help! a bit stressed out.

If you are financially able to purchase a truck without leasing from a company then there is a world of opportunity for you. It may not be working for a specific company, because like CJ said, most companies want at least a year of OTR. If you are unsure about taking on that task then your best bet may be to just hire on as a company driver to get your OTR experience, then venture into the O/O world. But if you are 100% ready to take on the challenge, then you may have to earn that OTR experience working for yourself. Check out Cardinal like Chinatown mentioned. They are based out of NC, but it might be a good lead.

 

How much money do you have for your reserve fund?

Did you do what many do to fail, that is just pick out a truck based on price and ignore the due diligence of purchasing the right took for the job?

 

You are putting the cart before the horse. Straight to O/O OTR with no OTR experience is a huge risk. Also 2009-2010 Cascadias are unreliable after 400K miles. Be a company driver for 12 months hauling the loads and in the lanes you want to run as an O/O. It will be the best 12 months investment you can make.

 

I would have to agree that I believe going the 12 months as a company driver is the best road to take. But it's really your choice. A good thing would be to get on with a company that will let you transition to O/O after your time is up.

 

Either way you go I wish you the best of luck. I plan on owning my own truck one day as well. But I had to start somewhere and Star was gracious enough to help me towards my goal. They have owner ops as well.

 

Does Star run coast to coast?

 

No matter which way you go, there should be tons of opportunities in Laredo.

 

Personally, I think it's a mistake to buy a truck to do OTR, with out ever driving OTR, JIMO! It's a recipe for failure, best advise I'd give you, go drive for a company for one year, if you still like the OTR thing, then buy a truck, but if you do decide to just buy a truck and hit the road? PLEASE PLEASE, don't come back here complaining how you've been screwed over by X company