Owner Operator after 30 years in a local driving job

Anyone can buy a truck and go the owner op route. Feasible for a 30 yr old driving local? Sure,.. why not?

How ever,.. and this is just my opinions here,.. but if you are looking to go O/O for the sole purpose of being home more or working less,.. you may end up disappointed.

Anyone can buy a truck. Many do and end up dumbfounded when they dont know how to find work for it. I would suggest finding the work first,.. figure out what segment you want to get into. What niche you feel you can best fit in and provide a good service. Then buy a truck that will best serve that purpose. This way you have the work and a paycheck instead of a large lawn ornament with weeds growing around it.

As an owner op,.. your truck is your responsibility. Maintenance, Repairs, PM's, upkeep, fuel, insurance, permits, registration, tires, brakes,.. down time,.. its not always as cut and dry as just buying a truck and putting it to work. There is so much more involved.

Getting home time is easy,.. you route yourself home. How ever, bare in mind,.. unless those wheels are rolling,. you are not earning. You may find in order to be an O/O that you have to run harder than when you were as a company driver. As is often the case for the first few years until you find different sources of work for the truck that may or may not work in your favor. It involves a lot of trial and error before you actually find the sweet spot you are looking for.

Can you make it work? I would like to think so,.. but the real question you need to ask yourself is, what are you willing to sacrifice in the mean time? How hard are you willing to push yourself to make it happen? As an O/O, your job is far from over once you pull in your driveway at home. Driving is the easy part.

I would suggest spending the next year or so researching and exploring your options prior to purchasing a truck. Dont get caught up in any of the mega fleece deals or empty promises companies try to sell regarding how easy it seems to be to get into a truck and call yourself an O/O. If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.

Hurst

 

Going from Teamster to O/O? Wow, you will be in for some rude wake up calls. You are used to being paid for everything you do, forget that right now. Weekends will be spent at the shop, you said "I'm stuck working another fourth of July"... LOL, get used to that, when you own a truck you will be working fourth of July (you just won't be getting paid). The grass is always greener where the dogs are doing their business.

 

Friends say DOT regulations and hassles put them out of business. That and fuel costs.

 

I talked to my brother yesterday and could not believe how angry and bitter he had become. He works at a teamster company and makes 80-90k a year. He's put in twenty years toward a pension they keep pushing farther into the future. The company he works for wouldn't pay his $400 ticket for not having a current ifta sticker. Union represented him in court got the fine reduced to $311 dollars but he had to go with the union's lawyer to court. No pay, lost day of work and lots of stress and still has to pay. I told him his pension wasn't worth the aggravation of working for a company that values an employee no more than they do. He is 43 with only 22 years to go to get that pension. I don't think he'll make it. If your thirty and not loving what you do my advice is to try something else or you'll wake up before you know it aND be old and miserable.

 

The thing that blows a hole in getting a truck and traveling around being semi retired is overhead of just having the truck
but it can be done
but my .02 on how you do buy older equipment that you can pay cash for pay your insurance up front for the year then you don't have the monthly pressure
Get your own numbers find the local work in your area and buy the equipment that lets you do it belly dump is often a good one and then buy yourself a trailer that is also good for otr such as van or flat bed so you never have to sit
work your ### off tell it is all paid off and is sitting in your yard in good ready to roll shape then you can semi retire

 

A friend of mine is 5-6 years older than you Kugel and happens to be a former teamster from Roadway. Does exactly what you are desribing. Became an o/o 6 years ago bought a tractor. Now has apaid for tractor and trailer. Actually he was the 2nd o/o to lease on here at Farm2Fleet after I did. He pays for his own health insurance now. Runs about 6 or 7 months out of the year. Operates exactly in the same manner as I do. We pull dry vans and take advantage of spot market trends. When freight/rates are up we are taking advantage of it. When they are down we are at home tossing steaks on the grill drinking brews waiting it out. Make and keep more money like this than I ever did working year round running blood sucking miles for peanuts. Just bought a brand new trailer in Jan and on track to recover that $30,000 well before yeats end. Avg about 55,000-65,000 miles a year. Brokers might call what we do gouging but not every load is like that. Anyways, IMO, it is the only way to truck. **** working your ### off for 48-50 weeks a year having zero life. I just finished up my first half of the year yesterday morning. I am taking off most of July and probably August too. I don't like trucking in hot weather and rates for dry vans then are lousy anyways.

 

Get Conway out of your mind. What you need to be looking for is a company that pays percentage. And that also lets you run how and where you want. It's a lot of retired O/O out here. And that whole you'll have to work on the 4th is untrue. You could easily route yourself home or close to it. As far as working when home, well that part is true. I make up a list of things that I need to fix or replace. Anything I can do myself I do it and everything else is going to my buddy shop.