how much do owner ops make an average week

I have a few guys leased on with me pulling my trailers. We only run in MI, IN, OH, IL, and KY. After fuel expenses I'm cutting these guys checks for $2500-4000 a week consistently.

 

Yeah it can be done but most have too much of that steering wheel holder attitude to know it takes money to do it right.

Most of the time these marginal CHEAP operators screw the rates up by doing what ever they can to make Money without understanding it costs to do it right. Few get lucky, many other are never lucky.

 

I have a side business at home so if the rates aren't great, I stay home and don't drive. But I still managed to clear 165k last year driving what I consider part time. I put 58k miles on my truck during that time. I've been doing a lot of local oversize stuff lately. Lots of construction in my area that has plenty of 10-30 mile runs that pay $600-1000. Lately I just do a 1 or 2 of those a week and and a 1000 mile or so trip and that's enough for me. If it was up to me, I'd do 3-4 local oversize loads a week and call it good but I rarely find more than 2 a week.

But my situation is unique because everything is paid off so I don't have any payments besides a cheap mortgage. I can make more if I go long haul but I don't see the point in that when I still net about 100k between trucking and my side gig.

 

Once upon a time I was an ASE certified mechanic... I got bored and tired of doing that so I figured I'd just give trucking a try since I used to drive non-cdl straight trucks when I was younger and I actually liked that most of the time.

So I went to CR Englands trucking school... Got my CDL in 10 days since I pretty much knew all the answers and I had a lot of experience pulling trailers.
Lasted about 1 week with a trainer that I couldn't stand, so I had him drop me off in St. Louis and I took the train back home to Wisconsin.
Took a job driving a HD tow truck for about six months until a company in a near by city called me asking me if I wanted to pull a flatbed.
With my experience in construction during my 20's and the towing experience, I figured I'd give flatbedding a try since it's something that would keep me more active and not gaining weight from just hooking to vans and opening doors.

Six months went by and my highest pay check at this point was maybe $1000 one week with most averaging $600-$800. I wasn't going to stick with this when I usually drove 2500 miles a week, not to mention all the work when it comes to tarping machinery and other freight that definitely wasn't squared up with the trailer.

So I decided to take a look at craigslist and see what kind of prices I was looking at for a used truck.
I found a 2009 Peterbilt 387 for $15000 that had just over a million miles on it.
Took it for a test drive and found that it was being sold so cheap because there was an air leak in the turbo area and no one could find it. (I was dealing with Indians or arabs that don't like spending money)

So I took a look at everything and found that most of the suspension and rear brakes were already replaced as well as a new turbo and a bunch of other stuff... Just needed tires and a cracked plastic air intake elbow and it was ready to go.

Went to the bank and got a $15000 loan on 1 year ($1400 per month payments after interest)
Got it home and fixed all that needed to be done... Went back to the same company I was driving for (small company with maybe 10-13 drivers), went over an agreed upon contract that basically gives me 73% running under their authority and insurance and pulling their trailers. My only commitment was basically bobtail and liability on the tractor which I got for $140 a month with a $1 million policy and $2500 deductible.

Being a smaller company they are definitely better with communication and they want as much out of a load as I do.
Most of the time I don't take anything for less than $2/mile no matter the distance and no less than $3/mile if it's oversized.
Also, I learned how to go through the DAT board very quickly and I almost always go where I want and when I want. If I wanted to take a few days off in Miami, all I have to do is let them know. Best part about driving for a smaller company that wants to keep their employees happy so they don't quit and go somewhere else.
I never go anywhere near New York... I stay off the toll roads as much as possible and I don't go west of the Dakotas and Texas.

At the same time though, I governed my truck at 78mph. While I rarely go that fast, I do like doing the speed limit in Texas when I'm empty... Either way though I average maybe 6-6.5mpg when I drive normal and stay at 65mph or less.

So after fuel each week and a few hundred in savings for maintenance and taxes, I usually take home between $1500-$2500 a week... Though at the same time I'm averaging about 2000 miles a week.

I have one more truck payment to make on March 1st 2017 and the truck will be 100% mine.
Once that's paid off, I'll likely buy my own trailer (maybe another deal on craigslist) and then my own DOT/MC authority and maybe running 100% on my own with the few good broker contacts that I've made.

However, running under my own authority and with the lack of experience (only two years) I can expect the insurance for trailer/load liability to run me around $1000 a month so I'm going to be right back where I started and it'll feel like another truck payment...But I'll also be getting 100% of the load. So who knows.

 

Might want to talk to your current company and see what kind of deal they'll give you if you have your own trailer as well. 73% is low but if you can get closer to 90%, it wouldn't be worth the headache of getting your own authority until you get a few more years under your belt.

 

The way this company works is they get 20% of each load for using their authority and cargo liability insurance and for letting them find the best loads for me for where I am and where I want to go.
Then they charge another 7.5% for the use of their trailers.

Now I don't know what it would cost if I were to rent or lease a flatbed trailer, but I figure that most of my long loads pay really good because I don't take cheap freight no matter where I am. If I can't find something that pays what it's worth, then I just sit where I am and watch TV.

I broke even on a trip one time when I first started on my own... It was from Wyoming to Chicago and it'll never happen again.
I did a lot of reading on a lot of different sites and found how a lot of brokers will try raping a guy just because so many larger companies are taking loads for nothing since they have other trucks making up for it somewhere else.
Now when I see a load no one else will take, I call the brokers and tell them what I would do it for.... Most of the time they'll take that back to their customer. Sometimes they'll say no but then when no one takes the load and it really needs to be moved, they eventually call back willing to negotiate.

All it takes is for people to stop running 40-48K loads for less than a dollar and shippers will starting getting the hint.

The biggest thing I watch is fuel because if you're in certain situations, your fuel cost could double.

If you're running something very heavy through the mountains or in the Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma area where it's always very windy, you're going to use a lot more fuel.

It took me a couple months to get used to everything now that I had to actually pay attention to all of the costs, but now I definitely compensate for all of that when I accept a load going to certain areas.

 

I run my own authority, pick freight on board (DAT), Do it all on the go in truck, I run 4500-6000 miles a week when I'm on the road, making 4-6k a week after fuel. But now when it gets to the repair cost it kills me, last year grossed over 200k not more than 30 of it got to stay home

 

Let me get this str8... @superTrucker77

- Grossed $200K+
- drives 4500+ miles
- Took home only $30K for the year (which means less than $700/week)

I'd say u need to quit...get a $15/hr in 40hrs/week job and be much happier.

I know people taking home 2000-2500/week and don't even drive that many miles, and are home every weekend and whatever days they choose.

 

Yes I was making as a company driver 1700- 2300 a week, but dealing with all the people in the office and being home really, I wasn't driving all 48 weeks, so it would be more than 700 a week, no I don't think getting a job, I just need a better truck that won't eat all the money, I spent on the repairs around 100k in 2 years, that's what is killing me

 

What kinda truck & specs is it? And what type of loads are you taking on?

Maybe the truck's spec's do mot match the work you asking it to do.

You know, running track with high heels can be done, but you end up with broken ankles