Leased on Owner Op Ideas

Because far too many company owners in this field have the belief that ALL their drivers are employees, whether they are Owner Operators, Lease Operators, or company drivers. O/O HAVE to maintain a hard line to keep their independence.

Look, I LIKE working with a larger carrier. I like working with their already established direct customer freight, having access to their sales team, dispatch team, and back office support, and getting paid on a regular schedule for the work I perform. I also like having the muscle of a larger carrier in my corner if there is an issue beyond my control. And I've run the numbers. For me to have the same level of office support behind me independently as a single truck operation I'm looking at higher cost than I can earn with one truck.

In my opinion (and ONLY my opinion) the only value in gaining my own authority would lie in expanding my fleet beyond a single truck and hiring drivers. As I have no interest in dealing with employees, my own authority is pretty much useless to me. I do not have the fleet size or equipment access to be of much value to direct customers, nor can my one single truck operation offer anything to a customer that cannot be offered at a significantly lower price by a fleet or a 3PL.

That said, it's still my truck. I run it, I decide what lanes I'll run and which customers I'll service. I am NOT an employee. I am a contractual partner, and I WILL be treated as such or I'm gone.

And I have an amicable working relationship with my carrier. They understand their position in this partnership is to offer the freight, and my position is to choose the loads that maximize my income. And that we work best when we work together to satisfy customer demands while maximizing revenue for both sides of this partnership.

 

The ONLY way you're going to have your own rules is to own your own show.

If you lease on. Then you play Burger King and do it THEIR way. No ifs ands or buts.

 

Pay me a min of $2 per mile. And you're saying I'm home every weekend? Where do I sign?

 

Sorry but he isn't your employee. He is an employee of the truck owner and he works for that truck. The reason why a contract is a requirement, that is why everyone involved has a specific limited relationship with each other, treat them like an employee, you will get stuck with paying his benefits and taxes.

 

The reason I suggested some type of bonus if they’re available after 34 off is because sometimes you just feel like some time off. Personally I wouldn’t enter into an agreement that said I’ll be paid a minimum amount but I can only be off for my 34 because personally about one weekend of only a 34 and the next weekend I’d want 2 or 3 days off. But that’s me.

I’m leased to a carrier but basically I’m only using his authority. He allows me to do as I wish and haul for who I wish. I realize that’s not your typical “leased on” situation but I needed authority to use to go do what I’m doing because leasing on direct where I’m at wasn’t an option. There has to be give and take on both sides no matter what you’re doing as a contractor. I will work hard for the guy where I’m at, I’ll bust my butt when loads need covered, and at times I’ll sacrifice my plans for the bigger picture. But at the same time when I have appointments at home or anything that I have to be there for then there shouldn’t be any pushback from his end. And I’m thankful he’s always been reasonable about that. Same as when I come to him and say I’m parking for a week because I ran 40k last quarter and I need a break.

If both parties are adults and treat each other that way then it will benefit everyone involved. I would never deal well with the “my numbers, you’ll do as I say” crowd. I imagine most of that crowd would be upset if I was working with them and was just winding up week 6 of the truck being parked like I am now.

 

Ok, I got you now. For some reason I was thinking you had the minimum but once they didn’t want to be available then it wasn’t available to them anymore, they’d just go back to percentage with no minimum even if they wanted to roll after a 34. I’d say what you’re thinking about is pretty reasonable then.

 

We do a lot of dedicated runs, leave on the same day each week, return on the same day. Some O/O's don't know the meaning of "dedicated". My load until i want to do something else, then it's my load again. A long time ago we tried giving them "paid vacation time" if they ran x amount a year on those loads. Turned into a big CF.