first time owner operator

Load Boards are 95% Brokers......Which means a Middle man to Lead you to Freight.
Some brokerages want 6 months to a year before they'll use you.

You have the Right Idea though- Go after your own customers- With 21 years of street time, You'll have no Problem getting your own customers- Especially Right Now where shippers are going Crazy looking for Trucks.

Insurance will be high your first few years

 

I like how people always say, that you gotta be a driver for few years before going independent. Here is another proof, that it does not work that way. All you really need is 6-12 months driving experience and then you can start your own journey. Driving for somebody for many years might make you a good driver, but won't teach you much about business

 

Solid business plan to keep your head above water, and use your experience to lead you in the right direction.

 

It takes years for things to become second nature. I don't care how good or smart you think you are. That is a fact. Could you trip plan in your head within seconds of someone telling you a start and end point knowing how much time the drive would take and where your fuel stops would be after only 6 months, really without hardly even thinking about it? Of course not. There's lots of little areas where someone will be really inefficient without experience. Experience is a leg up that saves time, mistakes, and money. Learning the business is the difficult part that demands 110% of your time and attention. Not being experienced with the basics of trucking, not having honed yourself and become proficient in that part of it already, is a distraction.

 

Don't take this wrong but you've been driving for 21 years and you haven't figured it out?