Got my first O/O job

good luck, thats an excellent payment you have there. I wish the best for you, we need more O/O's on the road.

 

In the old days, owner-operators carried a much larger tool box to make roadside repairs on fleet-owner trucks whose drivers did not know one end of a screw driver from the other. Owner-operators did not break down because they checked everything thoroughly on the weekend. Fleet drivers spent weekends with their families. lol.

 

Fuel filters, a filter wrench, some way of getting fuel out of your tank to fill the filters before you put them on (maybe a siphon hose). Some basic hand tools, a test light, some spare lights, some 14 or 16 gauge electrical wire, lots of bungie cords, rope, some mechanics wire, a couple of wire coat hangers, duct tape, electrical tape, a gallon of engine oil, a gallon of antifreeze, a tube of radiator stop leak(the silver powder kind), a gallon of windshild washer fluid, a gallon of clean water, some CRC 556 or WD40 or PB Blaster, a tube of grease (I even carry a hand grease gun), a can of starting fluid, about 4 bottles of cheap dry gas (you can use them for water in fuel problems, and if you pour them in the gladhands of a trailer with a frozen air system in the winter it will thaw the ice), a coffee can full of assorted nuts bolts washers and air brass, a 50' hose with a gladhand on one end and a tire chuck on the other for filling tires, a tire gauge, some blocks of wood,------ and if you have room for it, a spare tire, a jack and a lug wrench, a cheater pipe to fit the lug wrench can be nice too.

Oh yeah I almost forgot,,,,, A credit or debit card with at least 5 grand to spend behind it

 

I keep one of these around, with some real tools and spares loaded in it. If the poop really hits the fan I can get the wife or someone to drive it out to me.

 

Get a gen set , brew your own coffee and heat the truck and engine. With the anti idle laws it will pay for itself in fuel savings anyway. Karl

 

definitely, I am still learning. I want to own my own truck by the end of the year or next year. I have done some calculations with averages of mileage and cost per mile and found that trying to finance a 60k truck will run me about 2k a month in finance and an initial startup cost of 40k for 3 months of operation.

 

I was in my box yesterday at a stop while I was waiting for a crane to show up. I use that time to go over little things on the truck. for example yesterday I noticed a backup light was out, so I fixed that, and then used the rest of the time to lube my rachet binders with some spray lube. Some things I noticed in the box that I forgot to list.

A tube of silicone gasket maker (Permatex), Keep in mind small gaskets can be cut out of things like log book covers, and larger ones out of stuff like pizza boxes, Some nylon wire ties (assorted sizes), assorted hose clamps, a cheap tire plug kit, A big piece of cardboard folded up to use to lay on (sort of a disposable creeper)

I know you are pulling a van but it never hurts to have at least 1 rachet strap, a chain and binder and a roll of small rope (even clothesline) somewhere in the truck anyway. You never know what you might have to tie down or chain up.

Something I want to say with caution,,,, If you know what you are doing and only if,,, Carry a couple of caging bolts for the spring brakes and a spare #30 diaphram. You can replace the service side diaphram if it leaks and if the spring brake side leaks you can cage the spring and plug off the line. But be VERY,,,VERY ,,,,,Very,,,,,EXTRA CAREFUL. Spring brakes can kill you or worse.

Keep in mind be resorseful. Things like you can fix a small hole in a tubeless tire with a sheet metal screw. A U-joint going bad can get you someplace where it can be fixed if you take it easy and pump it full of grease every 20 miles. Starting fluid and a pack of matches can be used to blow a tubeless tire bead back onto the rim (as my dad used to say "Now don't you ever do this boy, but stand over there and watch this"),, If you need a place to plug in an extention cord to run a drill, battery charger,drop light, or whatever look behind a soda or any other kind of vending machine. Dumpsters and junk piles at places can be a wealth of stuff you can use to do a temporary repair that will get the load off or get you home or to a place where they won't rape you for the repairs.


Most of this stuff you can get from places like Walmart, Harbor Freight, and Pep Boys. Not to mention what you can gather up from dumpster diving and junk pile picking. I think if you shop around you can probably get everything you need for a couple of hundred bucks.

 

You can make an illegal repair to an air hose with a piece of small tubing and a couple of small hose clamps.

Several times, I have used a hacksaw on some damaged part such as a mudflap bracket bent by a blowout.

Fuel filters can be filled by lowering them into the tank with a coat hanger.