Crunching The Numbers, Am I Missing Something?? (newb) | TruckersReport.com Trucking Forum

Hello!
Trying to do some nitty gritty number crunching as my husband and I are VERY seriously considering becoming O/Os. Any input would be super helpful, although I have spent some substantial time researching the industry/lifestyle on sites and forums, I think it’s always best to hear straight from the horse’s mouth. A little background…

-Husband and I are mid 30s, no kids, no house/mortgage payment (apt lease is up in Oct). Aka no substantial debt or expenses. We will be on the road together so getting back/having a lot of home time would not be a priority

-Husband has always worked for himself, at one point we owned/operated a retail brick and mortar business together, so we understand how to run a biz, and work well together having complementary strengths.

-My father in law owned an industrial plastics recycling company so my husband does have some familiarity w/ semi-trucks/trucking from working with his Dad at the plant in high school/college.

-We would run power only and have the means to make a substantial investment in a super sleeper (bed, bathroom, kitchenette, etc) to make life on the road more comfortable/stay out longer etc. It will literally be our house 90% of the time.

-Being together all of the time doesn’t bother us. He would drive while I navigate, check load boards, do any back office work required, cook, clean, etc.

-We would also have at least one other stream of income besides trucking to help support us, but trucking would be primary.

-Being on the road/driving doesn’t bother us. We’ve done 17-19 hour days on road trips before, although I realize there are laws/set duty hours preventing this as a truck driver and that it’s substantially different than driving a four wheeler.

From what I’ve researched, we’d likely sign onto a company. The one we’re most interested in offers 82% of linehaul (rather than cpm) and claims solos are doing $7k-$9k per week gross. They also offer detention/layover pay, general/auto/cargo insurance, and a fuel card. We took the $7k (we prefer to look at “worst case scenario”) and put it in excel with other expenses and that $7k doesn’t leave much net left over.

I’ve copied and pasted the numbers below (some borrowed from another O/O’s P&L he posted), but are we missing something?? We’re ok with a bit of “baptism by fire” starting out, but only if it makes fiscal sense.
I’m hesitant to talk to a recruiter assuming they’d blow a bit of smoke up our butts.

Thank you in advance for your responses!

$7000 x 49 weeks (3 weeks off) = $343,000 gross

82% of gross = $281,260

Fuel (assuming 2k mile/wk, 5mpg @ current prices = $100k-ish) = $181,260

Assuming $3500/mo truck payment ($42k/yr) = $139,260

Reserve 20% for maintenance ($27,852) = $111,408

Insurance– confused what portion the company pays (truck, medical, hsa) = $31,000) = $80,408

Various supplies/tools ($3000) = $77,408

Phone/Internet ($1000) = $76,408

Legal/accounting for the LLC or SCorp ($6000) = $70,408

Savings @ 10% min ($7,408) = $63,000

Trailer rentals ($235/wk @ 12 wks? Not sure how much this would be needed = $2,820) = $60,180

So about $60k/yr before we pay ourselves, buy food, clothes, etc