Hope this doesn't come off to harsh, but im a cold hard truth no sugar coating kind of guy. If you've never owned a truck and been responsible for picking profitable lots and negotiating rates all those years driving don't mean squat. The only thing driving experience does is teach you not to hit stuff and how to not tear a truck up. while that's very important it has little to do with the business side of operating a truck profitably.
The cold hard truth is you don't know Jack about making money with a truck. And that's ok, none of us did at first. But it's also the hardest thing to over come for a first time truck owner. The pride of thinking you know what you don't will only hold you back and extend the learning curve. The sooner you accept that the faster you will learn the things to make you profitable. Ok now that that's out of the way let's get to it.
I see a couple red flags in the things you mentioned.
1: you say you know the miles are there. That's company driver mentality. Lots of miles does not mean profit. In fact the reverse is often true. My most profitable weeks have been the weeks with the fewest miles ran.
2: some guys strictly get their own loads. Why? If the carrier has good paying direct freight why would some guys never haul it. That could be a sign that their direct freight is cheap. This leads into #3.
3. Their direct freight is household names everyone would recognize. That's not necessarily a good thing. Especially so with dry van and reefer freight. Those big household names are usually the cheapest paying loads. The big guys have decades of experience minimizing their costs and they are #### good at it. Trucking is just another cost of manufacturing to them and even less important than the packaging of their material. They have perfected how to minimize their trucking costs.
An 80/20 Split
Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by madmoneymike5, Jan 21, 2020.
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Ok. I appreciate that you took the time to respond and that you were sincere in your post. That said, I emphatically disagree with this statement. Your statement presumes too much. It is entirely possible that a company driver can learn about how the trucking industry works so they know which freight to haul and what to pass on when they transition from company driver to owner or lease operator. You're assuming I (and every other company driver) haven't spoken with owner operators, customer service reps, brokers, and dispatchers. Moreover, I said years of experience in the industry, not years of driving experience. I've worn many other hats besides driver.
Also, years of experience driving doesn't necessarily teach you how not to tear the truck up. I've ferried lots of trucks for a mega carrier's shop before, trucks driven by drivers who've been behind the wheel for multiple decades, and lemme tell you, those were some nasty, torn up, beat up, and abused trucks!
Again, I understand and appreciate the point you're trying to make, and while it might be true for some, the cold hard truth is that again you are presuming too much.
Do I know all there is to know about owning a truck? Obviously not or else I wouldn't be asking questions on a forum. But! I know more than you are giving me credit for.
I know the miles are there, yes. I also know what the loads pay and I have a very good idea of what my costs (both daily and per mile) will be, so yes, lots of miles will equal profit. But yes, I'm aware that sometimes you can make more money running short loads. But it's not exactly easy and not what I prefer. I like long haul. In the end, it is less non-driving work, easier to plan, and a steadier pace.
I've spoken with a few of these drivers. The consensus was they liked feeling more in control of their own results, wanted to learn that side of the business, and had aspirations of getting their own authority. One also said that one of our biggest customers is a always a multi-stop type load (delivering to individual stores from a DC), and he hates multi-stop loads. (FWIW, I don't like this customer either because their stores are in super tightly packed shopping centers and almost never have a dock; you have to deliver through the back door or even sometimes in the front door, and their freight is always loose boxes not on pallets.)
Maybe, but my point in saying it that way was to imply that the freight is always there. It's not going anywhere.
Thanks again for chiming in and being honest about how you feel. I just ask that you not presume as much as you seem to be and give me a little more credit than you appear to be.slow.rider and Bean Jr. Thank this. -
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