How to become a successful O/O.....

Oh, right, thanks! Hadn't thought of it like that. Though I do read and hear all the comments about lease operators not making any money, and those kinds of concerns of who the company is looking out for. I watched a YouTube from a trainer at Prime. He claimed (before he became trainer) that his last year by himself, he cleared 70K after taxes and expenses leasing a Prime truck, maybe like 2500 mpw. I'm like, shoot, that sounds too good to be true.

But yeah, I agree I do need to do research here and other places. I don't want to choose the wrong route right out of the blocks is all. And I know I'll need help with all the details of organizing, book keeping and aquiring (stuff)

 

What would you say is the biggest reasons new o/o don't go out and buy a brand new warranty truck? Is it because the high down payment? The high credit needed ? The fear of payments? Obviously guys who wrench don't need the new truck

 

The $700 or $800 month insurance payment?

How often, and for what are you going to go claim your warranty?

$200 item? $300?

2 days, 3, at a dealer to get it fixed?

Whoever's load you had in the meantime is now late.

Everyone wants a guarantee. In business, in life.

Good luck with that.

Like I said, if you need to ask is it worth it, you already have your answer.

 

Might I also add, from all the advice that's come from the sound advice section, you may want to check on the hundreds of posts of woe that have come from the same section on rates, costs, blah.

 

Disclaimer: Any advice from Me is not Guaranteed as “Sound”. Only opinion, based on my personal experiences. “ Gimme 10 of them new Trucks, I’ll be rich in no time!!!” Lol

 

Everybody is going to have there own idea for a reason.
I have a few these days, not so many just a year or two back.
1 I will not be forced into the eld game, would retire from trucking first.
2 I tend to like to keep trucks long after they are paid off and tend to do all of my own work, new trucks are not decent candidates for this, way too much to go wrong, not to mention expensive stuff.
3 When work slows I want the option to take a month or a year or what ever it takes, till work becomes profitable again, not hard to keep insurance on a paid off truck without working, but add in big truck payments and higher insurance costs, and it becomes quite a bit harder.

Number 3 has probably always been my primary reason, and number one is a new one but just as important.
Now for the disclaimer, I have 4 trucks, 3 of them were 2 to 3 year old trucks when I bought them. One other had a new engine and both rears, tranny and steering gearbox had 100,000 miles or less on them.
My old log truck, I knew the history on before I bought it and the motor was pretty fresh too.

In other words, I never bought junk to start with and have had good luck keeping them in good condition, without outside shop bills or payments after the initial 4 years.

 

I did cover my butt by inserting "tendency", which means it's not a blanket statement covering every situation everywhere.

 

I know, and what you said is true.I know what you mean. I try to speak Professionally, and have always been pretty good at spelling, but have known many, who are much smarter than Myself, who were terrible spellers. And others Who just destroy the English Language. Yet they know how to connect with People. It’s all in retrospect for Me. Looking back.

 

Most new O/Os shouldn't be buying a truck in the first place. They believe getting their own authority means they can make twice as much as being a company driver while taking half a year off. So with a mortgage and two car payments, they're eager and save up just enough to buy the cheapest truck they can find and start their own authority with zero cash flow left over. It doesn't work that way.

Also having the ability to wrench isn't beneficial financially for everyone. If I live in a bad freight area, I'm not going to take that cheap load home and cheap load back out just to do some PM myself when I can pick up a load Friday, get my PM done at shop Saturday, and be on the road Sunday to deliver this load Monday.

I personally plan on buying a used truck myself, but it would be an owner op specced truck with one owner that's still driving it. I wouldn't buy from a dealership and I most defiantly wouldn't buy a mega carrier throw away. If I did buy a new truck, it would be a custom owner op spec truck as well made for resale value, not the cheapest 2020 on the lot I can find.

 

I wouldn't recommend a new or old truck if you are a new O/O. The first question is hinted at above. Where do you live, who do you know and what can you do yourself. Is there a good shop close by that can do the stuff to your truck you can't do or sometimes don't have time to do? This is huge.

Everyone wants a pre-emission/pre-eld clean truck but they are getting impossible to find. I would strongly recommend a 2-3 year old one with a 200k or so on it. The bugs are mostly worked out and it should have plenty of life before it starts needing much. Every new truck purchase I hear about takes a bunch of trips to the dealer for warranty stuff and problems new trucks shouldn't have, but they still do.