Calling all veteran owner ops

Haul oil, make real money. Otr guys constantly talk about being away from home too long for too little. Oil haulers talk about how to spend their extra cash. Drive to another state for work if needed.

 

If I was you I would get my feet wet as a company driver and learn from the inside and develop relationships and knowledge. Then when you feel you are ready you will be more prepared to make the jump. Learning things the hard way can get expensive. Plus if you expand and go to managing drivers you would have an inside perspective of how they think.

 

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...becoming-owner-operator-steps-forms-info.html


As others have said, better to sign up as a company driver for a year or two. There is a ton of information on this board starting with the link above.

 

Check the OOIDA website; it's a business organization for owner-operators and small fleet owners.

 

The problem with dealing directly with the shippers is, with only one truck, there are very few shippers that you can service. You will almost always be somewhere else when they want you. Not to say it can't be done but you need to find a shipper in your locale that ships a short distance and only a few loads a week. You might also need two, three or even more trailers so you can have one at every pu and del point.

Truckers Edge (DAT)

There is nothing any better than Excel and your brain. A good mapping software loaded on your laptop is essential. I use Streets and Trips GPS version 2007 and have never needed anything else. There are others out there now but back in 2007, S&T was the only GPS for laptops that allowed me to create the route. I manually put the scale houses, low clearances and restricted routes from Rand McNally into S&T. It took me 40 hours to do the northeast.

Other than maintenance, it's paperwork and compliance. You've got truck safety renewal, trailer safety renewal, IFTA renewal, UCR renewal, NMFTA SCAC renewal, transponder renewal, cab card renewal, NYHUT renewal (and the other states that think they're special)...all of which must be done annually. Then you have to file your quarterly IFTA and pay them. Then you will have a DOT audit to prepare for. Then you will have an IFTA audit. Then you have to find freight and invoice it. And then you have to fight to get paid (chase down the stragglers). And then you've got to pay your bills. Not to mention keeping track of all your receipts and filing your income tax. All in addition to the 14 hrs/day on your log book.

Everything takes time and costs you money....nothing is simple......even something as simple as receiving your checks in the mail and cashing them is more difficult in a truck.

Factor all this BS in when before you low ball any potential customers.

 

There aren't any dumb questions. It is better to ask than find out the hard way.

 

Oh I forgot, . . good luck Bob.