Any advice about becoming o/p

You know when this kind of threads start popping pretty often, market is about to take a turn

 

Are you with Werner?
I remember that people were more than happy on either Dollar General or Familly Dollar accounts there.
I was trained by one if them for a month.
He was home every weekend and making close to 75k per year but it was 2002. So if you are at the same level then it is better to stay where you are.

 

Ok.
1. It is worth it to be an owner/operator because that's a desired career stage in this profession unless you have a really well paying job.
2. Truck should be selected according to freight you want to pull. Mostly Heavy or not too heavy.
Mountains riding or not much mountains riding.
Anything else is a personal preference.
3. If you don't have at the least 20-30k put aside after down payment or cash purchase it is rather risky ... for instance of having the truck broken down and not being able to finance the repairs.

 

1) That's sort of up to each person and then what you are doing with the truck.. So are you talking about buying a truck and running under someone else's numbers or buying a truck and getting your own authority?

It's 2 different things that have very different give and takes.

2) It's kinda hard to answer this question because we have no idea about your abilities or what you intend to do. Can you work on the truck yourself, I'm guessing no based on the questions being asked so I'd say get as new of a truck as you can with some sort of warranty.

3) If you are talking just truck or authority & truck? I drove for a MEGA ran my ### off for a year set aside around $30k . With that amount of money, I figured I could either buy a used truck and run someone else's numbers or get my own authority and run a hotshot truck. I got my own authority and ran the hotshot truck because I can work on that truck myself and it's easier for me to keep that truk/trailer at home vs a semi.

This is just my opinion but based on your questions I'd suggest not getting your authority yet because I'd say you need to do a lot more research in this industry before going that route but maybe buy a truck and go lease on somewhere that takes Owner Ops.

Also, one key here is yeah I had $30k saved but I burnt a lot of that just getting started but a key thing is I have additional access to about $40k via credit cards. I only financed my trailer and I used a lot of cash on getting my truck ready, buying equipment paying insurance ect..ect.. I didn't have anywhere near $30k by the time I was ready to take my 1st load.

If I had it to do over again, I might have just bit the bullet and bought a new truck..but even still today I have a hard time going that route just because. I actually bought another used truck and put it on the road last month so I went used a 2nd time but again we are talking smaller trucks (F550 this time)

I do think perhaps a new truck is the smarter choice for most people but I can fix just about anything so I went used and it's worked out for me without any serious negativity so far. With that said I did a lot of repairs to both trucks b4 either hit the road just to make sure I'd have as little problems as possible.

4) again this depends if you just buy a truck and lease on somewhere or get your own numbers. I'd suggest you just get a truck and lease on somewhere to gain some more experience.

I got my authority after driving just a bit over a year but I've had other business and I was on the dockside of the freight biz for years so I understood the trucking industry a bit more than average new guys.

IMO just get a truck and drive under someone's numbers and keep learning. Go somewhere you have a bit of a safety net so you can kinda run your own show but they give you the ability to pick your loads ect.

Basically what I'm saying, is until you can answer question 4 on your own, do not even think about getting your own authority. Just run under some other company's numbers but somewhere they give you access to have a bit of decision making. Heck, even the 1st year maybe just go to any trucking company that hires O.O's and let them dispatch you so you can concentrate on making money and keeping the truck on the road.