Is being an Owner Operator worth it?

Sure. Fremont Contract Carriers, Fremont, NE

 

Sometimes I think the terminology might be confusing for those looking on. Such as "lease" versus "leased to".

A lease, as in a rental/purchase agreement is pertaining to the owning of the equipment that you want to drive.

Leased to, is the authority who you lease your operation to and who's authority you run under.

I own my own tractor and trailer (no lease), but do not have my own authority. So I lease my operation to a company that pays me a percentage. I'm still the boss and I decide which loads I take, but generally they do a fantastic job dispatching me and I rarely turn down a load, unless it's cheap freight, I refuse to haul cheap freight and will deadhead a couple hundred miles if I have to. I'd rather drive on my terms than get delayed by a cheap load.

Just because I don't have my own authority doesn't mean I'm not a "real" owner operator. I pay all my own expenses, chose when I work, and can even find my own loads (higher percentage) if I want to.

 

That is my deal also. I have always bought my trucks elsewhere and never "lease purchased" them. But I do lease that truck on to a carrier, or maybe better worded, use their authority and have access to the entire customer base. And like you, I decide when and where it runs and the loads the match up with that. A very good relationship I have with the carrier.

 

None of us can answer your question, too many differences of opinion as far as acceptable and not. I have also noticed when the idea takes root the people only agree with what they wanna hear.
I say get a hold of it and see for yourself

 

If you find the idea of being independent and running your own business an appealing endeavour, then definitely.

But freight rates are so low right now, and freight is so slow, unless you already own the truck, it's really hard for a lot of drivers to make money in this industry, and with the mega carriers trying to kill of O/O's by undercutting rates with foreign workers and CDL schools, it'll only become harder in the coming years.

If you do decide to get into it, do so much research that you get every last piece of information you can. Going into owning your own business (whether a truck or otherwise) will lead you to bankruptcy unless you are prepared for every eventuality.

A good rule of thumb I hear from a lot of people is: "For whatever you pay for the truck, have at least that much in savings (cash) as backup for when something goes wrong. You can then either pay for the repairs, or dump the heap and buy something new if it's too costly".

And never finance your first truck. There will be weeks when you struggle to even make money, but your truck payment will still be due, and if you don't make it, you could lose it.

I hope that helps.

 

Nobody, you have to save it. It took me 5 years to have the money i needed. That's the problem with drivers today, they want everything right now. If you wanna do it with no money and $5k credit on a visa card, go for it. Aint my life.

 

That is a good company. I personally know one of the dispatchers and his wife through my current gig (both work there) and they have tried to ~"recruit"~me for about a year now. Great people and they obviously have good character judgment (lol).

 

An owner/operated running their own show may not be able to ever take much time off to service their customers. An owner/operator leased to a carrier may be able to take off as much time as they like and the company has other trucks to keep the customers happy.

 

Same here man. I made sacrifices for over 5 years and banked about $80,000 in that time as a company driver. What guys who want to be an owner operater so bad, who think you are pissing on their parade and discouraging them telling them to not do it until they have $20,000, $30,000 or whatever banked, their feelings get so hurt and they are such precious little snowflakes. They don't even understand the very first critical step to success in this industry is MONEY MANAGEMENT.

It's critical to have good money management skills or you on on the fast track to failure. Can't save a measly $10,000 in a year as a company driver? Wth is your problem? How do you ever expect to control and manage costs as an owner operator if you can't save a measly $10,000 in 12 months as a company driver with probably a tenth of the stress level? If your finances aren't in order you aren't ready.

 

Not necessarily,took two months off in may and taking two weeks off next week.working spot market and just signed a contract with a customer who got his own trucks but needs xtra capacity on weekends.
Every situation is unique