daytime O/O

I think you won't make much money that way.

 

I have been accused by my company of not having headlights on my truck before ! but i do run mostly sun up to sun down and I do ok in the winter and real good in the summer !! you can run daylight hours and still get 600 - 650 a day if you stay in the middle of the right and left sides .

 

I run locally and some regional(200 miles or less) daytime and sometimes night. But when it's slow, yes, 7 to 8 hours days happen. But when at peak 12 to 15 even more I've worked. Yes, I also turned down loads when I want but usually cause Im burnt out. Remember, when you haul for different carriers(brokers) they get to rely on you and offer you more loads, but if you get choosy on picking your hours(7 to 8), they will most likely pass on you and offer it to someone who is more reliable. You have to build up your reputation with brokers just like anywhere you go to, if not, it can be a struggle.

 

Dont listen to the naysayers. I usually run 1500 to 1800 miles a week, home everyday by about 5 or 6, weekends off all the while clearing $1500 to $2000 a week after fuel. I pull containers and pay myself $650 a week and bank the rest for taxes, maintenance, and vacations.

 

If you want to be a daytime O/O, the best vehicle for doing this would probably be a container roll-off or a cement mixer.

 

DieselDave pretty much spot on. Add to that, daytime trucking will have you competeing with every yahoo who wants to shut down at dark thirty and start their day at 7am. That's most of today's "truckers". This means when capacity is tight you will only see a lot of cheap freight, like all the other solar powered trucks. When it's tight you might get a rate but only if you know it's tight. If you're trained and molded into thinking "cheap is just how it is" how are you gonna know when the daytime rates are good in any given area? If you want to have an easier time of it setting rates you will start out picking afternoon loads and running them overnight. If you want a 9-5 trucking job, and you are going to buy a truck and try to pull this off, without any contacts or anything, well you'll soon learn the hard way everyone wants their freight moved and there's plenty of it but none of them think you need to make a profit doing it.

 

The only time this year that I've driven what I consider to be 'nights' was when I ran from Minneapolis to Spokane, and then Spokane to Boston. And that was because I chose to drive for 11 and be off for 10 until I reached my destinations. I consider 'night' driving to be when I start my 14 before 2am or finish driving after midnight.

I've only lost one day of revenue so far this year as a result of staying on a day schedule. If I'd taken the load that put me on nights, then I'd likely have been stuck on driving nights for the rest of the week, and probably had to get back on the day schedule anyway due to not finding a night load. I think that's a small price to pay for staying safe and not driving tired.

And I've averaged $2.14/mile (hub miles) since January 1, with revenue to the truck at $48,750, (including 11 days of down time for repairs) so I don't think that staying on days has made me miss out on the higher paying freight.

 

doing similar with a reefer.