is it worth it to be a true o/o?

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by Bigchevy, May 20, 2015.

  1. Bigchevy

    Bigchevy Light Load Member

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    So been talking to a couple guys that are helping me get into my own truck and trl. I just need the money for numbers and everything I need to start up. But I want to know if it's really worth it? I have a decent job right now, make 60k a year, home on the weekends. Just for a reset, I would plan on staying on a flatbed, running 20 days home 10. Maby less maby more. I live in colorado, would run east...herd that's where the money is.. but I keep hearing not to do it and it's not worth it. So figured I would get some input on the matter.
     
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  3. DetroitSpecial

    DetroitSpecial Light Load Member

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    The truth is you wont really know until you really know,if you get my DRIFT,i ran all the numbers on PAPER and it all made sense to me to,until you actually do it,you wont really know.What you think you may want,or how you think you may want to run,may not end up ACTUALLY,going the way you plan,not tryna be a Debbie downer just a REALIST things change in this business,EVERY DAY,and the way you may have it on paper well its just that ON PAPER,

    $60,000 a year may be good enuff for you,but i dont know if you married,single,divorced with kids,house notes,car notes,so on and so on,everybody situation is different.Do you know what lanes pay what?do you know what times are the slow seasons?will you have your own authority? All these things you must know BEFORE,NOT AFTER,I CANT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.

    Do you want to make $60,000 a year plus pay for all the EXTRA EXPENSES?
    Sure u you get to pick and turn down loads,sure you can pick home time whenever you want,sure you can put whatever you want in your truck,or modify it however you like if its paid for?If you think your gunna get rich doing this think again, you will and can do pretty good if you KNOW HOW TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY, you cant take momma shopping for new shoes that cost $4500 when that $4500 is in your business account and you need new tires,or a new turbo,how much does it take to run your truck? Your cost per mile, you MUST KNOW THIS TO BE PROFITABLE.

    If you feel $60,000 is sustainable and a livable income then stay there at your current job,remember you park that truck turn paperwlrk in and go home if you dont own it,but if you dont ,once you own a truck its all on YOU,LITERALLY,Personal and business relationships,home time,waiting to get paid by broker,Cost,breakdowns,fuel,tolls,meals,ifta,2290,insurance,truck notes if you paying monthly,whether you sick or not it has to be paid,or will buy cash,plates,paperwork,keeping truck up to par,what i learned is even if you own a new truck its always and i do mean always gonna be something,you may plan kn going home this weekend but what if you get that phone call that hot load paying $6500 needs to there in 2 days? Are you gonna turn it down or are you gonna take it?

    Remember you did say you wanted home time this weekend? Lol this happens everyday in this business,So if dealing with all the extra doesnt bother you i say heck,GO FOR IT,but if you think it will,stay a company driver, wish you the best on whatever you decide driver,stay safe out there.
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2015
  4. 315wheelbase

    315wheelbase Heavy Load Member

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    will be hard to make $60K a year as an owner operator unless you have a good shipper or carrier to work with,
    As an O/O the checks will be a lot bigger than normal drivers pay, but after fuel, pmts, license and reg, insurance cost and most important money set aside for maintenance and future repairs as well as your medical ins, taxes, and your office cost there won't be much left for your salary
    As a beginning O/O it will take a little time to lock in good paying freight .
    The best way for an O/O is to haul directly for a shipper,,There are also some good brokers but generally after they take a commission 10-30% it works out about the same as being leased to a carrier, that is if the carrier is not getting his freight from brokers,
    Flat bed gross rates run from about $1.70/mile to about $2/mile , there are some rates better but hard to find,,
    Many O/Os try to make more by running more but got to look and see if you can make it running legal,
    Good freight out of Denver has always been hard to find, not many companies making products there ,,more going in than going out,,
    Best to first find a shipper with good steady freight outbound,,depending on where it is going you will need to find freight going back to the Denver area.
    Remember that any unloaded dead headed miles to get loads still cost you more than just fuel to get there,,You have to figure about the same cost per mile running empty as you do loaded,
    If you figure your cost per mile is $1.80 and you run 144,000 miles a year but about 15 of your annual mileage is non paying dead head miles then you must get at least $2.35 a load mile to average $1.80/mile for all miles,,

    $60K a year as a company driver is pretty good,,will be hard to do better as an O/O..You can make more . I have had years were I ran 100,000 miles/yr and made a profits between $80K and $150K profit but I did it hauling chemicals direct and hauling oversize over weight loads,,Flat bed is a lot like van freight,, very general freight with lot of competition, everyone including a lot of mega fleets that will hire rookies and haul cheap
    Good luck,,take a business 101 class
     
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  5. Bigchevy

    Bigchevy Light Load Member

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    I have two brokers that can get good freight. They charge a monthly fee that I send them a check. I'm making it on 60k a year but I'm not getting ahead. I know their are risks, not all of them. I just want to make a good living. Was told if I run 20 days out 10 at home I should make around 10k a month, figure fuel and pm, I won end up with that. Not trying to get Ritch just want to do what I love to do and make good money.. I can lease to the company I'm with, last guy I talked to doing that is around 200k a year... not shure about expenses. Thanks for the info
     
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  6. Hurst

    Hurst Registered Member

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    I stay out 4 - 6 weeks,.. sometimes more, sometimes less. I come home and stay 7 - 10 days. Thats how I run. I'm leased to a carrier, not running 100% on my own authority. But,.. to be honest its not that simple.

    Yes I can NET $2000 - $5000 a week from my settlements after fuel, tolls and permits. Now if you had a truck payment, your own insurance, repairs, maintenance, upgrades, household bills, Mortgage, kids, wife, hobbies, Vet bills, sally mae, etc etc,.. that $2000 - $5000 net income really doesnt go that far. It looks really nice on paper,.. and it feels like bragging when I say what my Net income is,.. but its really not. The money fluctuates up and down all the time. I have had settlements where I barely net $1500. Its not a constant and reliable paycheck that you can count on to be steady week after week.

    When I did my taxes this year, I grossed $228,000.00. Out of that I showed a personal Net income of $51,000. Thats my first year as an O/O.The year before I grossed $78,000 as a company driver with much less stress. So you tell me?

    This year I expect to gross more, I have learned a lot and spent a lot of money last year in order to run more efficiently this year. I hope to improve my Net income and gain money there from money I wont have to spend this year. Thats the plan anyway,.. and we all know how well plans like to play out.

    For example,.. my truck was hit at a Loves in Nashville back on April 21st. I've been home since the 27th and my truck is still not out of the shop. I'm fighting for lost revenue from the other carrier. Its an uphill battle. Mean while I have no income coming in. Fortunately my wife and I are very good at not touching money meant for rainy days. I Will weather this event just fine. There are other guys are barely making it week to week. Something like this would probably force them back to being a company driver.

    Another O/O here made a post and I'd like to touch up on the highlights.

    Basically he said he has 3 drivers. 1 driver owns a 10 acre ranch with toys and everything a guy could want. 2nd driver is filing bankruptcy, the other lives check to check. All 3 earn the same money.

    So much as in real life,.. becoming an O/O will rarely change things for many people. You either have the business savvy and fortitude to work that much harder and make it a success. Or you fall short on your expectations and fail miserably. No two truckers will ever run the same and show the same numbers. Some guys are home weekends and do just fine. Others stay out and run hard and barely get by. I dont have the answers. All I know is as an O/O,.. being home does not afford me the time off I wish I had. The truck eats up 50% of my home time,.. getting it ready to go back out for another 4 - 6 weeks. Its a vicious cycle. The truck needs constant inspection and maintenance. Thats my livelihood.

    How hard you have to run and stay out will be determined by how much you earn and how efficient you need to be. How ambitious you are also helps. Falling in with the wrong people can lead you to failure as well. Until you go out and do it, you will learn as you go. How much you earn and keep will determine how successful you become. The biggest hurdle will be taking the chance and just doing it.

    Driving is the easy part.

    Hurst
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2015
  7. dannythetrucker

    dannythetrucker Road Train Member

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    you don't pay a broker a monthly fee, sounds like they are trying to bend you over already
     
  8. Hurst

    Hurst Registered Member

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    Thats true,.. I didnt catch that till you mentioned it.

    Perhaps a service fee for dispatching? Either way sounds like a scam to get more money.

    Hurst
     
  9. DetroitSpecial

    DetroitSpecial Light Load Member

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    You know i was thinking that,lol but didnt wanna say it,because some people feel like if you tell em right,then either your a hater or trying to discourage them and i dont do either ,so yeah we thought the same thing,brother.
     
  10. TripleSix

    TripleSix God of Roads

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    I did well as a company driver. Extremely well...$80/yr. My dispatcher found out that I was looking to buy a truck and so he had me come up to HQ to look at one of their lease deals. They sat me down at this lady's desk and she said, "You do well as a company driver. Why do you want to be an owner operator?" I said, "So no one in your shop can touch my truck without my permission and I don't have to wait for your breakdown people to make a decision for my truck when I am out on the road and need service." She said, "Well we do the same things to lease trucks as we do company trucks..."

    Well, that ended that conversation. For me, it's not just about money, it's getting rid of all the stupidly that plagues company drivers. Do you know how many stupid conversations I've had with desk jockeys as a company driver?

    Company truck over gross: "Driver show up to the shipper with a quarter tank of fuel." For a load of roofing shingles? Why is the load THAT heavy? it doesn't pay squat. I get paid the same, loaded or empty...all of that extra fueling cuts into my money. Why do I have to take a loss for some cheap BS load?
    Owner OP (same load): This load doesn't pay me enough money to worry about how much I can scale and how much fuel I can run.

    Breakdowns in a company truck: PHONE TAG. Driver calls Breakdown, Breakdown calls Shop. Shop tries to call Breakdown, but Breakdown is on break. And we wait...
    Breakdowns as an Owner OP: Transmission grenaded the big hole gears. Dropped 1 full gear and limped her 40 miles to a reputable shop. Went in and told the service writer what I wanted
    Service: Do you want us to rebuild this one?
    Six: No, I want an estimate on an RTLO22918B installed with a new clutch.
    Service: Well, that's going to be pretty expensive...
    Six: How much?
    Service: Out the door, about $10grand.
    Six: Do it. I'll be at the motel. Call me if you need me.
    Service: We inspected your transmission. You had a gear explode. Do you want us to rebuild it?
    Six: Are you not the same service writer I spoke to Saturday? Did I not tell you Saturday what I wanted you to do?
    Service: Well, yessir...I...
    Six: When is the transmission arriving?
    Service: Ummm, we can have it here tomorrow!
    Six: Call me when it gets here.
    It cost $10300. I took the money out of my motorcycle fund.

    Hometime for a company diver: "They won't let me go home. I've been trying to go home for 3 weeks. I put in my hometime, but they just can't seem to get me home.
    Owner OP: I'm going to the house.
    Dispatch: Wait! Can you do me a favor? I got a load for an important customer...
    Owner OP: nope. It doesn't have important money on it. Gotta go.
    Dispatch: Wait!Wait! Hello?


    Is it worth it? I think so.
     
  11. double yellow

    double yellow Road Train Member

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    "When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact." -- Warren Buffett

    Trucking is a business with terrible economics, it requires a constant stream of cash, there aren't many barriers to entry, you have a lot of BS to deal with (just slightly different BS than as a company driver), etc. If you don't love trucking, you absolutely should not start a trucking company.

    If you're going to be driving a truck one way or the other, you want a little more control over your equipment and your daily schedule, & you are pretty responsible with money -- then becoming an owner op can be the best option for the otherwise insane. But if you're making $80k as a company driver, I wouldn't expect any increase in net pay (sure it is possible, but it is just as possible you could make less).
     
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