O/O authority

I can't speak to why others discourage it: I'm a OO with my own authority. I tend to discourage others from taking this route, at least initially; as most people have very little, if any business sense. Most want to drive a big shiny truck and go to "nice places". After buying a smoked out jalopy instead, they cut rates because of their lack of business sense and knowledge of the industry.

That doesn't come into the realm of "keeping out competition" so much as "keeping people from ####ing things up that they don't know anything about".

I have been frustrated in the past by customers that have to use brokers/ other carriers to cover good paying freight I couldn't cover..those folks sometimes cut the rate (doesn't affect me as my rate doesn't change..) but generally screw things up quite badly.
I.e. The next day that same customer is asking me if I'll be around the area the previous day's load was headed...because they shipped a 10 stop load and the carrier was empty at stop #3.
Now I have to go n fix it. I have better things to do than take responsibility for others mistakes. Those are the same carriers that damage product, and shipper/consignor relationships.

I keep my customers as happy as I can: whether thru the service I provide for them or the service their customer receives from them.

Having a rolling enrollment of "competitors" that screw things up makes my job filled with more headaches than I want.


I'm not here to say going out and getting ones authority won't lead to success: however it will lead to failure for many simply because they don't have what it takes to be successful. Is what it is.
Most small businesses fail in the first year. Doesn't mean if you're going to fail that you will in the first year: it means 80% of businesses that startup will fail within a year, n plenty more after that too.

"A rising tide raises all ships" but someone ####ting in your water well doesn't help the quality of the water by virtue of raising the level of the water.

My $1.00 of wisdom right there, free of charge, courtesy of TTR.

 

Nice, take this advise reddod2110

 

Typicall company driver reply. Disregard

 

I always say "don't do it," reckoning that statement won't dissuade anyone who is likely to be successful.

What I did not fully appreciate when I started was that your start-up capital has value -- using it to start a trucking company costs you opportunities elsewhere.

For instance, I put ~$60,000 into starting my business (truck, trailer, insurance, reserves). But if I had remained a company driver and put that $60,000 down on $300,000 worth of real estate that rented for $3,000/month -- I would be much further ahead financially.

That's not to say you couldn't do better with a trucking company -- some do. But most do not -- most buy a job that pays about as well as a high-end company gig (but they now have more control over their daily lives/schedule).

 

I would put myself into that category. Like a high end company job with complete control overy my work and schedule. I don't see where being independent would really improve on it for my own circumstance.

I would actually like to do better than what I am. But there are self imposed limitations that are put on me by me. For one I don't live to truck. I truck to live. I enjoy trucking and would think of doing nothing else for an income but home and family is way more important than trucking. That said I know there are other areas I could improve on without my limitations hurting my income so much. There's always room for improvement.

Reasons for discouraging others... There are already too many trucks out here, even when freight and rates are up you're always going to fight hard for the best rates, people are still going to try taking advantage of you. I remember 3 and 4 years ago how relatively easy it was to book loads with solid rates, mention it in here, and guys would call me a liar and say there's no way because they never saw rates like that...

...some people just aren't cut out for the hard nosed edge of wrangling top dollar, or even recogizing when they can get it. You can sense weakness in a person's voice or position over the phone, or at least I can. If you are tone deaf to that sort of thing you're going to have a tough row to hoe. In a world saturated with vans and reefers, if those are your chosen trailer (and also open deck to a large extent) if you can't sift thru all the cheap chaff out here and get down to the wheat you won't make money. Some guys don't get that even very experienced drivers. The failure rates are very high. More than likely OP you will fail that's just how it is.

The pitfalls of expensive break downs if you rely on shops to fix things. There is just so much more to it than meets the eye or could even be explained in an Internet posting. There are so many areas that a person has to hone their skills on all the time. Could go on and on...

 

Cut out the middle men and deal with shippers? Or is that pipe dreaming

 

There are course that are free on the OOIDA website.

http://www.ooidaonlineeducation.com/classes.aspx

This stuff has lots of basic information.

Pay attention to it and feel free to ask questions. The most important thing is to understand that successful business owners work much harder then employees. Sales and book keeping take up a lot of your "free time". You need to find customers who will pay you enough and in a short period of time. You should avoid as many folks as possible who want to take a bite out of your paycheck. Brokers who are just rebrokering loads are the worst.

But is it worth it? Yes. Just don't haul cheap.

 

I think more importantly is to always do a good job with no fuss, know your worth, and charge accordingly regardless of who is paying the freight. You'll have a lot less nonsense dealing direct for sure that would be the biggest plus. In a clear cut world where everything is black and white cutting out the middle man means more money. But that isn't always the case. Again, just know your worth and charge accordingly.