Instant O/O and Load boards

Oh wow, when did they unlock this thread??

I B.S. not, i started as an O/O and i bought my T2000 from a repo lot in Florence, SC and his Pete was there.. it was kinda unreal because i had read this thread for the better part of a year while i was deployed and then i go to by my truck and there sits the great white hope, still had decals on it and everything, they were replacing the fan clutch in it.

So much for the OP, it's not hard to become an O/O.. Most of it is just paperwork, the insurance is the hard part, especially without any commercial driving experience. I had to pay $1300 dwn, and $1007 a month for mines because i had no experience. But what will really make or break you is freight and brokers.. if you're using load boards then you'll pretty much be fighting tooth and nail for a good rate, and if you're booking your loads yourself it's an even bigger battle. Brokers post a majority of the loads in the morning and around noon, stuff still on the board around 5pm is all left overs. So if you book a load on Tuesday to deliver Thursday afternoon, you wont be able to get online to try to find another load until Thursday evening which by then will all be left overs for the most part. Usually you'll have to wait until Friday morning to book another load.

I struggled for the better part of a month before getting with a really good broker, everything was $2+ and if one of her loads took me somewhere she didn't have a load to bring me out with, she'd book a load for me through another broker, so i never had to look for loads again.. she was like my own little dispatch service, i just didn't pay her. Instead she had her own dedicated truck to move her loads so it worked out for the both of us..

My insurance company ended up closing their doors and i lost my Liability coverage. The only other company that would take me wanted $2500 dwn and $1200 a month, well that push'd my operating cost up to $1.50 and since the price of fuel was steadily rising i said no. Sold my truck and became a company driver.

I bring home possibly $400 less a week then i did as an O/O, the only difference is that i run way way wayy harder, and stay out 3x as long. It use to be 3 weeks out and a week and a half home, now it's three weeks out three days home.

 

mitchtazz are you in Florida? I read a lot about how difficult it is to get frieght being based out of Florida. Is it that bad here? I might become an owner operator in the future and wondering what would be best to haul with out of Florida. Van, Flat or Reefer.

 

Yep, good ole Polk County!! Reefer is the best for Florida hands down, you can run citrus straight up the east coast and back i'm sure of it. I did flatbed and usually did dumpsters from Lakeland, Fl to north Florida and then lumber to actually get out of the state. That was my routine, but dumpsters didn't ship on the regular.

 

Thanks. I was thinking reefer just means one more expense as an O/O but if its a better opportunity to make it all work maybe thats the way to go Thanks again for the info

 

Wow what a thread....

 

it was the best reading i'd had in a long time. It was the highlight to getting on the internet. One tab would be on truckpaper, and the other on Instant O/O and LoadBoards. the strange part is that i came across the thread by accident.

 

And whatever happened to that kid from CA with all the tickets, bought and truck and hit the road with his girlfriend? Actually thought he was going to make a run of it. But kinda hard with no money, higher than average expenses and having ZERO clue about what the life is like.

VH1 does shoes on 1 hit wonders. TTR should have it's own version of trucking "experts" with no experience that but a truck and are going to make it rich. With an honorable mention section for people that do the same thing but put a company driver in the seat.

 

oh yeah, there's been so many i've lost track, i remember that fella because it was his g.f that was doing the posting and i remember how ppl were sayin that if they didn't have money for a down payment then they were already doomed.. there was another member that use to talk about how much of an outlaw he was and how fast his truck was and all the things he could/would do in the hammer lane, and then there was a post about an accident somewhere and i remember ppl tryin to figure out if it was his truck or not.

 

It takes all kinds!

BTW crackinwise - reefer is very seasonal in FL. Only way I'd ever get a reefer again is if I were willing to follow the seasons, and got a lobotomy. LOL Flatbed is more consistent year round outta here.

 

That was jmcclelland2004. Last I heard from him was a few months back. He's been quiet here and on FB lately, so no idea if he's still trucking. When we talked last, he seemed to be doing ok with the usual setbacks here and there. His living expenses being practically nothing would be the reason he's still in business if he is. Otherwise, he's up against the same issues any other o/o with new authority is up against. When I met him and his better half about a year ago, he seemed to have the hustle and ambition to make it work.