Talk me out of becoming an O/O

Yup, with the OP's experience I would buy a dollar store, or similar, LOOOOONNNG before I ever considered trucking. Set it up, become an absentee owner, go fishing (or whatever, I hate fishing too). Heck, that's pretty much what I am looking into myself, at this moment.

 

You would know where your store was. Which is more than can be said for trucking

 

Earning $120k/Annually is a good yearly salary imo. As for Trucking and putting up with people's crap it just exends to different people's crap you would have too put up with. I've been a Trucker for almost 28 years now and worked in almost every avenue of the business from Reefer, Flat bed, Step deck, Dump Truck etc.. I once owned a Truck (O/o) for a little over a year but because I was younger & single in my 20's I felt that I was missing out on life (clubs, being with my girlfriend etc.) Plus I had a older truck that needed heavy maintenance trucking was a 24 hrs job because I was living in my truck and any off time I had was physically fixing what I could on my truck. Since then I worked for a Unionized company. But has the problems change regarding Customers, 4 Wheeels, Managers, Co workers etc..? "No way".. Imo people as a whole (the majority) as 'Me..me..me' people (self absorbed) so attitudes never go away. Take your own personal survey and ask family, friends & strangers 'What do they think about Truckers?'.. My point is most generalize truckers never get the respect we deserve. As for earning $120k or better yet, $200k annually comes down too how much you want to hustle as a o/o or driver for that money and your strenuous levels on obtaining it. As a few mentioned, winters are harsh at times as well as the road conditions with other bad drivers including other truckers on those roads. For a piece of mind and experience I suggest obtaining at least one year experience 1st before diving into becoming a o/o. It's not all doom & gloom being a trucker just as their as some nice turn around switches usually at night for newbies but there's lesser communication with people that way equaling lesser problems paying $24.50/hr to $25/hr. (However, a lot of these types of companies don't pay o.t. until after 50 hrs and these switches can be done in a max of 9 hrs/5 days per week = $58,500) that's less than the $120k you're currently earning more then half.

It is a good time on becoming a Trucker in almost every field of trucking because of the hiring that's occurring.

 

You ain't seen nuthin' yet....

 

There are a lot of avenues to leverage the skills and experience you have acquired without continuing directly in store management, or even retail if you're so inclined... at least long-term. Based on my experience (which includes trucking and a variety of other industries and in capacities as founder, senior management, consultant, etc.), I wouldn't recommend trucking.

 

I'll answer this one first. From a revenue and opportunity perspective: yes.

I prefer driving in Canada for a lot of reasons that are counter to what most drivers comment on. I love the remoteness and the lack of services has not been a concern to me. Most of my trucking has been oilfield / heavy haul / remote location / off-road, but I've done tanker, reefer and even a bit of dry-van too.

There have been numerous threads on the topic, so search is your friend. I won't rehash what has been posted, but here's a link and a quote from a recent thread:

Going down a rabbit hole

I will add; if you're remarkably lucky, it will only take 3-5 years to get close to the income level you're at now, but you'll work a metric-ton more hours and spend it in places and ways that leave you wondering WTH happened to humanity.

You stated "I do not want to be anyone's punching bag..." Well, the good news is that you'll be everyone's punching bag; carrier, shipper, receiver, motoring public, but most fun... law enforcement and regulators (trucking is a very regulated industry).
Those "great benefits" you mentioned? In trucking?

Are there good gigs in trucking? Yes, but you're not going to get even so much as a sniff at any of it until you've proved yourself... and don't forget to leave your $8-$10,000 for licencing on the table please.

As an O/O you get two choices:

1. Spend a huge chunk of your "spare" time working on your truck, or
2. Pay someone else through either new truck/warranty, mechanic, or rent/lease your truck(s).
   1. First option: $$$ and ask the guys who have been down for weeks waiting on parts. Yeah, that warranty doesn't cover downtime, but the bills keep coming.
   2. Second option: what are shop rates these days, $125-$140/hr?
   3. Third option: you better be grossing +$400k to make it worthwhile.

EVERY O/O lies about how much time they spend working on their truck. For some it's a passion and if that's how they want to spend their time, all the power to them. It isn't something I was ever interested in doing and I love all things mechanical (I've been a gearhead from my formative years).

 

Buy yourself an old truck you like a lot. And used it as a hobby project. Drive it for pleasure.

 

Your hours will be double, your still going to be kissing peoples ### that you despise (arrogant shippers/receiver, load brokers). You are not going to be your own boss. Your customer for the load you're on is your boss.

Now I love what I do. I enjoy running my business. Part of my reasoning for becoming a o/o was to gain experience running and managing a business.