I've been reading over this forum for a couple of months trying to gather info. I'm looking at buying a single route and depending on how it goes expanding. This would be for investment purposes so I would not be driving. I've seen a lot of negative reviews about FedEx on this site so I'm hoping for responses from contractors and not drivers. The terminal the route runs out of is near my work so I planed on being at it 2-3 days a week to greet my driver and to make sure things are running correctly. I'm looking more at ground routes than HD. A lot of the HD routes I've seen are growing to much and while that's good I view it as a bad thing. There's only so many stops 1 truck and 1 driver can do before you have to run a supplemental route. They way I'm figuring it unless your supplemental route is a true full load your not making enough off it to cover a full time driver, truck, gas and insurance. A lot of these HD routes that are for sale are at that point where they need a supplemental. The ground routes I've seen have room for growth still while only using 1 driver and truck. The route I'm interested in grosses 105k a year. Average day is 150 miles so total diesel for a week at $3.85 while getting 7.5 mpg is $385. I'd start my driver out at $700 a week and FedEx deductions are around $140/wk. I'd set a side $100/wk for maintenance on the vehicle. I'd take home $694/wk if those prices stayed true. The route and truck price are 65k. That's a 55% ROI.
The only cost I see that might be low is $100/wk maintenance. After buying the route I'd have the trucks engine and transmission rebuilt or replaced if need be to cut down on equipment failure. The other area of concern would be only having one route and one driver. I'd like to have 2 routes so I could "promote" 1 of the drivers to manager and have him check in with me daily so I know everyone shows up on time... or even shows up. But for right now and the purpose of this I'm going to stick with one route.
What am I missing here? I know everyone complains about management but I think that varies by terminal. I believe if managed right and with good drivers you could make a decent return off these routes. I wouldn't mind paying a driver more if he showed a great work ethic. My only thing is I don't like my investment in the hands of a driver. So what else am I missing? This route runs out of Georgia.
The only cost I see that might be low is $100/wk maintenance. After buying the route I'd have the trucks engine and transmission rebuilt or replaced if need be to cut down on equipment failure. The other area of concern would be only having one route and one driver. I'd like to have 2 routes so I could "promote" 1 of the drivers to manager and have him check in with me daily so I know everyone shows up on time... or even shows up. But for right now and the purpose of this I'm going to stick with one route.
What am I missing here? I know everyone complains about management but I think that varies by terminal. I believe if managed right and with good drivers you could make a decent return off these routes. I wouldn't mind paying a driver more if he showed a great work ethic. My only thing is I don't like my investment in the hands of a driver. So what else am I missing? This route runs out of Georgia.