My first year as an owner operator.

I want to tell some of the people who are thinking of becoming an owner operator some of my experiences the first year,well it's not quite a year yet.
The thing you will hear the most is,Welcome to being an owner operator, and it's always something,so I just quit telling things that were happening to me to fellow owner operators.
I started as a company driver for two years and then bought my truck,I'm retired from another occupation but do not receive a pension or retirement pay for another 4 years.I had savings to back me up if all went south for awhile and it did.
The company I work they were not real receptive to me converting to owner operator.I was placed on the bottom of the list for loads due to seniority as an owner operator..The product we haul is cement so the rains this spring brought the cement hauling to a stand still.I then after several weeks of not getting a load tried to find my own.This is where I lacked the experience and contacts.I have my own authority and all, but I do not own a trailer so I was left to the power only load boards.I checked with a few companies to hire on to but they wanted you to commit to them 100 percent and not part time.I knew that when the cement hauling got going it would be a lot better than the $1.00 per mile adds I keep seeing.I continue to see the adds that read you will net $1,500 per week,I don't see the point of being an owner operator with all the worries of owning a truck for that kind of pay.The best thing by far would be to find a business that needs it's product hauled and work directly with them and cut out the shipper and brokers.
The thing I know about owning my own truck is you notice every rattle,whine,thump and hums that you payed no attention to as a company driver,as my friend put it, now you wonder how much is that going to cost me.
I know it's hard to find any encouraging information out here but I'm going to make now and you can too,you just have to wade through all the negatives from people who have tried and failed and those who would rather complain than take a chance.There is a lot of opportunity out there and I don't know if anyone is ever fully prepared for the first year that comes at you.

 

Yes I do,but luckily I did some research as far as buying the truck,it's a 1999 freightliner with the Detroit S 60 ,so it gets good fuel millage and my monthly payment is about the same as a late model pickup or car.

 

I went through my local bank,I told them mostly local within 300 miles,The owner of the bank also owns a small OTR company so their were a few questions that I could tell had originated from him and passed on to the loan agent,but I've done business with them for a long time.I really do not have a lot of debt either accept home morgage