Independent vs Company OO

This year has changed a lot. We talk to logistics departments and industry analysts that are talking about having spent their annual transportation budget by the end of July. People get fired for things like that and changes are happening. At this time I would never start a trucking company or become independent with one or two direct customers as my primary business and business plan. We have a market that is finding new players coming in and offering true 3PL service to smaller players. A couple years ago you needed $100 million in transportation spend to even be approached by the likes of Ryder, Penske or any of the other 3PL players. Now you have new players who are consolidating services and going after $5 million accounts. This would make me nervous if I had one these type of accounts.

 

My wife and I learned many lessons as leased on operators for our first two years. Things like learning our operating exoebses, breaj even point and how to deal with brokers. The first company we leased on to we learned that you can't average 1100 miles per week and expect to make a living, or run 48,000 lb loads of orange juice for less than a dollar a mile. The second company we fared better with more miles but often had to find our own loads.

After two years as leased owner operators we decided to take a chance and get our own authority. Best decision we made as a company. She books the loads from home and keeps me rolling. I am usually booked a week to ten days at a time.

My suggestion is lease first, learn the ropes and make the leap to independent,

 

Yep that's all there is to it.


Lol

 

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My advice based off of the initial post would be. Don't finance a new truck. But that's just me and I am sure others will disagree.

 

I remember being in your shoes. I wanted to cut everybody hands out my check. I did too. Now I'm here sharing with you the fact that i spend full price for everything as an independent. Fuel, tires, maintenance, tags, insurance, No Top Dog discounts here!!! Full price for almost..everything. Not everybody run their business alike, so the savings you get while leased on may be greater than ur expenses as an independent. But it depends on how you run your business. Let me add this note, this ain't a game were u can have a truck note an be new without support(discount). So if u can't pay cash and have to finance your expenses, you probably ain't financially prepared for this. I hope you learn to crawl before u walk because the last thing we need is a bunch of money hungry overly ambitious rookies driving already low freight prices down even further. Good Luck fellow driver!!! An once again i stress the importance of leasing before becoming a motor carrier. I only have 10years exp driving so i maybe wrong.

 

@ slinginbullets - Because of the "I must roll" regardless of rates pressure it's going to put on your operation as a newbie o/o. You're just leveraged too much and it will push you to accept way to many of the wrong loser loads. You can afford to lose on one now and then but when it's consistently bad on your lanes there are times when every load after load is a lose, lose. Tough situation to be in and can be especially hard to dig out of. Yes, factory warranty covers parts and labor. It also means your truck gets pushed back a week or two on relatively easy repairs while cash paying profitable repairs for the dealer get worked on ahead of your truck. You get zilch for downtime and can't afford any.