Is being an Owner Operator worth it?

Disagree all you want, DsquareD. Your emotional reaction doesn't mean a thing in realtime. I meant what I said, and I'll stand by my remark. If you're wondering, or evaluating, your level of commitment isn't strong enough to take you there. Besides that, "is it worth it...?" Why ask us, what do we know? What does "Worth" mean to you? There's thousands of posts and responses to this question in here already, look them up and read them.

Buying a truck isn't half the story. The driving isn't half the story. All the details, all the competition, all the unexpected, all the money management, finding and dealing with customers, all the relationships, all the personal lifestyle items, and all the yet to be experienced things, these are the story.

"Is it worth it?" If you have to ask, the answer is - NO. You have to want it, want what it brings. In fact, Hell No, it isn't a question of "worth it?" The real question is something else entirely. Mr $.02.

 

Here's another answer to this question:

 

You guys are told what you can and can't do your an owner operator with payments being baby sat and told what you can and can not do with your truck it's your boss you have to make payments and the company knows this and it's a baby sitting job so far for my husband it's not his truck and he didn't get it where he is working but they tell him what he can and can't do with it.

 

Thats why I'm researching now and looking at spring to hopefully jump in

 

Depending if you get a bad truck it will take you to the cleaner.

 

I am not an o/o yet but I have a dumb 20 year old girl who knows nothing about trucking pick my loads and she gave me a load that picked up on Saturday without realizing they were off until after labor day so I had to sit and wait for days for the shipper to return. If I had been more in control I would have found out that the shipper was open or not before I took the load but as a company driver that is out of my hands. The dispatcher didn't care that I was stuck there for four days while she enjoyed her vacation.

 

What a shock right??

 

I'd save up and look around for a nice pre EGR truck. I got my 03 Columbia with 680k miles for 16k. Truck needed some work but the motor was solid. Got new brakes all around for about 1k and it was ready to hit the road. Had some driveline vibrations so I made some money and a month later spent 6k on rebuilding the drivelines, new motor mounts, new steering shaft, new steering gearbox, and new shocks. It drives like a dream now, smoother than my Honda Civic. I've also replaced 4 tires so far and getting ready to replace 4 more. Besides that work, I haven't had a single issue with the motor. It's a 12.7 60 Series Detroit and I couldn't be happier with it. Haven't touched it besides oil changes. Doesn't eat any oil or coolant. MPG kind sucks a 6.1 MPG but I do mostly haul right at 80k and the motor doesn't struggle at all. I'm so glad I didn't get the Volvo I was looking at. I'm saving up for a rebuild but I'm not sure when that will be. I read that lots of people go 1.2-1.5 million on these Detroits before rebuilding. I'm planning on having the money ready for one when I hit 1 million.

So do some research and decide if going to California is worth it for you. If you don't need to, I'd buy a pre 2004 or at least pre 2007 truck and save yourself a LOT of headaches with all those emissions systems. Research the motor it has. I personally will only drive Detroit, Cummins, and maybe CAT. I prefer Detroits. Save up and try to buy with cash. It's nice not having a truck payment, I only pay for parking and insurance if I'm not driving. A buddy of mine has a $1500 truck payment on top of that so he can't take as much time off as I can.

Good luck and good for you for asking questions before you buy.

 

Depends what kind of company you'll work for?, and what they'll pay you?, $%.% or $0.00 per mile
I know some companies that I have worked for, they only doing a brokers loads, means you'll be a dead broke all the times.
Lots of companies deducts all kind of deductions of your settlement, at the end of the week you'll be surprised how much you have paid to them, and it's way way more than 20-25% of the revenue.
In now days I have discovered the only way to survive as an Owner Operator, that if you have a fairly new truck that don't needs lots of repairs and it's already paid, and company that you work for has their own customers, means no cheap loads, and you'll need to be extremely organized with spending your money.
It's worth it very much so, if it's done in the proper way!

 

First off, I like your signature line. My wife and I say or text it to each other every day.

There was no emotion in my response. I was simply offering my opinion.