Thinking of going O/O

Yup. Everyone sees the larger percentage or the higher $/mile rate paid to the O/O, but they don't look at how much of that increase goes to pay the truck and how little is left over for the driver.

...and now that he's saying he's got a wife & kids to support, it would be even more foolish to jump into the O/O (or worse yet, L/O) thing prematurely. If he's not making it on a company driver's pay, he's not going to make it as a L/O either.


...and I HOPE he's just placing that decimal point in the wrong place...$0.01/mile into a maintenance account would barely cover oil changes and grease for me....and I do the work myself!

 

I am an O/O leased to Swift and it's worked out for me. 6 years ago I was a new driver that was barely making ends meet on company pay. The low pay, and the lack of home time, made it difficult to justify working as a driver. Just a few months after going solo I started asking drivers in drop yards and terminals, when they were by themselves, about going O/O. With one exception, they all gave about the same advice, They wished they had done it sooner and DON'T DO A COMPANY LEASE!!!

I followed their advice and found a well used tractor (640K miles on it), from a local fleet, that was equiped the way I wanted. Financing took almost a month. My credit rating was really good, and I had a lot of equity in my house, but I did not want to do a home equity loan. My banks weren't interested because I did not have the business experience they wanted, and the same applied at the dealership finance group. I was able to find a local leasing company (Dolsen Leasing) that was willing to do it. Getting the financing for the tractor was the hardest part of becoming an o/o.

If you are unable to buy a tractor outside of Swift, and are determined to try a lease, then lease the least expensive and best fuel economy truck that they offer.

As to your question about state fuel taxes. It doesn't matter where the fuel was bought. The tax on the fuel was put into the IFTA account and will be apportioned out based on how many miles you drove in each state and what your mpg was. Generally, it is a wash and the tax you need to pay for a paticular month will be covered by the fuel you bought. However if you drive thru Oregon expect to get hammered with a big bill a month later. IFTA fuel taxes are paid monthly, so the forth week of the month has a fuel tax charge for the month before. Oregon uses a vehicle mile tax, and doesn't have a fuel tax. I've attached screen shots of the fuel and weekly settlement to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Good luck, and only go O/O if you have a really sharp pencil!!

 

So out of that $676.34 you recieved in your settlement, you have to deduct 100% of the employment taxes in addition to the income tax. You ALSO have to subtract your truck payment.

What did you have left over?

1888 miles # $0.28/mile for the company driver is $528.64...only deductions are 1/2 of the employment tax and the income tax.


Sounds like the COMPANY driver gets to keep more to me.

 

Ask your DM if she get a bonus when you go lease operator.

The only reason they want you to go O/O is they,SWIFT, not you make more money. That is the only reason, they don't give a rat's *** if you make any money.

 

Calculation for employment taxes:

676.34 - 101.45 = 574.89 mine as o/o (15%)
528.64 - 39.65 = 488.99 company driver (7.5%)
574.89 - 488.99 = 85.90 difference

Income taxes depend on so much on deductions that it is meaningless to try to calculate it.

By calculation, I am $85.90 ahead of the company driver, on my worst week. I have no truck payment because I paid the truck off three years ago. I am not out chasing loads to get me home for 3 days out of the month. I am off duty at home 3 days a week, when I'm not on vacation.

I've been either skilled or lucky in the choices I've made. I was in a good position to survive the downturn because I paid my truck off and I opted for a dedicated route that had fewer, but more dependable, miles on it.

 

There are plenty of places out there that sell trucks to prospective o/o's with bad or no credit. Leasing a truck from the company you work for is taking the leverage out of your hand and putting it into theirs! unless your going to go totally independent just about every company calculates and files ifta taxes for you, then deducts it from your settlement. It isnt going to be that much...the least of your worries.

 

I'm averagng $1.40 a mile and I BARELY get buy. good luck

You want to know why they "think you'd make such a good O/O"??? it's because you as an owner operator cost them $20,000 per year LESS then you do as a company driver.

I'm all for being an owner operator, but not that way. That's indentured servitude not freedom

 

I guess I went BACKWARDS from how everybody else did it. I went from being an owner op to being a company driver.

Dick Simon Trucking gave me an over the road job as a company driver. I will always remember breaking down a few hundred miles from home. My dispatcher just told me to wait and he would coordinate the repairs on my company truck. I will always remember thinking, "I'm so lucky that now a breakdown won't make me worried about missing my house payment." Becoming a company driver took SOOOO much stress out of my life.

Maybe you don't stress out as much as others, but that can be a BIG factor when you are an owner op.

 

I went from owner op to company back to owner op over my trucking life. Yes it's a ton of stress, there is something to be said for being leased to someone who you know has your back in a pinch and there is something to be said for being independant too.

my experience with companies has always been that they don't give a crap about you. I'm sorry, I'm not the type of person who can work for someone who has that level of respect for me. The one god company job I had I did for 7 years because they boss was a good guy and he cared. That was a small private fleet though and almost nothing like regular trucking. I'd still be there if I hadn't moved out of state

 

I totally understand what you are saying, Al.

The funny thing about my time as a company driver. It was a BIG company, but my dispatcher was very old school. It felt like it was me and him against the world. I liked that a lot.