How to make it as an owner operator

Wow. What is with this "Holier than thou" attitude driver?

You do it your way. Ill do it mine. I make plenty of money doing things my way.

Who are you to tell me or anyone else what "we signed up for" anyway?

Do you want a cookie or something?

how do you climb in and out of your rig safely with that cape you must be wearing ? Is that safe?

 

You are SOOO wrong.

If I was worse off having my own authority and doing things my way wasnt paying off, I would just go back to being a slave to the industry.

NO WAY !

I work WAY less and still make TWICE what I made as an Owner OP under someone elses authority.

Bro, you seem real bitter. Like what the others said, If you want to live to work...go ahead....go right ahead.

 

Amen brother.........amen to that.

 

It is all going to depend on where you live when it comes to running in a regional manner. I would not let anyone ever guarantee that you will be home EVERY weekend, but if it is your goal to do that, then you will have to figure out the freight lanes in your area as well as shippers located nearby. For me there are times it is easy to get home and then there are times where you just wont be able to do it. I say this because for me, when the longer runs are paying better, then I take them over staying regional.

There are many factors other than where you are based like seasonality and the equipment you want to run.

 

No I'm just trying to get banned again I guess.

 

Maybe time for a bit of an update then...so hold on.....

Going back to the original thread, I think I need to add some of my more recent experiences.

I want to start off by saying thanks to all those that have made POSITIVE comments on this thread;thank you!

I went back and re-read my original post and I was blown away by one thing. Wow...things can change fast in this business. Being able to have an open mind is very important for sure!

Since I made this original post, I have to admit I have been forced into doing things that I said I planned to avoid like going into FL. Now let me be clear when I say this, sometimes you get forced into doing something you think you had better avoid only to discover that there is in fact a way to make it work.

Lately I have been ending my evolutions by getting to Pensacola via the Tampa area. Yes that's right. I actually plan ahead to dead-head almost 480 miles home from the Tampa or Orlando area. How do I do this and not trash my overall revenue per mile rate for the evolution (I call my runs evolutions) you might wonder? Well let me explain.

For starters, I always keep an open mind. I always ask myself "how do other people make it work?". Even though I keep an open mind, I always hold out for my rate....my FL rate that is. For one, I don't go into Fl unless I am at least 1000 mi from the Tampa Orlando area and that is as far as I go because my formula will not work if I have to dead head from points further South, like Miami. This way I can average in my LONG a#ss leg back home and still be getting close to or over my $1.70 per mile target. So ,how do I do it? Well I HOLD FOR MY RATE!! Period! And if I can get it I can make it work. Miles are miles and revenues are revenues. These days I plan X number of days on an evolution and X amount of gross revenues$$$. Some people call it a "run" or "tour" but I call it an "evolution" because I am always willing to try a new lane if it looks profitable. If it works, well then i have learned something new, or I have evolved a bit. I have never claimed to be an old expert at this so I know I need to keep an open mind and try new things.

Now, for all of you that are going to be calling me out and accusing me of taking "CHEAP" freight out of FL to make this work, well shut the f up right now because I DO NO DO THAT! One of the things I REFUSE to do is give my services away for free. Taking cheap freight might make sense on the surface, but on the spot market, what you find ALWAYS has hidden crap that makes it a total bust. Either too heavy, too many stops, or something always factors into a reason why it is on the boards in the first place. So be careful.

All I need to do is adjust the way I look at my evolution back home and if I hit my numbers I don't care how I do it. What I found was that if I get into certain lanes say Iowa to Tampa...well I can get 2.50 per mile on a Friday to buzz down to Tampa or say Lakeland and by god I can still DH all the way back to Pensacola and still manage to gross 1.7 per mile even with the DH miles. The bonus is that on this 1500 mile "run" I have managed to do almost 500 miles of it empty averaging 8mpg. This makes it more prefitable than a loaded 1500 mile "run" by quite a bit. Now this might suck for some of you and that is fine. For me it works. This is one sure fire way I have been able to get home in a hurry. now I have this option to consider when looking for the last leg home.

Like I said in the original post. Stand your ground and hold for your rate. When I am 1000 miles from FL I will actually entertain the Idea of running to the Tampa or Orlando area for the right rate. On my way home I sometimes find a short load in between that will put another 500-600 bucks in the bank, but this is gravy and I don't count on it. This has not happened every time but 50% of the time I can still bring in some more revenue on the DH leg home. I bounced 50 miles out of route last week to pick a load going right back to home base. Gravy right there.

If anyone is still interested...I can post more. Just remember to hold for your rate, but dont get too greedy and remember to look at the bigger picture.