Is it worth it, finanically speaking, to O/O...???

Why would anybody serious about business, career and retirement spend thousands of dollars in chrome?

 

Drive a business with a truck!

 

i used to say the same thing, however, i do understand and "in general" agree

but if you are leased on to someone, i can also understand the "pay by the mile" because this way, you dont get the "sitting in florida because there are no good rates" or "50cpm out of jersey" nonsense

its not the best, but it can be doable

 

At one point I was on the hard core side of "Percentage only" but then realized that it is more about drivers not doing the math. There is an O/O on here that is on a mileage plan that based on where he lives and what the company he is with offers he is getting a better deals, all around, than if he was on a percentage program.

I talk to O/O all day long and I am constantly asking "have you done the math?". Companies have and they know that free plates, free pre-pass, paid tolls or whatever come out to pennies a mile.

And that applies to figuring out the different percentages. There are companies offering percentage that once you figure out what makes it to the truck that they driver can make more on a mileage plan.

 

The truth lies in the math..01 per mile X 120000 miles = $1200.00. A house payment maybe?

 

Whoa!! Truer words were never spoken!!

 

I came back to trucking after a 20 year hiatus. I had to do the company driver thing for a year, but figured out within one month how much I was being taken advantage of and ripped off. &nbsp;I trained with an "owner-operator" (a guy lease purchasing a worn out truck) and he had no clue how much he was losing or making. &nbsp;Fortunately I had a Roth IRA I cashed in to buy my truck and leased to a company.&nbsp;<br><br>My wife and I had both had a couple of businesses before and she is a numbers person who knows how to use a spread sheet, tackle insurance requirements and other back office requirements. Our first lease lasted a year because of cheap freight (refrigerated freight is cheap). We then took a gamble, bought a flat bed trailer and leased to another company. We made more money, drove more miles and were generally content until they cut our pay by 5%. &nbsp;It was at that point we decided to get our own authority and be truly independent.&nbsp;<br><br>We have been operating under our own authority for two months now and our per paid mile average is up 40 cents and our dead head has dropped to about 10%. &nbsp;We are getting better fuel discounts through various contacts and we pick better paying loads using the load boards. &nbsp;Better yet, our brokers like our service and give us good feed back.<br><br>Like any business we have our headaches, especially maintenance. I have spent $9000 in the past month on maintenance issues. But that is a rare occurrence, as we generally have only preventive maintenance to worry about. Life on the road is much better than being a company driver despite a mechanical issue once in a while. I decide where to go and when to go. I usually run two weeks out and take four days at home. Usually all of our bills, business and personal, are all paid in full the first two weeks of every month.&nbsp;<br><br>My advice to you is if you want to be an owner operator, save your money for a down payment on a used truck. &nbsp;Lease to a motor carrier and learn the ropes of operating a truck and learning the business end of trucking. This may take a year or two, but watch all of your expenses. &nbsp;Know how much it cost to run the truck per mile, how much it cost per day. And if you want to get your own authority, save some more money for cash flow the first month or two. Learn what brokers require, about factoring and insurance.&nbsp;<br><br>As others have said above, I would not want to go back to being a company driver. I don't make a very good employee and hate living under someone else's rules. &nbsp;Being an owner operator is hard work, but the rewards are worth the effort. &nbsp;If you have any questions feel free to send me a private message. Hope to see you out on the road someday.

 

If you was an O/O and to run dry vans you would be probably broke within two years, depending on how good is your truck.Reefer work is seasonal anyway looking at it from my perspective.Tankers are so,so but u need to haul ### and if it ain't RGN it ain't no money in there .Only way I can make money in this business is hauling oversize/overweight or specialized. other than that I,personally wouldn't be in it. The industry is just way too saturated,brokers/agents got no regulations and they are doing whatever hell they want,resulting in poor rates and everything else. By the time you pay all expense you are breathing thru a thin straw.