Need info from Canadian O/Ops

What is it with men wanting to own their own truck? My idiot husband would be a lot farther ahead if he had just continued as a driver. But, no, he had the idea that he would have more money and control if he was "captain of his own ship" as he put it. Should have put the end of a shot-gun in his mouth the moment he opened it to say he was going to buy his own truck. Do not let your hubby buy a truck. At the current fuel prices there is nothing left. Our own Canadian government, and the trucking companies look at truckers as "necessary vermin" (otherwise truckers would be allowed to deduct all their meal expenses, not just 80%) The Canadian government did a study of the income of owner operators, and found that overall the average "take-home pay" of owner operators was about 16,000.00 at the end of a year. The expenses of keeping a brand new truck on the road are a lot, but a used truck? Horrendous. Our stupid truck, a 2004 Kenworth T600 my idiot husband bought new. The cost of keeping it roadworthy, between repairs, and vehicle inspections, etc. ran 25000 dollars last year. And oh, yeah, two years ago he had to go to the bank for a 35000 dollar loan to rebuild the ###### engine. And oh, the Cdn. government found that of those making 16000 dollars a year, quite a few of them borrow money from wives that work a higher-paying stable jobs. Don't ever let your husband buy his own truck!!!!

 

Lots of successful O/O's out there,just need to be smart and work for the right people.

 

Its a very demanding and requires lots of babysitting.i always wonder how lots of people make it in this business.iam lucky that iam a mechanic by trade and i can fix my own truck,trust me if your buying the truck because you figure you will make big money it ain't going to happen,you will gross alot but the net will always be around 25% of your gross.You get to write off (taxes) a bit more things but please don't buy a truck for that reason.And these newer trucks also seem to be more money to operate then the older ones,I've wittnessed this first hand for the company i work for on there company trucks.There pre-emission trucks are way more reliable and cheaper to operate,then the new trucks they operate.It's a really tuff business,and i would really re-consider this move.good luck.

 

I have been o/o since 1983 and I love it

 

Oh yeah? what right people?

You have been at it since 83, now you probably builded up some equity, truck paid, maybe a garage etc.

Now it's not the same thing if a driver wants to start these days.
even harder if the person has less that 25% to put down on a new truck and rely on warranty of the first years to pay for some repairs.

Older iron and DOT 's all over you, less payments but more repairs and we all know that repairs wont always choose the right time to show up.
You know, murphy's law?

 

Carriers have always looked at owner operators as a necessary evil.

 

Ya now I dont have to worry about if I am going to be able to make my payments on a new truck and I can afford extras on it and at home

 

Such as?

There's no shortage of cheap companies out there. But there's a shortage of quality companies willing to pay what's needed in order to survive and earn a decent living.

 

Challenger comes to mind,remember them mon ami?