Good morning to all, I am a month away from making the plunge. I need to know what and how to do to be successful as a O/O. I see some are starving while others are flourishing. I'm on a dedicated account and work 6 days. Averaging 2400 and up in miles, I'm not big on needing home time, and I don't turn down loads. With that said can someone please mentor me towards success?
How about doing a search on here? For example...start out with: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...-operator/13608-so-you-want-own-your-own.html MUST READ INFORMATION I trust you have at least 1 yr of OTR as a company driver...thats a big start towards success.... Being an O/O is much more than just buying a rig and holding a steering wheel......it takes TONS of money to start and be successful. The old saying.."If you want to make a million dollars in trucking, start with two million in the bank"
There is no "correct formula" for success. As in any industry, success as a small business owner depends on many things. In trucking, it largely depends on the weight of your right foot. Control that and you control one of the biggest on-going expenses you have--fuel. Good luck to you.
Thanks to every one who replied. I have to say it has only been 7 months since I started driving. I have tried to soak up as much as I can and alot has been very helpful.
I went from company driver to O/O at six months. There is no advantage to being a company driver longer than necessary to qualify. At six months you should know if driving is a job you can stick with. The things you need to know in order to be sucessful as an O/O won't be learned as a company driver. 1. Being in a dedicated account is a great start. The miles are usually more predictable and reliable. You are alot closer to the planner / DM processes, so your communication can be a lot better. Dedicated fleets, if the DM is at all aggressive, can get shop priority. Also it gives you a better grasp of the miles and mpg you should be getting. As a company driver you pay attention to the number of miles, as an O/O you need to pay attention to quality of those miles. 2. Your first truck should be the least expensive one that you can bring into the Swift systerm. This year is the last chance to bring in a pre dpf truck. My first recommendation (if you have the cash to do it) is to buy a used truck and bring it into Swift. If you want to move on (or Swift decides to move you on) you will still have the truck. Even with very good credit truck financing is hard to get with a limited amount of driving experience. My second recommendation is to try for an end of life Swift truck. These are 4 to 6 year old Columbia's that Swift is offering on a short lease (18 months) with the truck being paid for in that time. The riskiest thing to do is lease a new truck. That end's up being virtual debt slavery. After 4 years and over $100k in payments you will have nothing...not even a four year old truck... to show for it. And that's if you survive to four years. 3. All you need is an EIN (Employer Identification Number). In Washington state it's a simple matter to apply for a business license to get one. I have a simple license as a DBA (doing business as). For the single truck / driver with no employees this is the lowest cost approach. There really are no additional tax or liability benefits to incorporating if you are going to be a single pony operator. 4. You should have an accountant handle your taxes. You need to make quarterly tax payments (and that is every quarter). I've had no problems using my regular accountant for my trucking. I pay $250 a year for my accountant. Make a seperate bank / debit / credit account used solely for your business. It will make filing easier. 5. Set your maintaince account up with at least 10 cpm. And remember that is the truck's money, not yours. Sooner , but hopefully later, the engine will die and you will be looking at buying another truck or rebuilding the current on. Having $10K in the account will make it hurt less. The biggest reward of being an O/O is the control you get over your life and your career.
Here are a few tips. 1. start learning how to say "NO" As in no I wont haul your cheap freight. 2 Learn what cheap freight is and how you will be starving if you haul it. 3 Learn what the OOIDA is and what it stands for, become a member as they are out to protect YOU. 4. I really hope you arent getting paid mileage for being a lease operator as I dont know what you look like so I can blow the horn at you when I pass the guys in the soup line.
Start with not doing a lease purchase with a mega fleet. That's is not being an owner op. You are basically a company driver assuming all the risk driver assuming all the risk. And btw, where did all this "mentoring" crapola come from. I'll tell ya where. SWIFT.
I've never quite understood how people that LEASE a rig with a carrier (such as Swift for example) can really call themselves OWNER/OPERATORS? What is it really that they OWN here? NOTHING! Your basically paying a company for the priviledge of hauling their freight.... Leasing.....
