Considering o/o

Do you have the money saved up to buy a truck? Or are they trying to get you to lease? Everyone I've heard says do not take the lease, but wait for others to chime in.

 

Owner operator for some company or get your own authority?

 

You've been at this for 2 months and you aren't an "owner-operator" yet?? You're about 6 weeks late to the party, my friend.

 

You have money saved up to purchase a truck? Normally guys running for Werner do not. You could be the exception I guess.

 

Werner has an exceptional lease program that he'll be able to get into easy. To be fair, exceptional is only half the adjectives I could use in that sentence.

Unfortunately I have a good friend who just started in Werner's lease program. I went on record as being totally against it. I pushed the limits of our friendship in my advice to reconsider. All that's left now is to give what moral support I can.

 

Don't do a lease purchase program. From any company. Save your money and buy a truck from a dealer and sign it on with any company you want. If you do a lease purchase and for whatever reason you are unable to make the payments, they take the truck back. You are not allowed to take it to another company. And what happens when you have 12 payments to go and magically freight dries up? A lot of people lose a lot of money doing lease purchases. Most of the time they'd have come out further ahead as a company driver.

 

$12,000 is not enough to start as an independent o/o. You need $75,000 (minimum) and considerable business experience to have a real hope of success. 80% of those that try, will fail.

Simple brake down: Truck $25,000
Trailer $25,000
Expenses for the first 90 days (pay, maintenance, fuel, taxes.....ect) $25,000

The first 90 days will be the very hardest, your truck and trailer will let you down repeatedly. The checks your waiting for will finally start to coming in regularly after the first 90 days. Yes you can use the factoring companies, but that's $15,000 a year that your going to need to have just to keep that tired old truck and trailer going (or if your ready willing and able to do all repairs yourself, your going to need a vacation).

Do you have any idea what freight rates are in your chosen area of this business?