Some numbers for new O/O

Because a company driver job can't pay that and let you take off for the other 8+/- months a year.

 

300? Nope, no company job I know can pay that. Take off freely and willingly like you can as an O/O? Nope... No company I know of can do it to that extent either. Pay .80 in one scenario home daily or .85 regional home wheely and in some cases home during the week? Yup... That can definitely be done.

I understand oo has it's frustrations and headaches, but that's trucking period. I think you guys having the freedom to take off and do as you please is priceless GIVEN the savings are there. That would be the only reason I fully go oo if at all in the future.

 

It can be a slippery slope. Without consistent good paying freight it's difficult to motivate when you're having to argue and haggle all the time. Especially when rates are down. I don't miss any of it, not even the time wasted at home.

 

conpany drivers don’t have near the tax write offs an OO does, that new pick up, all the tools, and the “traveling to look at a truck” was not needed, but I don’t need Uncle Sam to spend my money for me

not to mention I worked 41 weeks last year and did 62k miles

 

I'm riding this company thing out as long as I can. By the time I call it a day I'll have enough money to get my own company started or do something else. I wanna buy another house but that interest rates say relax lol.

 

Some guys don’t like driving another guys equipment. Some have the dream truck because they bought it. Now if they’re driving a Cascadia or a ProStar, then maybe not too much different than accompany position. I don’t know some people don’t mind the headaches some would rather steer away from it. I see both sides. One can say to be your own boss but if you’re leased on you’re still working for somebody. Even if you have your own authority and everything you’re still working for a customer so…

 

My view on being an O/O over a company driver is this. A company driver has zero room for choice or for growth. An O/O has near limitless of both. Plus i can look people in the eye when they tell me if i dont like it, then i can go make my own. And smirk then tell them i did and i did well enough to be a success.

A company driver at most gets to look forward to a pay rase or a slightly better route. They cant stay home if they are sick or tell their boss to go stuff himself if they are dispatched on a horible load. They cant pick their loads or the routes. If their sector crashes and pay dries up, they cant just do something else for a bit and come back later unless they get a new job. But then they give up all seniority and say when they get back.

As an O/O i have all of that and more. I have the potential to grow into a mega if i play my cards right. I can pick and choose my loads, i can be lazy or bust my balls. I can stay home in winter or i cam throw chains and go. I choose my truck and what i want to do with it. I decide if i want to park and where. If im sick i can just say no to loads until im well enough to drive. If my brother dies i can drop bloody everything and dead head 1200 miles home. I can decide if i REALLY want to stay out an extra week taking those last couple loads or if i wanna eat the couple hundred bucks deadheading. I can make new customers that pay better or tell current ones to pound sand if they play games.

The freedom alone is worth making at best the same as a company driver. Plus many of us have years we make way more then a company driver and years where we average out and some where we take a loss. Its just the nature of the beast.

 

Could you clarify this statement? Did you mean that you take more or less 4 months off a year?

 

Ok, let's break down some of your comments:

"My view on being an O/O over a company driver is this. A company driver has zero room for choice or for growth. An O/O has near limitless of both. Plus i can look people in the eye when they tell me if i dont like it, then i can go make my own. And smirk then tell them i did and i did well enough to be a success."
Why do you think there is zero growth for a company driver? It is his/her choice. In a good company they promote form within. If you want to become a dispatcher and continue to a management, it is all up to you. Many, many drivers went that route later in their career and are very successful as they have been exposed to all aspects of the job.

"An O/O has near limitless of both." and " As an O/O i have all of that and more. I have the potential to grow into a mega if i play my cards right. I can pick and choose my loads, i can be lazy or bust my balls." - These two are so bold and unrealistic that I will reserve my comments and allow others to draw their own conclusions.

"A company driver at most gets to look forward to a pay rase or a slightly better route. They cant stay home if they are sick or tell their boss to go stuff himself if they are dispatched on a horible load. They cant pick their loads or the routes. If their sector crashes and pay dries up, they cant just do something else for a bit and come back later unless they get a new job. But then they give up all seniority and say when they get back."
That's not different for an o/o. - better route or better rate or both. They can most definitely stay home and use their sick benefits and get paid. Some can stay for extended periods of time when warranted by a health condition and get paid. Sure they can choose the loads and routes if they are options just like an o/o. When working for a good company, by the time your work dries up, there will be hundreds of thousands o/o's gone bankrupt before you have to worry about it. And even when laid off, they can came back and get their seniority back when things get back to normal - I went through it.

"The freedom alone is worth making....."
The freedom seems very elusive here, I would say your are imprisoned by all the responsibilities that a company guy doesn't have, and you slave off for nothing repairing or waiting around for free when a company guy gets paid a down time or waiting time. All depends....
Remember, most of the brokered freight posts are rejects of big carriers that they consider unprofitable to begin with. That includes some jobs in a bulk industry too albeit it's a bit different.
It is not that I am disagreeing with you, but in my view, you don't show the whole picture, and that's how most of the new o/o's get caught and fail mistakably. The devil is in the detail.....

 

No I meant taking off 8 months +/-. He only ran about 40k miles. In 10+ years I had one back when I had my truck I was only working for about half that time. You can't do that at a company job. You can if the company allows personal leave of absence but you'll never see anywhere close to $100k a year doing it and you'll also be covering your benefits out of pocket further reducing what you bring in.