Advice from local owner operators

Buy a truck spec'd for the work you're going to ask it to do. Wrong specs will cost you money. For example, extra weight reduces payload, but too light and you might be sacrificing strength and durability. Will you make enough hauling that extra tonnage in order to pay for the repairs? Low gearing is great for off road, site work, and heavy loads....but sucks down the fuel running higher RPM's on the road. Gear it faster and you'll save fuel, but if you leave the pavement or pull heavy loads, it's hard on the clutch and entire drive line. Will you save enough on fuel to pay for the repairs? Sleepers add weight and limit visibility (day cabs don't really have a "blind side"), so if you're going to be home every night you might not want one...but then again if you're pulling vans or containers, a condo (or at least a mid-roof) will help the truck get down the road without fighting the wind against the nose of the trailer....so you'll see better mpg. Every spec available on these trucks has a cost/benefit to choosing one option over another, and you want to try to get it as right as possible.

You also want to keep in mind that the job you are doing with the truck today may not be the job it's going to be doing a year from now. Things happen, and ESPECIALLY while you've got a note on the truck, it has to be working and making you money. If things don't work out at the place you initially sign on to, how versatile will it be with the specs you've chosen?

Personally, I LOVE driving local. Home in bed with the wife at night. I'm familiar with the roads around me, and it's easy enough to detour if/when I need to. I know the local laws where I'm operating, what roads I can or can't drive on, and have a general idea where customers are and how long it should take me to get there even if I've never been there before. If the truck breaks down, I know who to call for parts, and if a hook is needed, which tow company will give a good rate vs. the one that will charge an outrageous sum for a short tow. You get to form a relationship with whatever shop(s) work on your truck, parts stores where you're buying what you need to service or repair it, etc. You aren't going to be stuck in BFE living in the driver's lounge at a questionable shop that happens to be "too busy" to get to your truck until next week because it was the closest shop when your truck broke down...you're close enough that you can get home, and close enough to have the truck towed to a shop you trust. No waiting around for 8-10 hours waiting for dispatch to pull their head out of their rear and find you a load. If there is no loads for me to haul today, I take the day off. Don't have a load back after I'm empty, I bounce home. I don't mind sitting....at home....where I can work around the house, run into town, or do whatever.

You also get to know other drivers who work local...whether they work for the same company you are contracting with or not. You drive the same streets, and see them regularly. Might be bear reports, traffic reports, or just a simple "Good morning" over the CB as you pass by. When you're in your own truck, you're easier to recognize. At my last company, I knew quite a few O/O's by the trucks they drove, but probably wouldn't recognize them outside of their trucks. Company drivers all looked alike to me running around in identical trucks.

Anyway, I enjoy running local. I enjoy being an O/O. I don't know that I would enjoy being an O/O near as much if I WASN'T local, because eventually stuff happens and it's on you to make it right. In an unfamiliar area, that gets to be more and more difficult...don't know who to call or where to get what you need. Of course here in the sticks, local running covers quite a bit of ground, but you can make good time between here & there. Out there on the left coast and in a big city, it might not be as much fun. I would recommend talking to O/O's who are doing what you want to do, where you want to do it, and get their input. I was a company driver for a year and a half at the company I contracted my truck to once I bought it...and even though I've since moved on, I still remain in contact with some of the O/O's who were very helpful in our discussions. They can provide insight into a lot of the small details that might otherwise be overlooked....provide tips on how to be successful THERE, doing THAT.

Good luck.

 

Pretty spot on^^

 

If you get it from your company, would it be a "lease/purchase" or would you get outside financing (if necessary) and just buy it outright? If you're considering a lease/purchase, I'd caution against that option...far too many drivers get fleeced on those deals, as they are set up from the start to make profits for the company offering the lease/purchase (at the driver's expense, of course). Bottom line, if your name isn't on the title, it ain't your truck.

Supposing you are actually buying the truck, is the company good about keeping up on the maintenance? Do the "mechanics" do the job RIGHT? Or do they take shortcuts to make sure they get the job done "on time" so they don't get in trouble for taking too long on repairs? I've worked places where I wouldn't even CONSIDER buying a piece of their "used" equipment because I've seen the work their "shop" does....but then I've worked places that took care of their equipment, and if it needed repairs, made sure the job was done RIGHT....and I'd have no problem buying THEIR "used" equipment. So basically, that all comes down to the company, what you know about their shops, and if you trust their work when it'll be YOUR money paying for the repairs from here on out.

Whether you buy the truck from the company or from an outside source, DEFINITELY take it to a mechanic/shop that you trust and have the truck looked over by somebody who knows their way around one of these things. I took mine 40 miles away from the independent dealer selling the truck to the nearest Mack dealer, and had them go over the truck with a fine tooth comb...even ran it on a dyno. I didn't know the truck. I didn't know the dealership selling the truck. I didn't even know the Mack dealer I took the truck to, but I figured since they know their way around a Mack and don't have any skin in the game as to whether or not I buy the truck, they are going to be honest with me about what they might find. Once you sign the papers, it's your baby...whether it runs flawlessly or blows up next week. It is in your best interest to find out as much about the truck as you can BEFORE you sign the papers.

Now if you have the option to buy the truck you've been driving, that could be the best option...you know the truck, and if it's been reliable and problem-free, it's a great advantage over buying a truck with no known history. Of course, again, that depends upon whether or not you trust the people who have been working on it. Sure, buying an "unknown" truck from a 3rd party might ALSO put you in a truck that might have been maintained by an incompetent "mechanic"....but if you KNOW the mechanics at the company shop are pretty much worthless, you might be better off taking the gamble on the unknown truck.