u/the_synapse3

Is this a reasonable cost per mile?

$1 for fuel which I’ll adjust accordingly
$0.25 for maintenance and repairs, I drive a paid off 2020 Cascadia with 710,000 miles on it
$0.10 for deductions such as insurance and registration
$0.15 for miscellaneous truck stuff like scale tickets and tolls and everything else, whatever I don’t spend just goes into my pocket or can go towards repairs if needed

Total of $1.50 a mile

Including paying myself $1 per mile it’s $2.50

This is assuming an average of 2000 to 2500 miles a week. I’m with Landstar, so before their 35% cut my absolute minimum is $3.85 a mile including the 100% fuel surcharge because I pay myself a dollar a mile salary. Haven’t really had much trouble getting these rates lately on Landstar’s board

Maintenance wise, I’ve spent just under $15,000 in six months so I want a nice cushion. About half of that $15,000 included getting the truck healthy and in good shape from doing a full inspection at the dealer which I plan to do every four months

Thoughts? Based on my spreadsheet, as of six months so far my overall cost per mile is $1.36. I figured that there’s nothing wrong with overestimating my expenses

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u/the_synapse3 — 11 days ago

Thoughts on taking my truck in to do a full (non-DOT) inspection every 4 months at Freightliner

Landstar driver here with a 2020 Cascadia. I know a lot of you will think this is a stupid idea but I believe I’m in a financial position to be able to do this as I have no debt or bills and my truck is paid off. The local Freightliner charges $400 for a full 2 hour mechanical inspection of the truck. They found a number of things on mine that will likely cost at the very least a couple thousand which I’m fine with.

What is everyone’s thoughts on doing this every 120 days on top of Landstar’s required DOT inspection? I know a lot of you will say that they’ll always find something every single time, which they probably will given the truck’s age, or the dealer is a rip off, but I’m looking for genuine input before I make a decision for my business. I don’t have a personal, independent trusted shop that I can take my truck to so I see this as the best, albeit more expensive alternative. Not mechanically inclined myself either.

Thank you everyone. For reference, my Cascadia has 700k miles on it as of now.

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u/the_synapse3 — 2 months ago