Two types of owner-ops

I think if you have a really good company they give you a pension and paid holidays and full medical benefits, pretty much no matter what you make as an owner-operator you can't compete with that.

And I think a lot of people don't factor that in.

When you figure in all the extra time that you spend working and that you don't have paid holidays and benefits and vacations the picture is not nearly as rosy as some would like it to be.

That's why I say it's got to be about the lifestyle not the money.

Here's a quick example. I grew up around trucks and heavy equipment my whole life. My dad was a contractor when I was a kid. And growing up we always either had our own equipment or we always had something in the garage we were working on for someone or something. I just always was around it.

My dad closed his business down and he became a union heavy equipment operator. I always wanted him to have his own business and never really liked that he did that, at least when I was a kid

Now my dad is 92 years old and he has a pension and he has health benefits, and thank God he does because I don't know what we would do if he did not. He absolutely did the right thing, not to mention my siblings would have fought me to the death over that business he had and they would have just destroyed it anyway.

But myself, anywhere I worked I was never happy. I worked at some places that I really made pretty good money but it wasn't about the money. I just didn't like being a number, I didn't like dirty slip seat fleet trucks, I really didn't like being told where to go and having to conform to a lot of company rules. And I may even be borderline antisocial.

So I found a really nice 95 Freightliner fld120 with a blown engine and I worked it over from front to back and I put the nice Cummins big cam in it and I absolutely love it. There are things about this business that aren't great but for me the lifestyle of it suits me.

And with that I would tell you it probably is better to just have a really good job somewhere like I said with benefits and medical coverage and everything else.

If you really purely are just looking at the money of it go run a team for a couple of years. You can make a lot of money. Or just find a really good job.

I don't know how anyone could continue this business with all that you go through for any period of time if they did it purely for the money.

But for me it's more of a labor of love because it's much more of an ordeal for me to work for a company somewhere.

You have to really enjoy the lifestyle because there's a lot in life that you will sacrifice for it.

There are definitely easier less complicated ways to make money that give you more time to enjoy life with less exposure and everything else.

*** sorry for the long post but I'm just hanging out here until I can take off..

 

Why do you want to be an owner operator? That’s the question you have to ask yourself. If you’re wanting it only to make more money then you’ll be better off as a company driver with full benefits.

Yes the money can be there, but for the first few years you’ll bring home less than a company driver just due to learning the ropes. Yes you can take as much time off as you want and do it when you want but the truck is still there. Fixed costs still have to be paid. Maintenance still has to be done.

If you want to drive, park, and get away from the truck on your days off then a company position will be better.

I guess the simple answer is that many of us that own a truck don’t do it for the money.

 

The point being if ur only concern is money , then stay a company driver.

 

Sounds like a good reason to make the switch.

 

Im only good enough to run down the road with leaking airbags and chaffed brakelines, and get pulled over for not having oversize permit when hauling legal freight. I am just a low-life.

 

It's a shame we don't have virtual hallways or a virtual office here on TTR

That should be framed and hung up somewhere.