#54. How I Made Over $200K My First Year as an Owner Operator

As always head to HaulinAssetsLLC.com for full show notes and documents from this and other episodes.

Over the past year, I have laid out the blueprint for the first year of operation of a one truck, owner operator trucking company. In this episode we talk about some of the keys to my success, some of the challenges I faced, and what the end result has been. I truly feel like there is no reason anyone can’t follow my plan and be just as successful as I was. In fact, I think most people can do better than I did.

Most owner operators won’t experience some of the same challenges I faced, like having to park the truck for 4 weeks because of my Army National Guard Duty or having no driving experience. The first time I drove a truck with more than an empty trailer was the day I picked up my first load.

What To Expect From Episode 54

The first year of any business is the hardest. I feel incredibly blessed that I was able to bring in just over $200,000 in total revenue during my first 12 months as an Owner Operator. Although revenue is important, the number that really matters is the bottom line.

We cover that and so much more during this episode of the podcast, where Craig and I review the highs and lows from the startup phase through the first year in business of Haulin Assets.

Here are some of the topics we talk about:

• The excitement of the startup phase and my total startup costs
• My successes
  • Making a profit (listen in to hear how much)
  • Building something that is mine and will benefit my family and not someone else
  • Saving money
• My challenges
  • My truck getting hit by a deer
  • Dealing with shippers and receivers
  • The stress of owning a business
• What I feel like are my biggest rewards so far
  • Freedom
  • Pride of ownership
  • The understanding that I am setting myself up for financial success

Financial Statements

There are a couple of things I want to point out on the financial statements you see below.

Other Expenses and Tax Benefits

If you go all the way to the bottom of the profit and loss statement, you will see there is a net income. Then, there is a section for Other Expenses that you don’t normally see on my monthly P&L. That is because it includes my annual depreciation expense for my truck and trailer. I usually only make that adjustment once a year, so it is only included on my annual financial statement, not my monthly one. 

The cool thing about a depreciation expense is that it really is not cash out of your pocket but is purely a tax benefit. The simplified version is that because of the depreciation expense, even though I made a little over $32k, the IRS only taxes me on $17,992. This is one of the beauties of owning a business, you get a lot of tax benefits that you just don’t get as a company driver.

Retained Earnings

The retained earnings on the balance sheet is negative. That is because all my startup costs are included in that. So you can see, at the year mark, I have almost completely recouped all my startup costs.