How much can an INTELLIGENT owner-operator make?

There is a huge difference between intelligence and trucker smarts [ aka common sense ]. An intelligent driver will not make the same decisions as a seasoned trucker, at times. Usually the experience pays off more than a formal education, in the real world of OTR.
If you are putting aside 25,000 a year for new equipment, that will take a good chunk of your profit. With the idea you present, a living wage would be about it.

 

For Landstar Vans..70,000-90,000 to the dinner table after every single deduction...

 

We're still trying to find one, lol!

 

The honest truth is NO ONE out here is going to share that kind of information with you especially if they are Half-### intelligent because most of the people that know how to do it paid hard for it.
Chapter 7 through Chapter 13 and divorce's and so on.
Besides what kind of a Dummy would post this kind of info on the web...hem?
Do you really think that only drivers Read this post?
You gota think a little harder my friend
Brokers and not just any honest broker I mean the slick WILLIE one's
Ya Know an EX Chicken Hauler with Zero Moral's and ZORO sward to cut and slash rate's using hard earned tactic's of the poor owner Op tips and tricks learned the hard way
Years a go there was something called the black book and I don't care how much of a friend to some one who had one of those books that would share the book with anyone. Simply because that meant the end of his journey in trucking. And people were much Kinder back then.
As soon as you post something on any site here comes the copy cats the Bragger the wana be trucker and so on ready to sell you and your kids to the highest Bidder.
But I Can tell you this if you are thinking about becoming an owner op by leasing your truck to some so called owner op company you are not going to do your self a Favor leasing on to companies is a bunch of crap these days why?
Take a company like land star they review you log book every time you send them to get paid
So if you accumulate points against your record ( Land Star Points ) out the door you go
they terminate your contract with on push of a button.
Worse yet they have now what they call a black box that means when you are out of hours you R SH***T out of luck.......How a bout them Apple's?
So what a bout your truck payment and all the other crap you have to pay for?? That is not there problem
They can just replace you with a new one just like you replace tires
That is Why You see these Ad's
$2000 sign on bonus ans so on
We pay 75% of 55% of a buck a mile freight bill
I can keep telling how tricky these people are but with my luck some Loyal schmuck from those companies ya know the type Can't get enough ### Likin always defends their Gate Keepers just because they can
They will say Horse SH***T Like this (my company pays there drivers good but don't say how much)
My company take care of their own but forgets to say How
You Want Proof?
The next time an England truck pass you Read the safety award sign on the back door of the trailer
And then take a load to Idaho UT, WY, NE, during the winter season and see how some one like that can hold a safety award of any kind
WHO THE F**** gave them that? Or is it you can give your self an award these days you just print them your self you know give your self an Ataboy
Why I am I Ranting about the So Called Good Companies
Because I have been in it since i was a kid and yet the only employee's that never got a raise are the dumb truck driver
Fuel food labor cost taxes even products like toilet paper went up 4 times as much as i paid for them back then and back in the days the driver made a bout 20 CPM
How much do they give them Now ? It should be 20CPM X 4
But some schmuck that works for 40cpm will call that top wage
So I give up I use what i know to survive the storm as long as these truckers out here don't organize and Don't play by the rules
And I Have a Feeling They Never Will
PS. Never listen to a dip SH**t That claims the his company pay's $3 a mile or $10 a mile
If they did and that was true Guess what? some schmuck will take info & run like hell & try to discount the rate ( I'll Haul It Faster Cheaper Kind of genius )

 

Van, Flat, or step? Studying freight patterns where? Do you mean you're figuring on conquering the lower 48? Based on those parameters - length of haul, one pick one drop, high rate of miles per year - sounds like you want the easy laid back stuff that everybody wants. 28 out and 4 off every month, there are times when it's more like 4 out and 28 off unless you don't mind rolling for nothing. You can possibly mitigate that by swapping back and forth between vans and flats depending on prevailing rates. My prediction, you'll struggle to break even regardless of trailer type, if you don't adjust those parameters...

 

I guess you can do ok. I don't know anything about flatbed freight other than generally it pays on average better than vans. But flatbed guys have been complaining about rates this spring not being where they usually were. It just depends on how well you can connect up with the right agents, learn their freight, and work off that. I don't think they're a bad company but others will disagree. Times change. The learning curve is expensive if you can't figure out how to make it in their system. I say this from the outside looking in. I think LS-Broker is great and have none of the issues others complain about with them as outside carriers. I'm sure they'd be just as good from the inside they were once at the top of my list. Another thing, depends where you live also. LS-BCO's who know their flat freight might clue you in there.

Sent from my droid using Tapatalk 2

 

Please tell me you at least have some experience being a company driver.

Isn't the Blackbook what car dealers use to determine used vehicle values to rip people off?

So what is the point of being an O/O or "business capacity owner" as they call them? If they essentially treat you like a company driver and can discipline you anytime they feel like it?

So true we are our own worst enemies. Uship is a smaller scale example of this. Someone posts a couch they need shipped for a target rate of $150. Then you have people "carriers" or most likely douche bags with a pick up truck fighting over it down to $10. It's freaking unbelievable.