Should we become Owner Op team?

It's daunting at first, but looking back it's pretty simple. You're in a rare position to be able to cover all of your expenses up front. The authority itself is cheap, like $300 and $550 for 2290. Then there's a list of things that the FMCSA focuses on, like drug testing, driver records, maintenance records, etc. To activate your authority, you'll need a truck and the minimum insurance requirements.

Our truck and insurance are paid for up front, which is a big reason why we could take the whole month of October off and go to Florida. Being a team is the reason why we could get out of Florida at a decent rate.

 

This site (TTR), OOIDA site and the FMCSA site is all I used to get started.

 

What company do you work for?

 

We don't make a lot of money, but we don't need a lot of money. If we ran the Midwest and used a lot of strategies some of these other people use combined with picking up team loads here and there, we could make much more. We actually run local/regional near Denver for the most part. If we go somewhere else, we are ok with sitting and waiting for a good rate, because our fixed expenses are paid for up front, and our truck is roomy and comfortable.

You can always try to lease on with a good company, and if it doesn't work, get your authority and go out on your own. Knowing what you're worth and how much it costs to operate is a big part of this. Companies will try to leverage being a team to your disadvantage- you can cover more miles at a lower rate making more money. You might want to look at it the opposite way- you're offering more than a solo driver can, so the rate should be equal or higher. You don't want to beat up your truck for less than market rates.

But, again, if you really don't care for trucking and plan on getting out anyway, there's very little risk in working as company drivers making good money really quick and getting out. We always know that if our business doesn't work out for whatever reasons, there are plenty of team jobs out there waiting for us.

 

Moverman can I ask what company you are with? If it is allowed.

 

Lot of good info here. Sounds like running team as O/O not a good idea if you use load boards. Need to lease onto a good carrier and find a dedicated run. Then may be better off not working for that carrier as an O/O but get on as company drivers in order to avoid truck deterioration which happens quick when you run 250K plus miles per year.

Anyway, just regurgitation of what I read here as I am looking into this option. Wife and I considered buying a new truck and going OTR as a team. We have been O/O for over a year now and seeing success but the work is local oilfield stuff, been doing that for over 6 years and she may be getting fed up with that so looking into other options.

Any other meaningful input would be highly appreciated!