Hello OOs, I am a current company driver looking to interview YOU.

Stay a company driver for a couple years,,get more experience driving and learn more about trucking,,no matter how great a driver you are when owning a truck you need to know a lot about running a business and learn to as much as you can about truck repairs and maintenance,,,there are some O/Os that make good money but most only make about the same as a company driver.
Get a book about starting a business and one on book keeping too,,
Good luck but take your time making the switch,,the fall is lot a good time freight starts to slow in October and starts picking up in the spring,,

 

Do a lot of reading here. Most of your questions have already been answered. There's a user here, MNDriver that posted some really good spreadsheets that detailed his projected fixed and variable costs, along with gross and net income. Have a look at those, and compare the net with what you're bringing home right now. I think you'll find that you'd do much better staying where you are unless you find an exceptionally good lease program.

Also, think about the wisdom of leasing a truck from the same company that controls your freight and your earnings.

 

Here's a thread you might be interested in following.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...r-operator/260374-the-road-less-traveled.html

 

KR has a good audio book and worksheets. "Stop holding the steering wheel and start driving the business"
$250 - but very complete guide - concise.

Good luck.

 

I've answered the question: "How do I get to be an O/O and is it worth it?" many times before. I am new to this forum but I give the same advice.
It benefits the trucking community as a whole when we all do things right and don't have preventable accidents/problems out on the road that gives the public a bad image of us truckers. When you first start out there's a whole lot of stuff to learn. It may not be a bad idea to team drive for a company with an experienced driver to ask questions to and to get a feel for life out on the road. There's a whole lot more to know than just holding the steering wheel and a whole lot of different situations you may find yourself in that it helps to be prepared for. "Situations that aren't in the training manual" like my mentor used to say. You can definitely learn on your own, but learn all you can about what to do and how to do it before you start out. You don't want to be learning the expensive lessons offered by DOT in the weigh stations! lol!
Getting your own authority is exciting and puts you in charge of your future, but there's a lot of responsibility to yourself and others that comes with it. Having authority means properly complying with state and federal regs as well as getting your authority registered through and with about a dozen different entities, as well as several states that require you to have their authority as well (google "kyu number"). Its a whole bunch of headaches but once you get it figured out it isn't so bad. When I first got started It seemed that there was 1000 things and regulatory bodies to comply with. This site seems to answer it all if you look around but check with your local state authority to get the list of all the requirements you will need to comply with. Also, be prepared to spend close to $10,000 for authority, secretary of state, IRS heavy vehicle use tax, your tag(cab card) and various others. The insurance down payment alone will be substantial.
When you insure your rig, make sure not to over/under insure it. If you haul lumber for example, under $50,000 loads, than only carry $50,000 in cargo. I've met people who carry lumber day in, day out, who for some reason pay thousands a year in wasted dollars to carry $250K cargo insurance. Match the right insurance to the value of your truck and the value of your loads. You can always change it up or down with a phone call.
Ive been driving for 21 years and in that time I've bought many trucks for myself as well as helping others to pick one out. Everyone has a favorite but consider a detroit or cummins engine since they are much cheaper and easier to work on. The first fatal problem most people make in becoming an O/O is being underfunded when they start.
Buy a truck that will last, even if it means financing it. I had just gone through a divorce and lost all my credit cards the year before I got my authority. Even with a credit score in the 500's you can still finance a truck with about 1/4 to 1/2 of the money down. Try to stay away from any "lease to own" programs, since most of those will basically charge twice the value of the truck over the life of the lease, not to mention that if you do go under for whatever reason, you will have absolutely no equity in the truck whatsoever. Most "lease" programs don't give you any ownership whatsoever until the final payment of the lease and then they have what they call "$1 dollar buyout", so try to stay away from them. If you have no money to put down, there are several companies that you can drive for, for various amounts of required time, that will finance you into a truck with no money down if you agree to carry only for them for a certain time period, usually 2 years or more.
When buying a truck, many people try to get an older truck that they can afford with no payments, say around $12-15 thousand for a higher mileage truck, then they start taking runs close to home, say within 500 miles or so. This doesn't work out and here's why: That older truck is going to have problems. I don't care if it was well maintained and has a fresh inframe motor or not. The problem is in the age of the accessories such as the turbo, intercooler, radiator, drivers, axle seals, engine seals, kingpins, power steering, drivelines, ujoints, air/water separators, compressor, etc.... All kinds of things can lead to you being out of service and making costly repairs. A bad radiator can cause you to overheat and blow a head gasket and then you are dead in the water, hooked to a load thats supposed to be somewhere, and you just blew 5 thousand dollars because you thought you were saving money. These kind of components don't routinely get replaced when the truck gets repowered.
Now, I know it sounds counter intuitive, but try considering financing a newer truck with lower miles. If you put down 15k on a 50 or 60.000 dollar truck, you should be able to keep a payment under 1000/month. Also, having a truck only 2-4 years old may open you up to more work from more people, usually better paying work also. Trust me, you will have much less downtime in the longrun, enough to make the extra money for the payments. Not to mention a truck that will last you 4-5 years instead of just "getting by". And not to mention your trade in value when it comes time for a new one.
When looking at trailers, many start up O/O's with previous driving/company experience go straight to the kind of trailer that they used to haul. Consider several things before getting a trailer. For example, if pulling dry vans, you will spend more time at docks and much more time putting loads together as an O/O than what you're used to as a company driver. And there is no pay for extended wait times as an O/O. Buying a reefer trailer will cost much more money up front and long term and will add as much as 50% more cargo insurance costs or higher. Buying an equipment (RGN, LOWBOY, LANDOLL) trailer will have you researching your load before you can commit to it, such as the height, weight, width, length, etc... before you know for sure you can commit to it. I briefly worked as a boat hauler for a time and found that I would spend 1-2 days doing hard labor for every 1-2 days driving to average $4 a mile. I realized that $2 a mile would've been easier, faster money for me since I could keep rolling once I was loaded. If you are first starting out a dry van is a good idea since they are relatively inexpensive and not as likely to cause an accident if something isn't properly secured. But the easiest I've found that I decided to go with was a flatbed trailer for its low relative cost, low maintenance costs, and relative speed and ease of loading/unloading. If you are new to the idea of chaining, rigging, binding, strapping a load than I'd recommend working as a team driver with an experienced driver to start out.
Another major consideration is the amount of time it takes for you to get paid on the loads you haul. I have done a lot of good paying runs only to go home broke while I sit for days waiting on a bunch of big checks to come in the mail. Try considering using a "Factoring" company when you get started. They charge around 5-10 percent. I know it doesnt make sense to give up part of your profits, but if you can run, say, 24 days a month instead of say, 19 days because you keep running out of money, than the extra money you make will way more than make up for the factoring fee. Dont make this part of your long term plan, but it helps to keep you funded when you start out. Also, many o/o's will shy away from brokers who pay 30+ days out, so many of the loads will pay more than the 5-10 percent difference anyway.
Here's another tip: I'd rather run 2000 miles at a time with my flatbed rig for less money. I carry a lot of permitted and specialty loads so I often see $3-4 a mile or more for going say, 400 miles. I'd rather take a load that pays $2.50 a mile that goes 2000 miles because I can keep moving. The loads that look like they are paying more per mile don't usually make you more money in a week and its because of all the load/unload time and waiting that goes into it. Another tip: learn about permitting, get your twic card, and look for specialty loads coming out of ports. Its more money and not as many guys are out to compete with you as there are for regular loads, so it doesn't drive the rate down. Another thing, if you are in a place in the country (one of the corners) that you can base out of and take 2,000 mile loads, than you can essentially start out on Monday of each week to find a load and get loaded, and then spend the week driving and unload on Friday. Its a lot less physical work and even at a lower rate than "local runs" you will make much more money average.
When you buy your rig and trailer, try to get one that has the same sized tires all around, then go out and buy yourself a good steer tire that can serve as a spare for any tire on your rig. I bought myself a bunch of tire tools, such as a set of tire bars, an impact (make sure its for unilug 33mm, the higher the ft-lbs the better) and an auxillary airtank to hook into my rig tank so I can get enough air to the impact to break loose and retighten the lugs. You will need 1/2 inch fittings and hose for the extra air. Being able to fix a tire will save you time and headaches and money. Also, replace your steer tires with new tires every year or 100,000 miles, even if there's plenty of tread left. Use them on your trailer or keep them as spares. A steer tire blowout puts you dead in the water, and is a major contributor to semi-related serious/fatality accidents and roll-overs.
Keep your speed around 64 mph. Every truck has its own "sweet spot" but it will immediately save you money. Being an O/O means saving money where you can, unlike when a company pays for the fuel and you run the 70mph speed limit. The 6 mph difference can save you hundreds in fuel costs each month! Learn how to check everything on your rig on a regular (I do weekly) basis. A bad slack adjuster and a missing booster clevis pin can put you out of service. Learn what to look for and make sure to keep your rig nice and tight. If you use a good DAT load board and maybe a few others you should always stay busy. Don't skimp out on money when it comes to finding the best loads or buying the best quality repair parts for your rig. Use a rewards fuel card or pay in cash to get the 6 cents per gallon discount (make sure to keep your receipts in a folder for taxes if you pay cash). Or, use a credit card that gives rebates or skymiles or something to benefit you, since you will be putting more money on it per year than a lot of people even make. If carrying flatbed/stepdeck/lowboy loads, then consider getting annual oversize/overweight permits in the states you will travel to make it fast and easy to take the better paying loads. I worked it out over a period of years to come to the exact numbers: It takes at least $1.37 a mile to own and run your truck if you are averaging 10,000 miles/month. That is in addition to all the things you will need to grow as a company such as space, personnel, phone and computer systems, dispatchers, etc...Don't take cheap freight or you will not be able to properly maintain and grow your business. If you run for much less than @$3.00/mile (depending on what kind of rig you have, could be more), you will wear out yourself and your truck before you are able to successfully grow and benefit from all the hard work, missed family and friends, missed birthdays/holidays, missed social events, and life away from home. Remember, you are sacrificing a part of your home life to be out there, usually making big money for big companies. Make it mean something. Don't take cheap freight, just say "no". Only take the loads that make it worth your while that will grow you a successful business and reward your sacrifice and hard work.
Keep it right, keep it tight, keep it safe, and work hard, and you should start to see a 6 figure income in the first 2 years. If your keep doing things right for subsequent trucks and hiring good qualified people, you will own your own small fleet and be able to work from home in 5 years, making $1,000 A DAY or more. Good luck to you and happy trails.

 

If you want a blow by blow go to "The good, the bad and the honest truth of a Roehl lease purchase driver" in the Roehl subforum. Out of the original participants I am the only one who managed to complete the lease, get the title to my truck and even I am looking to leave because of poor treatment by dispatch, low miles and low pay per mile. Still it's almost like reading a diary and will give you an idea of the roller coaster of good times and bad.

 

I would suggest that you buy your truck and Lease on to a good company like LandStar or a couple others that have more driver friendly companies. The reason why is because tags, insurance, IFTA, compliance, tolls, FUEL, and maintenance can really be overwhelming over the first year or two. Leasing on can allow you to pay-off your truck while learning all of these areas, and the funds for these operating cost will be deducted from your settlement. Because, I have know several guys who went broke because they exhausted all their funds paying insurance, tags, and taxes. I have also seen guys who couldn't pay for fuel advances because they had to pay for a tag. Also, keep in mind that most brokers offer quick pay for 3-5%, which is better than a factor @ 5-10%. I say this to say that getting you settlement for free will take 10-30 days. 10 days at a good company like Choptank and 30 days at the more trucker unfriendly brokers. So, you could lose your shirt thinking I don't want to pay for my money. And most importantly know your numbers and stick to them. If you know that $2.00 a mile is your bottom line to make a decent living, then never run for less than $2.00 a mile. Even if that means that you have to take a 150 mile $500 short haul just to move to a better lane.