To go owner operator or not. I need input!

PM it to me as well.

 

That's different, now you are talking, and I have no doubt you would make it. While it's true, you can call the shots, just remember, there's a lot more uncertainy being an O/O. You may miss the kids ball game, because you're hassling with a stripped out drain plug, ( or whatever) that was suppose to take you 20 minutes, and that truck gotta roll tomorrow, sorry junior ( and the missus has no sense of humor in those situations either, trust me)
It's so much nicer to say at the end of the day, "so long, Fred, ( mechanic) (with a list of problems) see you Monday".

 

@Scooter Jones dont make the mistake of thinking that because it's the right move for you, that it is at all a good move for anyone else- imo MOST people should not own their own business, Trucking or otherwise. Most people do not have a good business acumen.

@bryan21384 that is exactly what I'm getting at.

And here again.




Most people won't make it in any new business venture.
"Faster truck, more chrome, more money, freedom"
I got all those things. Didnt come easy. I caught a lot of breaks. And based on what I read here I have more business sense based on my upbringing than most; just happenstance, but it's one of the breaks I've caught in life.


It's not a natural progression that you are a company guy, a leased on OO, then a fleet owner or a carrier. Ain't a thing wrong with being a top notch employee.
If you're a A gamer (courtesy @TripleSix) you can achieve a lot in life.

 

I missed a lot with my 2 kids, and you can't get that back. I'd run my arse off to get home to see a play or soccer game, and when it was over, hop back in the truck and keep on truckin'. I did RR cans out of Chicago, total incentive, the more I trucked, the more I made, ( allegedly)and with those drive tires getting thin, or whatever, it was always something, sometimes I HAD to haul that extra load. I explained to my kids, this is what daddy has to do, so we can have the life we live. My wife didn't buy that and we got divorced anyway. No doubt trucking cooked my marriage, and O/O didn't help.

 

Ruthless, I don't assume that everyone should or can become a business owner. I think that 50%, or something like that, of all new businesses fail within the first few years.

You either have it or you don't...

Which is why I find it amusing when I read posts from folks asking totally anonymous people on a forum like TTR to help them "decide" whether or not they should become owner operators

 

If your OL isn't on board with this, it might not work.

 

Spot on! I wouldn’t expect the same runs that you’re getting now and your calculations are based on that and your current company may have its own shop for maintenance and repairs. I’m thinking out loud about the same thing that you are. I’m certainly not trying to talk anyone out of it. But, I talked to a former O/O of three trucks. He drove one Monday thru Friday, did maintenance and repairs on Saturday and paperwork on Sunday. What’s the total value of your salary plus benefits plus your three weeks of vacation? Subtract what you’re O/O friends net. Then weigh the amount of risk involved for the difference in compensation. (Btw, im asking myself the same question you’re posting but you’re way far ahead of me in the savings department by about 25k congrats on that) if you’re able to bank that kind of moolah maybe what you are doing currently is working!

 

Hey, at least you have the luxury of this site. If there was a site like this years ago, could have saved a lot of headaches. Back then, it was just trial and error, going on somebody's word it was a good deal, but if you failed, or messed up, it generally didn't have the catastrophic results like today.( today, one crash can ruin you for life) I'm not saying to abandon it altogether, I did ok, but would do it a lot different. As long as the company job is doing ok, and I understand, it's easy to get burned out, and think there's got to be something better, and there was a time when that was true, but today, I just don't see how O/O's do it, and if the company job goes south, and don't say it won't, big companies run on a shoestring, or even a loss for years, then, maybe but right now, let them pay the bills and enjoy that little league game.