Hello Longhaulers

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Welcome to the forum! Glad you wandered in!

Better off starting as a company driver to get the hang of the industry and learn the ropes.

It's practically impossible to get insurance as a rookie in the industry, or to get brokers/carriers/shippers to take you on either.

 

Hey and Howdy Seabee! Welcome to he forum. Your question could be answered, and argued both ways... My personal thoughts on this are I believe that it is best to start off as a company driver. First you can learn if you want to do this. Your mistakes will not cost you your money. And we all make mistakes when we started. You can learn how to really drive, shift, back in the real world with out the costly repair bills when you bump some thing that's not a dock... If you decide you don't like this lifestyle you can walk aay an not loose your shirt, pants and house all in one move... but hey that's how I see it. The other thing is you can run a so called dummy business to see if you can make it work for you. That's keeping track of all the expenses you have and repairs, you can ask how much it cost to service the truck and how much the tires cost ect. This way when and if you decide you wnt your own truck you will be better informed and in a better position to succed. Check out the O/O threads for ideas and how and what to look for so you can better track all things. There is a lot more than just driving that truck from point A to point b and getting paid. You will learn that on some one else's dime and be much farther ahead when you get your own truck. If your screen name is what you have done before you will have the disapline to survive any trucking company you go to work for. Good Luck and Better Truckin'

 

Hey there Seabee welcome to the group......hmmm sounds Navy to me...anyway back on land and to trucking Rick is right. Drive for someone first. It is so darn tough right now. Learn the ropes see how trucking really works and if you want to be an owner opp you might try to find a smaller company where you can have a more hands on look into this world. You will be more in touch with the owner and get a feel with how he does things and get some ideas on what you eventually want. There is not always glory in being an O/O and there is no crime in being a hired driver. One thing I can not stress enough if you go an O/O way is to pay your quarterly taxes...between that and heath care...these are the 2 things that can bring an O/O down. Best of luck and keep us posted