:05:01,379 wanted to see if I could try this and get through it myself. I 49 00:05:01,500 --> 00:05:07,259 guess the only way I can tell you is the IRS came after Carlos. He didn't file for two years, and 50 00:05:07,260 --> 00:05:13,379 they came after him for $160,000. Now, I don't know about you. 51 00:05:13,420 --> 00:05:20,259 $160,000 would be like 150,000 more than I could just hand you right now 52 00:05:20,260 --> 00:05:25,339 comfortably and not think that I've got to sell my house, my car, my two corgis, my wife and 53 00:05:25,340 --> 00:05:31,939 everything else, uh, that I could get a buck off of. And trust me, uh, they they would sell me long 54 00:05:31,939 --> 00:05:38,579 before they would let me sell them, I promise you that, but I digress. 160 grand is nothing to 55 00:05:38,620 --> 00:05:43,578 scoff at. And granted, Carlos made some mistakes in the lead up to that, and he was honest with me 56 00:05:43,579 --> 00:05:50,099 about it. But what he came away with was I got my taxes in the hands of a true 57 00:05:50,099 --> 00:05:56,709 professional that knew the transportation industry and this $160,000 that they were after 58 00:05:56,709 --> 00:06:02,469 him for, after everything had been filed and all the write offs had been taken care of, actually 59 00:06:02,469 --> 00:06:08,829 turned into a small refund for Carlos, I believe he told me somewhere around $3,000 if memory 60 00:06:08,829 --> 00:06:13,429 serves. Look, that's not a huge chunk of change that you're going to go slapping high fives about 61 00:06:13,429 --> 00:06:19,109 all over the yard, but you would much rather have somebody give you three grand back than take 62 00:06:19,109 --> 00:06:25,870 another 160,000 from you. So that's the type of cautionary tale that we're going to tell 63 00:06:25,910 --> 00:06:32,389 through experience today. Um, it's no laughing matter, and it's not something that you can just 64 00:06:32,390 --> 00:06:38,950 jump into without a lot of thought and preparation. And if I do say so, a 65 00:06:38,950 --> 00:06:44,828 ton of money sitting in your bank account, um, especially if you want to operate as your own 66 00:06:44,829 --> 00:06:49,789 authority. Now, if you're going to lease on to another company and that's something that you 67 00:06:49,790 --> 00:06:54,849 want to do. You're going to get some really good information. In this interview from Cypress driver 68 00:06:54,849 --> 00:07:01,289 Dean Kreigsman, who will tell you about three separate lease purchases that he went through. 69 00:07:01,290 --> 00:07:07,928 And you notice how I called him Cypress Driver. That's current Cypress driver that's no longer 70 00:07:07,929 --> 00:07:14,249 lease purchase guy with another company. There's a reason for it. And I've teased it enough. At this 71 00:07:14,249 --> 00:07:21,169 point in time, I'm just going to get into it. It's a great interview here. Joining me just around the 72 00:07:21,170 --> 00:07:27,130 corner, we've got Cypress Driver, as I mentioned, Dean Kreigsman and also retired Cypress driver 73 00:07:27,169 --> 00:07:34,130 Adolf Metzer. Now, Adolf has a ton of experience in the industry, and he also has two brothers that 74 00:07:34,130 --> 00:07:40,570 are both owner operators that he has worked with and worked around during his career. So he's got 75 00:07:40,570 --> 00:07:46,890 some great insight on what really goes on. Once you decide owner operator is the way that you 76 00:07:46,890 --> 00:07:52,739 want to go. So without further ado, let's bring these guys in here and get to the real juicy part 77 00:07:52,739 --> 00:07:54,299 of today's episode. 78 00:08:01,820 --> 00:08:06,299 All right, it's time to get our guests in here for today. And I am super excited about this 79 00:08:06,300 --> 00:08:11,939 conversation because it's going to be a very honest conversation. And obviously, that's what 80 00:08:11,939 --> 00:08:16,699 we're always aiming to have here on the Cypress Truck Lines podcast. But this one in particular, 81 00:08:16,980 --> 00:08:21,299 I've gotten to talk with these guys a little bit. I've got to talk to another driver that's not 82 00:08:21,299 --> 00:08:26,620 even joining us today. Spent 45 minutes on the phone with him just getting information for this 83 00:08:26,620 --> 00:08:33,539 episode. So we're here to talk about the trappings of becoming an owner operator today. Uh, 84 00:08:33,539 --> 00:08:38,940 and we have a couple gentlemen here joining us that have seen it all, uh, from both sides of the 85 00:08:38,940 --> 00:08:44,939 fence. And first, I want to welcome on, uh, Cypress driver, Dean Kreigsma. Dean, thank you so much for 86 00:08:44,939 --> 00:08:49,269 being here today, man. Appreciate you making your first appearance here on the Cypress Trunk Lines 87 00:08:49,270 --> 00:08:55,950 podcast. Yeah. My pleasure. Now, uh, Dean, just so everybody knows here, uh, you're sitting there 88 00:08:55,950 --> 00:09:00,589 waiting to get unloaded, and they've kind of been, uh, making you wait. You might have to, uh, 89 00:09:00,590 --> 00:09:05,589 accomplish some work during the interview. Just want to put that out there in case anybody hears 90 00:09:05,590 --> 00:09:11,909 it while we're talking to you. Um, we got a job to do here, right? That's right, that's right. Thanks 91 00:09:11,909 --> 00:09:18,469 for being here, Dean. Also joining us today is a retired Cypress truck driver that came very 92 00:09:18,469 --> 00:09:23,988 highly recommended from multiple people. Uh, I hadn't gotten or I have not got to meet this 93 00:09:23,989 --> 00:09:29,989 person face to face yet, but I was told by so many people that I met face to face that I needed to 94 00:09:29,989 --> 00:09:34,549 get him on the podcast. Please welcome Adolf Metzer to the show. Adolf, thank you so much for 95 00:09:34,549 --> 00:09:40,909 being here today. Hey, thanks, Marcus, for having me. And excuse me if the noise gets a little bit loud 96 00:09:40,909 --> 00:09:46,520 because I live in Pensacola, Florida, and the Blue Angels practice during the day, so if they fly 97 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:52,239 over it, it might get kind of loud, you know? I will tell you this. I'm more than happy to be 98 00:09:52,239 --> 00:09:59,158 interrupted by the Blue Angels on this show. That is amazing. How often do you see them fly over? Um, 99 00:09:59,159 --> 00:10:05,399 every, um, like, during the week? Uh, they normally get home on the shows on Sunday, so they get a 100 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:10,639 little day off on Monday, kind of recuperate. So. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, they normally 101 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:17,640 do a practice show here in Pensacola, and then they fly out for Friday, Saturdays for 102 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:24,480 the actual air show around the country. Wow. So they actually. So we actually live in the 103 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:31,399 flight path of the runway for the, the for the NAS Pensacola Airfield. Wow. And 104 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:35,719 is that something that you was that, uh, like a retirement decision? You wanted to go down there 105 00:10:35,719 --> 00:10:42,200 and be there? Have you always lived there? Is it something you enjoy? Um, like when I was retired 106 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:47,769 from the Navy. My last duty station was 107 00:10:49,050 --> 00:10:55,929 NAS Pensacola, so I grew up in California and Wisconsin, so we chose once 108 00:10:55,930 --> 00:11:02,889 we moved here to Pensacola. We decided we weren't leaving. Gotcha, gotcha. 109 00:11:02,929 --> 00:11:08,769 Well that's awesome. I hope at some point in time we'll get you back on the show and we'll talk 110 00:11:08,809 --> 00:11:15,089 about your service and kind of what led up to trucking at Cypress. Uh, we love our veterans here 111 00:11:15,090 --> 00:11:20,569 on this show. Thank you for your service. Uh. Greatly appreciated. Um, but let's go ahead and get 112 00:11:20,570 --> 00:11:26,849 into our conversation that we're here for today. Uh, Dean, I want to start with you. Um, talk to me 113 00:11:26,849 --> 00:11:33,488 about your journey as an owner-operator. Uh, you can kind of fill me in on your career in trucking 114 00:11:33,489 --> 00:11:38,890 in general. Did you start out as an owner operator, or did you start with a carrier and then go to 115 00:11:38,929 --> 00:11:45,789 owner operator? Just kind of walk me through how it went for you? I actually started off with, uh, 116 00:11:45,790 --> 00:11:52,189 Cypress. Truck lines, um, and uh, I started about, uh, 13 years ago 117 00:11:52,590 --> 00:11:59,469 and, um, I spent, uh, just about five years with 118 00:11:59,469 --> 00:12:06,229 them and, uh, you know, everything was okay, but, you know, I wanted 119 00:12:06,229 --> 00:12:13,030 to try out, uh, being an owner operator, possibly making more money. And that's that's why 120 00:12:13,030 --> 00:12:17,989 I left. Yeah, that's the hook, right? That's what everybody says, is. That. Hey, you're going to be an 121 00:12:17,989 --> 00:12:23,509 owner, operator. You're going to make the big bucks. Own your own truck. You know, you get to own your 122 00:12:23,510 --> 00:12:29,909 own truck and, uh, make a lot of money. Yep. That's that's how they sucker you. And, um, 123 00:12:30,110 --> 00:12:36,949 well, there's there's a few different types of, uh, owner operators out there. Um, there, there's 124 00:12:36,990 --> 00:12:43,719 the, uh, owner operator that goes out and buys their own truck and 125 00:12:43,719 --> 00:12:50,560 goes and gets their own authority and their own brokers. Uh, and, you know, that's a 126 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:57,039 true owner operator right there. And, uh, you know, does his own thing. That wasn't me. Of 127 00:12:57,039 --> 00:13:03,799 course. And another type of owner operator is the same thing, except 128 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:10,680 that they don't work on their own authority. They, uh, go in, uh, lease on with a 129 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:17,439 company, uh, and, uh, you know, work off of their, uh, authority. Uh, and then 130 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:23,999 there's the sucker. I mean, the lease purchase, uh, uh, owner operator. 131 00:13:24,159 --> 00:13:31,119 Uh, and I am in that category. Uh, I am the one in that category. Um, 132 00:13:31,159 --> 00:13:38,119 the nice thing about the lease purchase is. And this is what reels you in. No credit 133 00:13:38,119 --> 00:13:45,009 checks and no down payments on your truck. You just. Start. Rolling and start making 134 00:13:45,010 --> 00:13:51,930 payments. You just start rolling and they pull out your payment, uh, out of your paycheck. 135 00:13:52,250 --> 00:13:57,329 Uh, of course, you're under the the company that hires you. You're under their authority and 136 00:13:57,330 --> 00:14:03,409 everything, and and, uh, they're the ones leasing the truck to you. Um, and, um, 137 00:14:04,849 --> 00:14:11,569 uh, so, yeah, they, uh. Let me clarify something here. Dean, sorry to interrupt you real quick, but I just 138 00:14:11,570 --> 00:14:15,929 want to clarify that you didn't do this lease purchase program with Cypress because they don't 139 00:14:15,969 --> 00:14:20,649 actually have a lease purchase program. If I'm not mistaken, this was with another company. Correct. 140 00:14:20,690 --> 00:14:27,249 Gotcha. This was another company. Uh, Cypress. I'm a company driver. And, um, 141 00:14:27,290 --> 00:14:33,809 that's all they they do. And that's all I've ever been with Cypress as a company driver. Um, but, 142 00:14:33,849 --> 00:14:40,699 um, when you do a lease purchase, you're considered an owner operator, And, um, that's what I did 143 00:14:40,700 --> 00:14:47,379 with the other company, and I was with them for seven years. And the problem 144 00:14:47,740 --> 00:14:54,500 is that it's a big payment, uh, each week. Uh, and you're, you're an owner 145 00:14:54,500 --> 00:15:01,379 operator. So I had to pay for fuel and insurance and the whole nine yards, even though 146 00:15:01,379 --> 00:15:08,379 everything is through the company. But the only one, the only ones making money or the real 147 00:15:08,379 --> 00:15:14,940 money, uh, is the trucking company, uh, that does the lease purchases. Uh, they're the only ones really 148 00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:21,938 making money. They nickel and dime you to death. So in seven years, were you. How close were you to 149 00:15:21,980 --> 00:15:27,658 paying off that that lease purchase? Were you an owner, like a true owner of the truck by the end 150 00:15:27,659 --> 00:15:34,259 of that? Well, um, actually, after my first three years, I did pay off a 151 00:15:34,260 --> 00:15:41,029 truck. Wow. Um, and, uh. And then I stayed with that company. But I did pay 152 00:15:41,029 --> 00:15:47,270 off a truck. And, uh, that's when I was making, uh, pretty good money. I, I couldn't 153 00:15:47,270 --> 00:15:54,030 complain. Of course, the economy, uh, got a little worse. And, uh, then the rates started 154 00:15:54,030 --> 00:16:01,029 dropping. Uh, and then, uh, I also started having some problems. You know, with 155 00:16:01,030 --> 00:16:07,789 that truck. And, uh, finally, uh, what had happened was, um, 156 00:16:07,830 --> 00:16:14,349 after two years of no truck payments, I went two years. Uh, you know, after paying that 157 00:16:14,349 --> 00:16:21,029 off the truck needed some work, and it needed about $15,000 worth of work. Wow. 158 00:16:21,070 --> 00:16:28,029 And, uh, not only did I not have that to put into that truck, but I felt that the 159 00:16:28,030 --> 00:16:34,669 truck I had put well over a million miles on that truck, and I did not want a 160 00:16:34,669 --> 00:16:40,890 chance putting the money into that truck. And then two weeks after I get it back, maybe the 161 00:16:40,890 --> 00:16:46,490 transmission might drop out of it or something like that, or. You blow a steer, tire or any number 162 00:16:46,490 --> 00:16:53,329 of things that can go wrong. Right. Yeah. I just didn't want, uh, you'd put money into 163 00:16:53,330 --> 00:16:59,809 that truck that had well over a million miles on it. Uh, I just thought it was time to get rid of it. 164 00:16:59,809 --> 00:17:06,569 And, uh, that's when I jumped into another, uh, lease purchase. Uh, and then from 165 00:17:06,569 --> 00:17:12,449 there, it was a nightmare. Sounds like it. And and listen, I've. I've heard these lease purchase 166 00:17:12,449 --> 00:17:19,449 programs can be real nightmares for guys. Um, I, I talked to a lot of truck drivers over making many 167 00:17:19,449 --> 00:17:24,688 podcast episodes over these last three and a half, almost four years that I've been doing this. And 168 00:17:24,810 --> 00:17:31,009 I'll be honest with you guys, when I say there, it's it's a very slim few amount of drivers I've 169 00:17:31,050 --> 00:17:37,019 talked to that have had success with the lease purchase program in any kind of sustained fashion. 170 00:17:37,020 --> 00:17:41,818 It's it seems to be Dean a lot like what you're talking about, where you might get to a point 171 00:17:41,819 --> 00:17:46,619 where there's a spurt of having some, some good income and feeling like you're really making some 172 00:17:46,620 --> 00:17:52,660 good money. But all it takes is one breakdown. And all of a sudden, if you weren't saving that money, 173 00:17:52,699 --> 00:17:59,019 you find yourself in a real pickle. Um, and and that does sound like kind of. What? What happened 174 00:17:59,020 --> 00:18:04,459 to you? Now, Adolf, I want to go to you here for a second, because not only have you driven a lot, but 175 00:18:04,459 --> 00:18:09,459 you told me off the air that you've got a couple brothers that are owner operators. So you have 176 00:18:09,459 --> 00:18:14,218 some good experience in seeing the good, the bad and the ugly here. I just want to ask you, from 177 00:18:14,219 --> 00:18:20,459 your perspective, did you ever consider becoming an owner operator, and, uh, why or why not? Did you 178 00:18:20,499 --> 00:18:26,578 did you stay away from it? Well, I'm actually right before I retired, I bought a cab over a 179 00:18:26,579 --> 00:18:33,270 1983 cab over Peterbilt. It was an older truck because I was going to try it. 180 00:18:33,270 --> 00:18:40,149 So when I was still in the Navy, I bought that, that that truck in South Florida. It 181 00:18:40,150 --> 00:18:46,910 didn't it run. I went down there and my brother went that went down to South Florida. Um, worked on it 182 00:18:47,550 --> 00:18:53,909 pretty much all day, like Friday evening, Saturday till 183 00:18:54,310 --> 00:19:00,389 midday towards the evening. And then we we actually drove it back to Pensacola, 184 00:19:00,989 --> 00:19:07,149 uh, on Sunday and that's I mean, but but but then, um, 185 00:19:08,349 --> 00:19:15,029 the thing was, was the maintenance cost. Yep. The maintenance cost 186 00:19:15,030 --> 00:19:21,750 always gets you. And so what you got to figure out is 187 00:19:22,149 --> 00:19:28,989 how much is your time worth? You have to ask yourself an honest assessment. 188 00:19:29,349 --> 00:19:36,279 You know, how much are you going to want to put forth in this business? Because 189 00:19:36,319 --> 00:19:42,399 being an owner operator is a small business. Now you're a business owner, right? So, I mean, I mean, so 190 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:49,199 you got to be pretty proficient in everything, you know. So that was something that, uh, that 191 00:19:49,199 --> 00:19:55,799 Carlos told me again, uh, Carlos Trent had a nice conversation with him. He told me to use any info 192 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:01,838 that I. That I wanted to from our conversation. And one thing that he brought up is, he said, you can't 193 00:20:01,839 --> 00:20:08,559 do this without having a really good accountant, and not just any CPA that you can go find down 194 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:14,800 the block. You got to have one that understands the trucking industry intimately. Uh, Dean, can you 195 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:21,639 speak to that? Uh, from your experience? That's true. And I, uh, you know, I 196 00:20:21,639 --> 00:20:28,599 haven't found a real good one yet, but, uh, you know, I, I, uh. Yeah, that that's 197 00:20:28,699 --> 00:20:35,299 absolutely true. And it's very important to find it's very difficult to find a CPA 198 00:20:35,339 --> 00:20:42,339 that is familiar with trucking and, and knows all the ins and outs and everything. Adolf, did you 199 00:20:42,339 --> 00:20:48,619 find that also a tough part of the whole thing? Well, it's because, um, 200 00:20:49,660 --> 00:20:56,379 it was very difficult for me to. Because I had to do everything. And here in Pensacola, there really 201 00:20:56,380 --> 00:21:03,339 isn't very many, um, trucking tax people, right? You know, that they were. So 202 00:21:03,339 --> 00:21:09,939 then my brother helped me with it a little bit, and then, um, filling out like, like the, like 203 00:21:09,979 --> 00:21:16,539 the, you know, for your if the, for your road tax, you know, for every state, you know, you, you have to 204 00:21:16,540 --> 00:21:22,740 record how many miles that you're driving in every state that you operate in. Wow. You know. And 205 00:21:22,740 --> 00:21:29,629 when you're. A company. Here. Oh sorry. Go ahead. So at the end of the year, You have to pay your 206 00:21:29,630 --> 00:21:36,349 your after taxes. So if your mileage plus how much fuel that you buy in each state, it adds 207 00:21:36,350 --> 00:21:43,149 up. So at the end of the year you can possibly owe $10,000 or more. It all 208 00:21:43,149 --> 00:21:49,948 depends on how proficient and stuff that you operate. And. Taxes. Yeah, and that's 209 00:21:49,949 --> 00:21:54,109 even going to come into your load selection right where you're looking at different loads that 210 00:21:54,109 --> 00:21:58,189 you're thinking about picking up. You might not want to take this load that you've got a really 211 00:21:58,189 --> 00:22:02,109 good rate on, because it's going to put you in a state where the taxes are really high and you're 212 00:22:02,109 --> 00:22:06,990 going to have to buy fuel there. Like I think about your one of your home states out of 213 00:22:06,990 --> 00:22:12,549 California. Uh, you know, gas. Is the. Worst. Yeah. Diesel's through the roof right now. The taxes 214 00:22:12,550 --> 00:22:18,149 have always been high in that state, and so you might not even want to take a route that goes out 215 00:22:18,149 --> 00:22:23,029 there if you're really thinking this through. But a guy that hasn't thought it through might just 216 00:22:23,030 --> 00:22:28,640 see the the dollar amount at the end of the load and say, I'm going to California, right? And then at 217 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:34,519 the end of the year, they end up tied up in all these taxes. Well, we'll see, because, um, in general 218 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:41,279 speak for just general speaking, um, going out west, the or the 219 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:47,879 lows paid typically pretty good coming back from, from the West coast. They pay 220 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:54,759 like like nothing. I mean, you might have to I mean, I mean, you might have to get five, 221 00:22:54,800 --> 00:23:00,959 four, five, six, 700 miles empty just to get a load you might like from San Diego, LA. You might have 222 00:23:00,959 --> 00:23:06,759 to run all the way to Eugene, like around Oregon, just to get a lumber load coming back to the 223 00:23:06,759 --> 00:23:11,879 Midwest. Did you know that? Did you know that? I'm. I'm recording this from Eugene, Oregon right now. 224 00:23:11,879 --> 00:23:17,240 And you said that, or is that just a random city that you picked out? Yeah, that's just like a 225 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:24,159 random city that I picked out. Um, I mean, we've I mean, because we've ran all the way up 226 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:29,929 to Oregon to pick up lumber to come back to the Midwest or East Coast. Sure. Not with Cypress, but 227 00:23:29,969 --> 00:23:35,329 like, my brothers and stuff like that. Yeah, right. It's crazy. And that's a long deadhead when you're 228 00:23:35,370 --> 00:23:39,169 when you're the one paying for the fuel, that's a long deadhead where you don't have anything on 229 00:23:39,169 --> 00:23:45,889 and nothing that's producing money. Exactly. So like all your empty miles. So, like your empty 230 00:23:45,889 --> 00:23:52,129 miles and you're loaded miles. All that's miles that you got to pay. 231 00:23:52,650 --> 00:23:58,609 So as a company driver, you don't even sweat it because you're getting paid from from the last 232 00:23:58,610 --> 00:24:04,209 place that you're unloaded to wherever you got to go pick up and then to wherever you gotta take 233 00:24:04,209 --> 00:24:10,969 that load to. Right. You can pay. Um, you know, they or they go by most companies go by 234 00:24:11,730 --> 00:24:18,289 zip code from zip code to zip code. They don't do the actual Google Miles. They go zip code, a zip 235 00:24:18,290 --> 00:24:24,859 code that used to be called the American household. Good moving mileage chart or whatever. 236 00:24:25,619 --> 00:24:30,540 Wow. That's that's way beyond my knowledge there. But that's exactly why we wanted you to. Come on. 237 00:24:30,579 --> 00:24:37,059 It's because you know this stuff, man. So, uh. Yeah. So so so, like, in typical, 238 00:24:37,459 --> 00:24:43,859 um, most trucking companies don't pay doorstep to doorstep. They pay zip code to zip code. So some 239 00:24:43,859 --> 00:24:50,020 zip codes might be 20 to 30 miles further or shorter. But it kind of works out in the wash, 240 00:24:50,060 --> 00:24:57,019 though. Sure, sure. As a as a company driver, it kind of works out in wash. As an owner operator, 241 00:24:57,020 --> 00:25:02,899 you're paying for every mile. Right? And that seems to be the theme here. Uh, is, is money going out 242 00:25:02,939 --> 00:25:08,099 more than it's coming in as an owner operator? Uh, there's something that that Carlos said to me 243 00:25:08,099 --> 00:25:12,899 that really rang true. And I want to present it to both of you guys and get your thoughts on it. Dean, 244 00:25:12,899 --> 00:25:19,419 I'll come to you first. Uh, what what Carlos said to me was, uh, when the money comes in, 245 00:25:19,979 --> 00:25:26,759 the truck takes half, Uncle Sam takes about half and you're left with the rest. How accurate of a 246 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:33,438 statement is that, uh, from your experience there. Uh, that that is 247 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:40,640 accurate. You say it's pretty accurate. That's pretty accurate, because, um, just with my 248 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:46,279 experience of dealing with my brothers as owner operators, and they were independent owner 249 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:51,079 operators, they found their own loads and their own brokers and everything. They wasn't I mean, 250 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:57,639 they all had their own authority, so they weren't leased on to a company. So whatever it paid it, it 251 00:25:57,639 --> 00:26:04,079 paid. But the times of those types are going way under. And I would 252 00:26:04,439 --> 00:26:10,519 and I would professionally say that generation of truck drivers is pretty 253 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:17,238 non-existent anymore. Pretty much. Interesting. You're either going to be a a lease purchase or 254 00:26:17,239 --> 00:26:23,529 you can be leased to a company because they have like a load board, you know what I mean? Or you're 255 00:26:23,529 --> 00:26:28,968 going to pay for that service. Got it. So everything. Yeah, everything. And their insurance 256 00:26:28,969 --> 00:26:35,649 and everything. Exactly. So? So, Dean, uh, going back to your experience. 257 00:26:35,689 --> 00:26:40,650 You jumped in. We kind of cut you off when you had jumped into the second lease purchase with the 258 00:26:40,650 --> 00:26:45,810 company. You were an owner operator? For how long were you in that lease purchase before you 259 00:26:45,810 --> 00:26:49,249 decided you were sick of banging your head against the wall and wanted to go back to being 260 00:26:49,249 --> 00:26:56,129 the company driver? Well, actually, I went to a lease purchase, uh, with 261 00:26:56,130 --> 00:27:02,930 with a truck and, um, that truck. Uh, I only had that 262 00:27:02,930 --> 00:27:09,849 truck for about six months. I couldn't keep that truck out of the 263 00:27:09,850 --> 00:27:16,289 shop, and it was eating me up alive and everything. It, uh, drained my 264 00:27:16,290 --> 00:27:22,938 escrow that I had, uh, my, uh, because, uh, my paycheck each week they would take out, you know, 265 00:27:23,099 --> 00:27:29,458 escrow, uh, maintenance, uh. Uh, and that I had an, a maintenance account that they put into escrow and, 266 00:27:29,699 --> 00:27:36,259 uh, that, that drained immediately. And, uh, then they were taking everything out of my paychecks to pay 267 00:27:36,259 --> 00:27:43,219 for the repairs on that truck. Uh, and after six months, I gave them the truck back. 268 00:27:43,260 --> 00:27:48,579 I said, give me another truck. I need something more dependable because I can't keep this one out 269 00:27:48,579 --> 00:27:55,459 of their shop. So I actually started a new lease purchase with a third truck, uh, after I turned 270 00:27:55,459 --> 00:28:02,419 the other one in. And that's the one that I had that one for about eight 271 00:28:02,420 --> 00:28:09,179 months when I decided it was time to leave and go back to, uh, being a company 272 00:28:09,180 --> 00:28:15,859 driver. And was that, uh, was that third lease purchase also a nightmare? Could you, could you not 273 00:28:15,860 --> 00:28:19,709 keep that one out of the shop, or was it a little bit better but you still just weren't making 274 00:28:19,709 --> 00:28:26,670 money? Yeah. Um, I, I couldn't keep it wasn't as bad, but I couldn't keep 275 00:28:26,670 --> 00:28:31,469 that one out of the shop either. That's just a never ending problem. And you're you're seeing the 276 00:28:31,469 --> 00:28:37,069 writing on the wall, right? There's no there's no getting out of this. No there isn't. You know, the 277 00:28:37,069 --> 00:28:43,629 only thing you can do is turn in your truck and eat. Eat the 278 00:28:43,909 --> 00:28:50,269 the cost you have into it. Uh, all the money, uh, that I that I paid for that truck each week, 279 00:28:50,669 --> 00:28:57,509 uh, for eight months, uh, you know, basically, uh, thrown out the window. Oh, and that 280 00:28:57,550 --> 00:29:03,709 hurts, man, when you look back and add that up, that really that hurts. It does, 281 00:29:05,230 --> 00:29:10,389 it does. Hey. So, Dean, let me ask you a question real quick because I've heard it from different 282 00:29:10,389 --> 00:29:17,209 stories, right? Um, what's the average miles on on one of these 283 00:29:17,210 --> 00:29:22,969 lease purchased trusts, because I've heard anywhere from 450 to 600,000 miles. Then you go to 284 00:29:22,970 --> 00:29:29,769 this company like, hey, this is your new crappy truck. Or I mean. You mean how many miles? 285 00:29:29,810 --> 00:29:35,968 When I received the truck, when I, when I received the truck, uh, probably the, 286 00:29:36,770 --> 00:29:43,609 uh, first truck that I had turned in my my second lease purchase and the first one that 287 00:29:43,609 --> 00:29:50,569 I turned in, um, when I got into that truck, uh, that truck 288 00:29:51,050 --> 00:29:58,009 had about, uh, right at about 400, 000 miles on it. Um, and 289 00:29:58,010 --> 00:30:04,249 then the truck after that, my, uh, the last, uh, lease purchase truck that I had, 290 00:30:04,609 --> 00:30:11,448 um, that one had 225,000 miles on it when I received it. Oh, 291 00:30:11,529 --> 00:30:18,099 so so you went from, like, okay, to a little bit better. I mean, they still have 292 00:30:18,099 --> 00:30:23,099 400 something thousand miles, so they're pretty much through their lifecycle, pretty much through 293 00:30:23,099 --> 00:30:28,499 their lifecycle to say, or through a rebuild. I mean, because that was like one of the things that 294 00:30:28,500 --> 00:30:35,459 scared me away from doing that was a typical rebuild. $30,000. Right? Yes. Right. 295 00:30:35,499 --> 00:30:40,939 And, and and they're kind of selling you. They're kind of leasing you a used truck. Is is what 296 00:30:40,940 --> 00:30:47,419 you're saying there, Adolf? Is that like 400,000 miles is not a new truck by any means. In fact, 297 00:30:47,420 --> 00:30:52,419 it's a it's a well used one and you're about to take on the payments and buy that thing from them. 298 00:30:52,420 --> 00:30:56,579 There's plenty of life in that truck. Sure, but you have to consider that you're going to be the one 299 00:30:56,579 --> 00:31:01,499 paying for that engine rebuild. And what did Carlos tell me? 15 grand for the top end of the 300 00:31:01,499 --> 00:31:08,459 engine. 15 grand for the bottom 30. Just like you said, Adolf. So? So. Yeah. So 30. And we 301 00:31:08,460 --> 00:31:14,269 haven't even touched a transmission that's pretty much worn out, you know what I mean? I mean. So 302 00:31:14,429 --> 00:31:21,349 that's why we haven't even. And you haven't even mentioned, uh, the filters for the DEF systems. And 303 00:31:21,349 --> 00:31:28,268 how much do those runs? That's that's about another 15 grand for the system. Wow. Wow. 304 00:31:28,269 --> 00:31:34,430 Yes. And so just in what we talked about right there, what transmission we're thinking, what, 30, 40, 305 00:31:34,470 --> 00:31:41,309 50. Um, probably half of a of a rebuild, probably about 15 grand for a 306 00:31:41,310 --> 00:31:48,229 used for a used transmission. Okay. So with the rebuild of the engine, the rebuild of the 307 00:31:48,229 --> 00:31:54,789 transmission, the diff filters alone, we're talking we're at 60 grand. We haven't talked about new 308 00:31:54,790 --> 00:32:01,269 tires, new steer tires, new drive tires. Those are really expensive. Um, what did we. You know exactly. 309 00:32:01,310 --> 00:32:08,189 Uh, your your fuel tanks. Carlos told me the truck he had had 210 gallon fuel tanks. So he 310 00:32:08,189 --> 00:32:14,959 is going, uh, you know, up to 220 gallons at 5 to $600 per tank. That's 311 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:20,719 another thousand bucks every time you run out of diesel. Uh, again, we're sitting here in the 312 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:27,439 neighborhood of $70,000, and you're also paying every month for this truck that we're we're 313 00:32:27,439 --> 00:32:32,599 talking about here. So if you guys haven't, if everybody listening hasn't really put this 314 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:39,520 together yet, what we're trying to say is it's really expensive to be an owner-operator. Very 315 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:45,878 much. Yeah. Um, and, and there's, there's other, uh, deductions taking out as well, especially if 316 00:32:45,879 --> 00:32:52,079 you're leased on with a company. Right. Um, like, uh, car rentals, uh, chains and 317 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:58,719 binders, uh, all your equipment. Uh, you know, you usually have to rent those from them. Um, 318 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:05,598 they take out for that each week. Yeah. So, like, you're, like, for the things that we take for 319 00:33:05,599 --> 00:33:12,089 granted at Cypress bungee cords. I know Matt and Aaron. They're constantly like yelling about 320 00:33:12,090 --> 00:33:18,769 bungee cord, a bungee cord, bungee cords. You know, with, you know, we're throw 30 here, 30 there. 321 00:33:19,610 --> 00:33:26,449 Um, my personal thing when I drove for Cypress was I'm gonna leave as many bungee 322 00:33:26,449 --> 00:33:31,369 as they put on my trailer that I'm taking out of here. So if they put six bungee, I'm leaving. Six 323 00:33:31,370 --> 00:33:38,369 bungee. That's it? Yes. Because I found them. Yeah, because I found other, other trucking 324 00:33:38,369 --> 00:33:45,328 companies that we load at place type things as they steal your bungee, you know. 325 00:33:47,489 --> 00:33:53,489 And are we getting a Blue Angels fly by right now? Yeah. Well, that's one of our 326 00:33:54,290 --> 00:34:00,170 the, uh, because a lot of the military pilots are trained here, too. So they come zooming past the 327 00:34:00,170 --> 00:34:05,809 house every now and then. Okay. Gotcha. Well, we heard it, but, uh, anyway, onto it. Continue what you 328 00:34:05,810 --> 00:34:09,590 were talking about there. The bungees are a very valuable thing and you don't think about. That's 329 00:34:09,590 --> 00:34:16,549 an expense if you're an owner operator and guys will steal them. And if you go into the truck stop 330 00:34:16,549 --> 00:34:22,429 just for for giggles, one bungee cord at the Loves Truck stop is approximately a 331 00:34:22,430 --> 00:34:29,429 $5 $5 a corner protector that we I mean, they're all they're 332 00:34:29,429 --> 00:34:36,349 all in the safety lanes. I mean, we use them like napkins. You know, we put bungees on. I mean, 333 00:34:36,350 --> 00:34:42,669 seriously, I mean, we go through so many cords. It's crazy. But they're $8 and something 334 00:34:42,750 --> 00:34:48,989 apiece at the Love's truck stop. And. That's. That's your expense as an owner operator, not the 335 00:34:48,989 --> 00:34:54,949 companies. Correct? Yeah. Correct. So you got to pay for all all those 336 00:34:54,949 --> 00:35:01,709 consumables. Windshield washer fluid, um, diesel treatment, bungee cords, horn protectors, 337 00:35:01,989 --> 00:35:08,439 um, slip pads for underneath your coil, rack. coil racks. 338 00:35:08,559 --> 00:35:15,039 lumber. All that is on you. You bought it? Yep. Or it's. Or it's 339 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:21,960 rented and taken out of your pay each week. So, Dean, let's talk about from moving forward now, 340 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:27,040 because now you've told us you you were out of your third lease purchase. You ate that huge 341 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:32,200 amount that you'd paid into it for eight months, but you decided to come back to Cypress. Uh, they 342 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:38,079 obviously were happy to have you back. Um, how did the financial situation turn for you once you 343 00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:44,839 started, uh, driving for Cypress again? Um, actually, uh, it's it's 344 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:51,240 better with Cypress. And, uh, I have benefits with Cypress as owner operator. You you don't have any 345 00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:56,958 benefits. Uh, if you want health insurance, you got to go out on your own and and get it and, uh, and 346 00:35:56,959 --> 00:36:03,398 purchase it. And, uh, plans usually aren't as good when you're getting them on your own as opposed 347 00:36:03,399 --> 00:36:09,209 to being with a company and getting insurance through a company. Right. Uh, 2 to 3 times more 348 00:36:09,210 --> 00:36:14,249 expensive, I imagine. I mean, I know how much I pay a month for health insurance, and it's a fat chunk 349 00:36:14,290 --> 00:36:20,968 of my paycheck. There's no question about it. Yes, yes, it's pretty bad, but, uh, 350 00:36:21,169 --> 00:36:28,010 uh, I'm making, uh, overall, I'm making, uh, I'm actually making more money with Cypress, uh, than 351 00:36:28,010 --> 00:36:34,689 I did as the lease purchase. Uh, owner operator. Yep. And that seems to be the story that we hear time 352 00:36:34,689 --> 00:36:39,529 and again. Now, it's not to say that there aren't successful owner operators out there. It's not to 353 00:36:39,530 --> 00:36:45,889 say that there aren't successful lease purchase program, uh, uh, people out there, but more often 354 00:36:45,889 --> 00:36:51,769 times than not. Sounds to me like a lease purchase program is a little bit of a trap. Dean, would you 355 00:36:51,769 --> 00:36:58,769 agree? I do agree. Um, you know, I, uh, I don't know what the numbers are, but 356 00:36:58,770 --> 00:37:05,540 I would say it's probably a very low percentage of guys that actually pay off a truck. I did 357 00:37:05,580 --> 00:37:12,419 pay off one truck. And, uh, I believe I'm rare. Uh, that that that 358 00:37:12,419 --> 00:37:19,378 doesn't happen very often. And everything. So. Sure. Adolf, what are your thoughts there? I would 359 00:37:19,379 --> 00:37:25,819 recommend to anybody that's, um, thinking about being a lease purchase driver. Thinking about 360 00:37:25,820 --> 00:37:31,619 leaving Cypress. Cypress? I mean, I used to see them all the time here in Pensacola, and I'd be like, 361 00:37:31,620 --> 00:37:38,379 man, they got nice trucks. So. But, um, I would strongly suggest 362 00:37:38,419 --> 00:37:44,859 if you're thinking about leaving to be an owner operator. Drive all week for Cypress. All week, 363 00:37:44,939 --> 00:37:50,538 Sunday to Friday. Come in on Saturday and work in a shop all day, 364 00:37:52,139 --> 00:37:58,938 all day. Changing tires, changing brakes, greasing trucks, doing oil changes and 365 00:37:58,939 --> 00:38:05,908 work all day Saturday and then on Sunday. Sit down and have a heart to heart with your wife and 366 00:38:05,909 --> 00:38:12,629 say, is this really worth it? She's probably going to tell you no, and your body is probably going to 367 00:38:12,629 --> 00:38:17,709 tell, you know, as well, because, uh, that shop work is an easy work, right? And you're going to have to 368 00:38:17,709 --> 00:38:23,229 do it. If you're an owner operator. Exactly. You're going to have to turn wrenches or you're going to 369 00:38:23,270 --> 00:38:29,989 pay somebody. Um, I think the average national cost right now is $95 an hour. 370 00:38:30,269 --> 00:38:37,230 Wow. Plus diagnostics for a new truck. So just so just to hook the computer to, it's going to 371 00:38:37,270 --> 00:38:44,029 be, like, like an hour of labor and then plus a diagnose whatever issue that you have. Yeah. It's 372 00:38:44,030 --> 00:38:49,069 amazing to me that we've we've all become so in tune with electronics. But the minute that a 373 00:38:49,069 --> 00:38:55,109 mechanic plugs that computer into any automobile, uh, the juice starts flowing. Man, you would think 374 00:38:55,110 --> 00:38:59,908 it's a lot harder for them to plug that computer in. Uh, based on the amount of money that you pay 375 00:38:59,909 --> 00:39:06,849 for it. right? Exactly. And you know. And then for the long run, 376 00:39:06,850 --> 00:39:13,728 I think, is how much stress can you. Can your heart handle? You know, 377 00:39:13,770 --> 00:39:20,769 physical, mentally and and I mean, how much can your heart handle 378 00:39:20,929 --> 00:39:27,609 before you have a and I hate to say it, a heart attack for so much stress. Sure, sure, Dean. But. 379 00:39:28,010 --> 00:39:34,569 Sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead Adolf. But as a company driver, you wash your hands of all 380 00:39:34,569 --> 00:39:40,049 that excess stress because it's not your stress. All you got to do is drive a truck from A to B, 381 00:39:40,090 --> 00:39:46,409 unload and come back to A. That's it. Dean, was your stress level a lot higher when you were in the 382 00:39:46,409 --> 00:39:52,928 lease purchase program with the other company? Yes, absolutely. Because, uh, I had to, uh, 383 00:39:52,929 --> 00:39:59,699 especially coming up on payday, I had a I was stressing out on it. I had no clue on what my 384 00:39:59,699 --> 00:40:04,340 paycheck was going to be like. Uh, because what kind of deductions they were going to take from 385 00:40:04,340 --> 00:40:11,138 me and, uh, any type of back, uh, shop fees that I owed them or anything like that. Uh, 386 00:40:11,139 --> 00:40:18,099 I stressed out, especially on, uh, on payday. Coming up on payday? Yeah, I imagine so. 387 00:40:18,139 --> 00:40:23,859 Man, it's it's one of those things that it just doesn't feel like you can ever get out in front 388 00:40:23,860 --> 00:40:29,580 of it. Uh, at least in the short term. Um, and you know what? You guys talk to me about something 389 00:40:29,580 --> 00:40:35,620 when we were off the air that I gotta bring up here, uh, before. Before we get too far gone from it. 390 00:40:35,620 --> 00:40:42,499 But, uh, Adolf, I understand that you actually went to the company that Dean was working for. Uh, for a 391 00:40:42,500 --> 00:40:47,620 very short bit. Uh, can you guys talk to me about that a little bit? How did that go for you? What 392 00:40:47,620 --> 00:40:54,539 was what happened there? Well, it was. I mean, I'm not gonna. I mean, I'm not gonna, 393 00:40:54,580 --> 00:41:01,229 like. I'm mean, uh, me and Aaron had a heart to heart on a Saturday. 394 00:41:01,230 --> 00:41:08,110 And on Saturday, I drove the truck from from Birmingham. I 395 00:41:08,149 --> 00:41:14,709 grabbed the load according to the load, the specific load I was, I was having was, uh, I had to 396 00:41:14,749 --> 00:41:21,550 be tarp. It wasn't tarp. So I took the truck. So I got mad, took the truck back to, uh, Jacksonville, 397 00:41:22,750 --> 00:41:28,350 cleaned out my truck, and then I snuck into a couple buddies and they said, hey, man, come on over 398 00:41:28,350 --> 00:41:35,029 here. Right? Oh, man. We're making all kinds of money. Oh, man. I'll go try them out. So then I went over 399 00:41:35,030 --> 00:41:41,949 there, quit my job in Cypress, went over there, and everything seemed to be okay, 400 00:41:41,989 --> 00:41:47,830 blah, blah, blah. Come Thursday, everybody getting their trucks, right? 401 00:41:48,789 --> 00:41:55,270 And I was like, where's my truck? Right. Oh, it's over there getting detailed. 402 00:41:55,600 --> 00:42:00,800 Okay. And it was over there in Birmingham. 403 00:42:02,279 --> 00:42:08,519 And I said, well, when's my truck going to be here? Well, it should be here around 4:00. Okay. 404 00:42:09,559 --> 00:42:16,520 But the same company that I went to and Dean was at they have a A and a B, kind of 405 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:23,280 like cypress, cypress or sun belts. They have a a and a B. Mhm. So, so so something was kind of 406 00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:30,320 fishy. So I started walking around the yard. I seen it like I was like I'm not liking any of these 407 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:34,599 trailers. And I'm very particular because I was in the military, I'm very particular about my 408 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:41,039 trailers and my tires and my equipment. Very particular. I started seeing a lot of recaps. I was 409 00:42:41,039 --> 00:42:47,959 like, I'm not liking this. Looking at the trailers, deck boards are all loose brake 410 00:42:47,959 --> 00:42:54,898 chambers hanging down. I was like, I'm out of here. And I called the Clay. I was like, 411 00:42:55,780 --> 00:43:02,379 can I come back? And he goes, yeah, come on back. Monday morning I was back in orientation. 412 00:43:02,460 --> 00:43:09,459 I actually, I, I, and I ran into you while you were over there. Yeah. You know. Yeah. And your 413 00:43:09,459 --> 00:43:16,379 truck was in a shop. My truck was in the shop. It sure was. Really. The whole thing comes full circle, 414 00:43:16,379 --> 00:43:20,299 right? If you want to know where Dean's at. He's waiting for his truck to come out of the shop. 415 00:43:21,100 --> 00:43:28,100 That's right. So? So the the key to the story is whenever 416 00:43:28,100 --> 00:43:34,939 you think about leaving a company, it doesn't have to be Cypress. Any company, any job. Don't burn 417 00:43:34,939 --> 00:43:41,899 your bridges because you might have to come crawling back. Yep. I'm back with Cypress, aren't I? 418 00:43:42,379 --> 00:43:48,458 Yeah, that's a true statement. And the key thing is, as long as you're a good driver, you're a safe 419 00:43:48,459 --> 00:43:55,229 driver. You don't break records and you keep your hands off the cell phone. You can come back, right? But 420 00:43:55,230 --> 00:44:00,989 if you're if you're one of those problem guys that can't follow rules and stuff. Chances are 421 00:44:01,029 --> 00:44:07,229 you're not coming back. It's true, it's true. Well, fellas, this is this has been awesome. This 422 00:44:07,230 --> 00:44:12,829 conversation. I feel like we've got a lot of really good information out there. I, I kind of 423 00:44:12,870 --> 00:44:19,589 told everybody coming in here, we're not going to give you the most shining, uh, representation of of 424 00:44:19,629 --> 00:44:26,509 becoming an owner operator here because what we have is I, I've talked to now, Dean, uh, Adolf 425 00:44:26,550 --> 00:44:32,189 Carlos and I again spent a lot of time on the phone. Nobody here has said, hey, go do it. It's 426 00:44:32,189 --> 00:44:36,749 you're gonna make a lot of money. Everybody has said, look, if you want to go do it, it's an option. 427 00:44:36,790 --> 00:44:43,590 Here's a laundry list of things you should look out for. And I'm going to say, Dean, 428 00:44:43,590 --> 00:44:49,669 I want your advice and Adolf yours to. Dean, I'll go to you first here. Would you say that 429 00:44:49,909 --> 00:44:56,800 40 to $50,000. Sitting in a bank account is about what you should have before you take 430 00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:03,279 on an owner-operator, or lease-purchase program. Uh oh. Yeah. Absolutely. 431 00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:09,719 Um, and, um, I mean, I can't say too much about, you know, being a 432 00:45:09,720 --> 00:45:16,279 true owner-operator because I've never been there. I've always been a, you know, lease purchase. But 433 00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:21,999 yeah, even going into a lease purchase, you should have a lot of money in your bank account. Uh, 434 00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:28,999 because. Yeah, the company that you lease on with. Ah, they will probably. Well, not all of 435 00:45:28,999 --> 00:45:35,438 them, but some of them have a maintenance, uh, program they take out a little bit each month and 436 00:45:35,439 --> 00:45:42,319 set up a maintenance account for you and, you know, an escrow account. And, uh, each paycheck, they take 437 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:49,359 a little certain percentage out and put it into that escrow, uh, to build up. The problem is you 438 00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:56,009 have to let it build up. And then when you need it, it's there. I was in the shop all the time, so I 439 00:45:56,009 --> 00:46:03,009 never had a chance to build up my escrow. Right. So. So they would do the 440 00:46:03,010 --> 00:46:09,409 work on the truck and then at a later date, they would take it, uh, out of my paycheck. 441 00:46:09,770 --> 00:46:16,449 Uh, and that could be six months from the time the work was done. You know, 442 00:46:16,610 --> 00:46:21,769 uh, all of a sudden they'll just take out money and you're like, what's this from? And you look and 443 00:46:21,769 --> 00:46:28,128 it's, oh, they did this work six months ago, and they're just not taking it out. Uh, 444 00:46:28,490 --> 00:46:34,809 yeah. It kills you. It absolutely kills you. It does. It does. Adolf, From what you've seen from your, uh, 445 00:46:34,809 --> 00:46:40,729 your brother's doing the owner operator thing. Uh, how much money do you think if let's just say 446 00:46:40,729 --> 00:46:45,489 this, you're you've decided that tomorrow you're going to go and you're going to tackle this? How 447 00:46:45,490 --> 00:46:51,219 much money would you want sitting in a bank account just ready to be spent on a truck before 448 00:46:51,219 --> 00:46:57,979 you would go out and try to become an owner operator like your brothers. Um, I would say 449 00:46:58,019 --> 00:47:04,458 anywhere from 50 to 60,000, because you need to, I mean, to save a lot of money. Like, I have a little 450 00:47:04,459 --> 00:47:11,139 shop down the road, and I probably got about 10 to 15 grand and different tools and compressors and 451 00:47:11,139 --> 00:47:17,418 all that that my brother and a couple friends use. But, um, 452 00:47:18,219 --> 00:47:24,820 I would say about 60 grand. Yeah. That's crazy. And I mean, it's. With good credit, with good credit. 453 00:47:24,860 --> 00:47:30,899 Yeah. 800 plus, 800 plus. Yeah. I didn't even think about that. Because if you're not doing the lease 454 00:47:30,899 --> 00:47:36,139 purchase thing like Dean, that credit check is definitely going to come into, uh, some somebody's 455 00:47:36,139 --> 00:47:40,859 going to have to give you a loan, right? I mean, you're going to have to either get a fuel card or 456 00:47:40,860 --> 00:47:47,399 you have to get a loan. Yeah. To go buy your your equipment. So I would say to start 457 00:47:47,399 --> 00:47:54,359 out 60 grand cash. It's not a cheap game, man. It's not a cheap game doing this 458 00:47:54,360 --> 00:48:00,919 owner operator thing. So just from my my personal experience and my 459 00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:06,878 looking at my brother's and everything. Um, when I walked away from Cypress, I had my 401 460 00:48:07,919 --> 00:48:13,000 plus, I got my military retirement, and I had everything paid off when I left Cypress. Everything. 461 00:48:13,479 --> 00:48:20,319 Everything paid off. House, cars, everything. 100% paid off. And I 462 00:48:20,320 --> 00:48:27,320 walked away from Cypress with 140 grand in the bank. Wow. All from being a company 463 00:48:27,320 --> 00:48:34,239 driver. Company driver? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Well, I I'm I'm glad to hear it, man. And 464 00:48:34,239 --> 00:48:39,439 congratulations on the retirement. Uh, you still sound like you got a lot of energy left in you. I, 465 00:48:39,479 --> 00:48:45,688 I, I really appreciate you even coming on this podcast. If I were you, you I would be recording 466 00:48:45,689 --> 00:48:51,528 this podcast from a golf course right now, or a fishing hole or something like that. So, uh, we 467 00:48:51,570 --> 00:48:57,370 greatly appreciate the time from you and Dean. Same goes to you, man. Uh, I know, because I haven't 468 00:48:57,370 --> 00:49:01,449 heard you do any, uh, get out of the truck or anything like that. It sounds like you're just 469 00:49:01,450 --> 00:49:07,448 still waiting, man. Which is a part of being a truck driver, isn't it? Yeah. It is. I mean, I'm, I 470 00:49:07,610 --> 00:49:14,449 actually, I'm pulled up into place and, uh. Oh, he's offloading me right now. Oh, perfect. Well, 471 00:49:14,449 --> 00:49:19,169 it's great timing, fellas. Uh, real quick, we'll get to your final thoughts here. I always give 472 00:49:19,169 --> 00:49:23,809 everybody that comes on the show a chance to say anything that they want to before we leave. So, 473 00:49:23,850 --> 00:49:29,168 Dean, since, uh, they're about to start unloading you or have started, uh, final thoughts from you, my 474 00:49:29,169 --> 00:49:36,048 friend. Thanks for being here today. Uh, my pleasure, my pleasure. Uh, you know, uh, my final 475 00:49:36,049 --> 00:49:41,929 thoughts is just, you know, do your homework, uh, before you decide to, you know, become an owner, 476 00:49:41,929 --> 00:49:48,899 operator and, uh, Think, Think through it real hard. Amen to 477 00:49:48,939 --> 00:49:55,500 that, man. Good advice. Good advice from somebody that's seen it. Uh. It's expensive. Right? It's very 478 00:49:55,500 --> 00:50:02,179 expensive. Well, thank you, Dean. We appreciate the time. Adolf, final thoughts from you before we let 479 00:50:02,179 --> 00:50:08,898 you go, my friend. Again, thank you for the time. Um, um, just real quick. You got to be 480 00:50:08,940 --> 00:50:15,219 fat, F.A.T. You gotta be faithful. You gotta be accountable, and you gotta be trainable. 481 00:50:15,860 --> 00:50:21,259 So if you can do those three things, you can be a successful 482 00:50:22,260 --> 00:50:28,859 driver. And then the last thing is stay off that cell phone. Stay off it, man. 483 00:50:28,899 --> 00:50:35,379 Stay off it. Great advice from you there. Uh, Adolf and, uh, Dean, both of you guys did awesome today. 484 00:50:35,379 --> 00:50:40,019 Thanks for making your first appearance on the Cypress Trunk Line podcast. We will definitely get 485 00:50:40,020 --> 00:50:44,669 you guys back in here again. Okay. Thank appreciate it. I appreciate it. 486 00:50:49,430 --> 00:50:55,908 Oh. Great stuff there from Dean and Adolf. Really 487 00:50:55,909 --> 00:51:02,229 appreciate those guys coming on to share all the great insight. You know, it's not really a 488 00:51:02,230 --> 00:51:08,989 surprise, I guess is what I'll say. Uh, to see Dean back with Cypress after he started out there, uh, 489 00:51:08,990 --> 00:51:14,069 liked it, but kind of got, uh, he got hooked. You know, he said it. He said I fell for it. I was the 490 00:51:14,070 --> 00:51:19,269 idiot. I went lease purchase. He called himself an idiot. Um, I don't think that that's the case. I 491 00:51:19,269 --> 00:51:24,470 think he's being a little hard on himself there. I think it's easy for anybody to see dollar signs 492 00:51:24,470 --> 00:51:30,349 and a new opportunity and jump at it. We are all guilty of that at one point in time or another. 493 00:51:30,389 --> 00:51:35,628 Even if it's only, you know, seeing those little green double zeros on the roulette table and 494 00:51:35,629 --> 00:51:41,029 thinking, man, that's going to hit one of these times, I'm going to put my $50 on it. Nope. Never 495 00:51:41,080 --> 00:51:46,479 does. But you still do it. And that's okay. That's human nature. That's who we all are as a species. 496 00:51:46,600 --> 00:51:53,199 Uh, but I really appreciated Dean being so honest about his experience and saying, listen, not 497 00:51:53,200 --> 00:52:00,158 only was it stressful, not only was I constantly bleeding money, um, but it it really 498 00:52:00,159 --> 00:52:04,959 I was not successful at it doing it that way. And I wanted to come back to something where I could 499 00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:10,158 be successful doing it this way. And he's doing it the Cypress and Sun Belt way now. It's working out 500 00:52:10,159 --> 00:52:16,639 great for him as far as Adolf is concerned. Um, what what a great, just wealth of knowledge when 501 00:52:16,639 --> 00:52:23,600 it comes to the trucking industry. Um, and seeing his brothers firsthand struggle 502 00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:29,559 with the trappings of being owner-operators. You know, he, he said that his brothers have been doing 503 00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:35,719 it for a while now, so they're obviously finding some success in it. And he's still cautioning you, 504 00:52:35,759 --> 00:52:42,699 man, it's probably not a good idea unless you can get a 50 or 60 grand saved up in your 505 00:52:42,699 --> 00:52:48,860 bank account. That's a lot of money. Like, I, you know, just having that sitting there in case you 506 00:52:48,860 --> 00:52:55,259 need to use it. That's that's big, big bucks. And, uh, I think that this episode did exactly what I was 507 00:52:55,259 --> 00:53:01,579 hoping it would do today, which is sort of shed light on why we don't have a lease purchase 508 00:53:01,580 --> 00:53:08,579 program here at Cypress. And I reached out to, uh, to Clay Hamblen, actually. And I 509 00:53:08,620 --> 00:53:15,459 said, Clay, give me a couple of sentences or a paragraph about why Cypress doesn't 510 00:53:15,459 --> 00:53:20,699 have a lease purchase program. And he sent me something back. And I'm going to kind of read this 511 00:53:20,700 --> 00:53:24,899 verbatim because he wanted me to clean it up a little bit. But I think there's a little bit of 512 00:53:24,899 --> 00:53:30,419 magic here in exactly the way that Clay wrote this. So listen to what his response was. He says 513 00:53:30,420 --> 00:53:35,419 trucking is challenging enough, and we have discussed offering a lease purchase program. But 514 00:53:35,420 --> 00:53:40,949 up to this point, we've always felt that having a mixture of lease purchase owner operators with 515 00:53:40,950 --> 00:53:46,949 company drivers would open up and cause more problems. We'd rather be able to focus 516 00:53:46,950 --> 00:53:52,908 100% of our effort into company only drivers. We've built a good culture here at Cypress Truck 517 00:53:52,909 --> 00:53:58,669 Lines and there's a saying don't fix what's not broken. Um, I think that's very well said. And you 518 00:53:58,669 --> 00:54:03,790 can tell the other thing that I think is important here to draw on. You can totally tell 519 00:54:03,790 --> 00:54:10,589 that Cypress is 100% invested in their company drivers, because look at Dean. He's loving it. 520 00:54:10,629 --> 00:54:15,869 He's right where he wants to be. Look at Adolf. He's retired, for God's sake. I mean, the guy's 521 00:54:15,870 --> 00:54:20,989 living down in Pensacola, Florida, watching the Blue Angels fly over his house every day. That is 522 00:54:20,990 --> 00:54:27,229 the life. And that's brought to you by being a company driver. Okay? It's it's not. There's no ifs, 523 00:54:27,229 --> 00:54:32,869 ands or buts about it, if you will. And I'll also draw reference to another gentleman who provided 524 00:54:32,870 --> 00:54:39,279 a ton of awesome, uh, info for this interview. And that is Carlos Trent. And one of these days I'm 525 00:54:39,280 --> 00:54:42,918 going to get him on the episode or get him on the podcast. He doesn't like the way his voice sounds 526 00:54:42,919 --> 00:54:47,959 on a recording, and I get that. We've all struggled with that. Trust me, as a broadcaster, the first 527 00:54:47,959 --> 00:54:53,359 four years of my career, I wouldn't wear both ear earphones on my headphones. I had to have one of 528 00:54:53,360 --> 00:54:57,958 them off because I couldn't stand the way my voice sounded in my head. It goes away, but it 529 00:54:57,959 --> 00:55:04,319 takes 1000 hours. So I'm going to get Carlos one of these days. But I will thank him kindly for the 530 00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:10,040 stories and the information that he brought about being an owner-operator. It's another guy who was 531 00:55:10,040 --> 00:55:16,040 doing it, saw how much he was spending, and just said, this ain't it. I gotta go back and be a 532 00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:20,799 company driver. Now he's back with Cypress and happy as a clam man. And that's that's what you're 533 00:55:20,800 --> 00:55:26,600 looking for, right? At the end of the day, trucking is a job. It puts food on the table. And what we 534 00:55:26,600 --> 00:55:31,959 discovered here is that you might very well have a lot less food on the table. If you are an owner 535 00:55:31,960 --> 00:55:37,688 operator that doesn't have some walking around money in your pocket. Okay. 15 grand for the top 536 00:55:37,689 --> 00:55:44,048 end. 15 grand for the bottom end of the engine. Another 15 grand for your transmission. Another 15 537 00:55:44,049 --> 00:55:50,689 grand for your def filter system. And on and on and on. We haven't even touched your tires. We 538 00:55:50,689 --> 00:55:56,049 haven't even touched your fuel. We haven't touched your insurance. It's an expensive game. Trucking is 539 00:55:56,050 --> 00:56:01,649 an expensive game. There's no question about it. So do your research before. It's not to say that 540 00:56:01,649 --> 00:56:08,089 being an owner, operator or doing a lease purchase program with another company won't work for 541 00:56:08,090 --> 00:56:14,449 somebody. It can. It will. It has and it will again. However, do your research 542 00:56:14,449 --> 00:56:20,489 beforehand. And if you take any advice that we gave in this entire episode, I'm going to say get 543 00:56:20,490 --> 00:56:27,289 a really, really good numbers guy. Uh, CPA great. But you better make sure and vet 544 00:56:27,330 --> 00:56:32,449 them that they've got a little bit of transportation industry experience or in Carlos's 545 00:56:32,449 --> 00:56:39,349 case, a lot of transportation industry experience. I told you off the top $160,000. 546 00:56:39,389 --> 00:56:44,428 The IRS came after Carlos for and he ended up getting that turned into a refund by somebody 547 00:56:44,429 --> 00:56:49,429 that knew what they were doing. Um, the IRS does not care about getting it right. They just want 548 00:56:49,429 --> 00:56:53,949 the money until you can prove to them that you don't owe them that money, and then they'll be 549 00:56:53,949 --> 00:56:58,669 okay with it. Oh, you got all these write-offs. Well, you should have told us. Yeah, funny how that works, 550 00:56:58,710 --> 00:57:04,949 Uncle Sam. Uh, but I digress yet again, I really think that this episode was chock full of some 551 00:57:04,949 --> 00:57:10,229 great advice from some really experienced guys. And, uh, man, if you're if you've ever thought about 552 00:57:10,230 --> 00:57:15,469 it before, or maybe you're out there doing it right now and it's starting to kind of rear its 553 00:57:15,470 --> 00:57:21,228 ugly head, the reality of the situation, then maybe you should give Cypress a call, come back here and 554 00:57:21,269 --> 00:57:25,789 hang out with Dean and Carlos and maybe even see Adolf every now and then. If he drops by the 555 00:57:25,789 --> 00:57:29,669 lot, I'm not sure. Be hard to pull me out of Pensacola, Florida too, with the Blue Angels 556 00:57:29,670 --> 00:57:34,638 overhead and all. But that's about all I've got for you today, I want to remind you to head over 557 00:57:34,639 --> 00:57:41,559 to podcast.cypresstruck.com. That is our website for all things podcast. You can find all 558 00:57:41,559 --> 00:57:46,799 the episodes up there and you can send me your email messages. If you want to be on the show or 559 00:57:46,799 --> 00:57:51,119 you've got something that you want to talk about. I'm constantly making episodes out of your guys's 560 00:57:51,119 --> 00:57:56,159 ideas and I would love to hear yours. So head on over to the website and say hi to me. Hit me right 561 00:57:56,160 --> 00:58:01,639 in the pocket. As I say, Cypress, be safe out there. Uh, make sure you keep the shiny side up on all 562 00:58:01,639 --> 00:58:06,759 those beautiful cypress trucks, and we will see you next week, 5 a.m. local time for another 563 00:58:06,760 --> 00:58:11,159 episode of the Cypress Truck Lines podcast. I've been. Marcus, you've been awesome. We'll see you 564 00:58:11,160 --> 00:58:11,959 next week.