How did you get your start as O/O?

nope I am on my own and they can----------- ------- -------

some of the guys I miss though like Jim he is a good guy but the company as them about half scared to talk to me I think not that they said not to but one of them brought there truck to the shop to get fixed and the boys in the office saw it and he has been scitish ever sense it has been a hard gig with ----- cutting trucks lately I think there all trying not to be the next one to lose one

 

I was 21, didn't know what to do in life. Asked my dad to teach me how to drive a semi. He did. Worked for a couple years at a moving company. Decided that I wanted to run over the road to make the big $$$$. Bought a 3 year old T2000 with 225,000 miles on it,at age 24, on a 5 year note. Paid it off with alot of sweat in 2-1/2 years. Enjoyed running it for the next 5 years, and sold it in the spring of '08 before used truck prices went in the crapper. Miss owning and running my own truck immensely. But love the security not worrying about owning my own truck. To those of you still making it, my hat's off to you.

 

I am going the Lease Operator way to start... I know, I know... I've heard it all but it's my money and this works for me. Anyway, I am going to finish out my lease while saving money to get my own (really my own) truck and authority.

 

Good luck with that 99 out of a hundred stories here from guys netting $100 settlements or worse every week and more than a few that were in the negative by weeks end. Surely you'll be one of the lucky ones though I'd hate to take a chance like that myself it's hard enough with a paid for truck, to each his own I guess...

 

After all that you've read here about other suckers that have lost their ##### on the same thing?


IT DEFIES LOGIC!!!

 

This time around...

Drove a company truck for 1.5 years. Got fed up with doing that call-in-and-ask-someone-who-doesnt-know-jack-about-trucks-to-get-my-pos-company-truck-fixed ordeal.

Went thru orientation with a guy that had my truck. I saw the specs in the door, and it was everything I wanted to pull the freight that I wanted to pull. Big tranny, big rears, drive axles spread, 3:70 gears, heavy duty steer axle with extra leafsprings...truck is stout. I told this driver that if he ever came out of that truck to call me. He called me. And I got his truck.

I always reccommend drivers that are looking to buy their own rig to do their homework. Dont just 'buy a truck', buy the best truck for your job. If you are unsure, just wait until you see a driver pulling the wagon you want to pull and ask him about the specs. A company driver might not know the truck's specs, but any O/O worth anything should be able to tell you.

I guess the most common mistake that the new O/O makes is buying the wrong truck for the job. 370 HP and a 9 speed might work well for a flatlander daycab, but its suicide for a reefer truck that runs 48. 600HP and 3:08 gears might be good for a bullwagon, but worthless for a heavyhauler trying to pull a quarter of a million pounds up a mountain.