Current rates are now below fleet operating costs! It's official!

2 income households are common now. That argument can be made towards just about all jobs.

Are all successful being an owner operator? No but buying a truck and working is just the same as buying a shoe shine box and starting a business.

What if I insert the idea that if you are a single truck operation after 5 years you are not really a company, just a person who bought a truck for a job. After all companies are gauged by their size and revenue right?

 

It's not about scaling into something bigger although I feel like most of us 1 truck operators running typical #### out here are always at a disadvantage because we're all doing what everyone else is doing. Which means it's always competitive and the pay will be low.

I also feel like if your truck can't support benefits and your family on it's own then you bought yourself a job. Because there are still company driver jobs out here that will support a family in a 1 income household.

 

Having benefits or a supporting a family with a single income like you claim doesn’t mean someone didn’t pay for that job.

everyone who has purchased a truck to haul freight has done just that. Purchased a job.

 

Some people that purchased a truck to haul freight don't depend on their wife to support their hobby trucking.

 

When I work, I work, I'm not seating. I have certain numbers to hit. I can work for more than a month without a day off.
Anything can happen, but I'm happy with what I do.

 

That’s fine, that just means you’re good in what you do, but it doesn’t mean you didn’t buy a job. That’s all I’m saying.

 

I'm not claiming I didn't buy a job. Clearly what I did didn't work. But I never depended on anyone else to support the habit. There's some operators out here making good enough bank to do it all. But the vast majority aren't.

 

I can take 2 years off and not lose equipment. I am no where near, living paycheck to paycheck. I have a low cost of personal living and savings as a blanket. If you make good money you have reserves. However I would loose all business credibility with my contacts.it’s all what you want in life. I want to work and be productive. If I took time off, I would want to work and build what I have going. It’s a lifestyle. I get immense enjoyment thru my work. Some people use work as a means to living out their goals. I just love to work. I have always been that way.

 

So basically you can't, because you're tighten to those brokers who you think care about you.
And they don't.

 

First off I don’t want my customer to care about me. I prefer to be the one that serves. I do invoice accordingly. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be a player in all this..I also am not bound by brokers. I do use the spot market. My customer freight is about 25-30 percent of what I do. I do care about that my customer can move food forward to mom and pop grocery stores thru carriers, especially when it’s me! I like to eat too.
I am not from the me generation. I have been thru 3 conflicts and spent most of my adult life serving. Either for the nation, in mine fields, or hazardous contaminated sites. What is wrong with serving? I can live the rest of my life in a cheap apartment and never have to work again. I don’t want that. I want to be part of the logistical network that brings food to peoples tables. I don’t care about tic toc, camping, football, etc.. I care about food logistics. The next time you you eat some fresh fruit or veggies be thankful there is a guy out there that cares it is hauled in a sanitary trailer and cares about freshness to the store.