Company driver or o/o?

It never fails, every driver out there thinks that he will make more money by owning a truck

 

If you were at job you hate, I would say do your due diligence and go for it. But, you are at a job you love and making great money and benefits at a time of great uncertainty. I would recommend waiting and watching to see how the industry responds. The need for O/O's will always be there. Be patient and do your homework.

 

The guy you asked, owns his own authority and does not drive for land star. Land star is known for a really bad place to make money. There are some that disagree with this, but they absolutely have no idea what it’s like to run their own business, get their own customers, and negotiate agreed rates that support a trucking company being successful. Landstar is one of the last places I would look to be l Leased on. They pay a lower percentage and all the same time, nickel and dime the owner operator for everything. On top of that, a lot of the freight is double brokered Spot market freight. Sounds like you have a great job and I would consider being grateful for the one you have. I would not leave until you had more experience. The fact that you bring up leasing onto lane star shows you probably don’t. Tough words and I do not mean to be a jerk. I apologize if I sound like one.

 

You described a "Its not broke" situation, so easy answer is " dont fix it"
Stay put and make use of a company match IRA if there is one

 

If you was to asked this question 30-40 years ago, then YES, I would say it was mostly for the fun. You can do whatever you want and get away with it and make money…. “fast forward”, …… TODAY…. The FUN is all gone and the money making. It’s all about survival. I myself have been in this industry since 1980, turned O/O in 1984. Everything I own is paid for….. I don’t work as hard but still have those challenges. It’s called experience. You said yourself the rates are bad a Landstarve, so why would you take that step ? I have 5 boys, the 2 oldest wanted to fall in my footsteps, I told them HELL NO, you get in a high paying company which they both did. They both make Weill over $110k a year. Enough said……..

 

Actually fun is a big part of it. Doing spot market hunt keeps my adrenaline and heart rate up lol. When I do dedicated work I get extremely bored after few weeks.

If you always wanted to be your own boss, have business experience and an entrepreneur like mind, I would say totally go for it.

People like you are different though. After 22 years of being a company driver your mentality is broken, you will always think like a company driver and you will hate all the responsibilities that come with owning a truck. Cant teach an old dog new tricks.

I am also 99.99% sure you will not make more than you are making right now being with Landstar.

Sorry for sounding harsh, it's not against you personally, I am just generalizing guys like you with similar background.

 

This post is so spot on.Landstar is not Klondike gold.I spent four years there back in the 2000's.Just my experience LS has more cons than pro's.
I don't know where you live , if you don't mind getting dirty I would consider dry bulk.Call Bruce Oakley or check them out.I mention them because Oakley
is a successful company , with systems in place so a guy has a chance to make some money.

 

Why do you think it’s a good idea to go owner operator it sounds like you have a good deal now.1st Landstar is very hard place to start as is any agent based company you have to build relationships with the agents and that takes time until then you will basically be running leftover freight and fighting with other newer drivers for that because the agent has gave the good loads to guys they’ve been working with.2nd owning the truck and being a good driver doesn’t equal you should be successful you have to be a good salesperson to. Good luck to you