Is it worth it being an O/O anymore with all new regs?

I have been around this business all of my life. My Grandfather, Dad, and uncles were O/O and myself have been in the business for 25 years working for someone else just never did it. Looking at it now because I'm tired of the big corps telling me what to do.

 

Depending on some factors I think now is a great time. Unless you live there I'd just stay away from CA. No use buying a new truck that won't run. My opinion is that elogs are coming so if it were me I'd buy a truck for cash or one that can be paid off in a year or two. That will open up doors of what can be done when we all need the eLog in the truck. You've been around the industry so I would assume that you have an idea of what you'd like to do. My advice would be to just put it all on paper and see how much truck you can afford and still be comfortable. It's not what you make its what you keep.

 

It's a horrible time to be an O/O! No Loads! low pay! I'd go and do something else and leave the slim pickings for the rest of us. We'll be OK, scraping a living and happy to know that Firebug dodged a bullet and isn't taking the food out of our children's mouths.

:smt016

LongFLD has it right even though he lives in Murdo.

 

for me, it is worth it. I don't love all the reg's and compliance issues, but I try to tell myself if it was easier I would just have more competition.

 

See what the company drivers debate nowadays? Cameras in the truck, idling policies, "hometime", forced dispatch, pet policies, driving tired...etc. Owning the truck takes half the 'stupid' out of stupid conversations that a driver could ever have with a desk jockey.

 

Cutting down on the competition?

 

TripleSix has it right. I bought a 5 year old truck, and haven't had one thought or regret that I did. For me it was largely about choices. I hate to obey rules, and companies are corporations with whole buildings full of people whose job it is to make rules for drivers. Driving a truck is always just that, driving a truck, but the freedom to choose what you're doing is worth more than the money, for me. Although I have to say, I make more money as an I/C than I did as a company driver. As long as my Columbia/DD60 14L is running, that is.

 

With what I know now would I do it again NO NO NO NO NO.
I do not think it is worth it.

 

i hear ya, driver. I'm on the same page.

My time is very important to me. I get the PM services on my schedule. There's no phone tag between the service writer and the desk jockeys deciding what's best for you or if you need new tires or if this passes DOT regs.

They cut their trucks to 65 mph, detune them from 455 hp to 350 hp, and then complain about fuel economy. I am not about to take a 14 ft wide, 100 ft long load down the road in a castrated, bottom of the line, POS truck and dragrace with every bottomfeeder in America. How is that safe?

Had them tell me that I can't add anything to the fuel to keep it from gelling. -40 and the fuel is gelling. Fine. I got a motel room and they got a wrecker.
Had a woman from Phoenix,AZ call me and tell me that I had been idling for 24 hours and that was against their policy. I told her that the temp is +3 when the sun is up. She tells me to bundle up, and close the curtain on the sleeper. Fine. Got a motel room and they got a wrecker.

Stupid. Unbelievably stupid conversations. They pay $5/mile to save $.03/mile. Beancounter mathematics.

I brought my own toys. If I don't like the rules of the playground, I take my toys and go somewheres else. No bus rides for me.

 

What has made your experience that bad? Things out of your control? Truck downtime, etc?

In May of '98 I took the money I'd saved and put a down payment on a '95 long hood 379. I was 20 and nowhere near ready to own a business but I didn't care. Fuel was 80 cents a gallon and I was going to set the world on fire. Well that lasted until Oct of '99. I let a friend buy me out of the truck after I wrecked and couldn't get insurance. Bounced around between jobs then in '04 I went to work for a small company in Western MT. I learned so much from him but the most important thing I took away from Cliff was he never had a payment on both the truck and trailer. Have a truck payment? Pay cash for the wagon. In Dec of '11 I bought another truck and my experience this time around has been totally different. I learned how to run a business not just make payments on a truck and hope my bills were covered like my first go around.

 

The regs just drive the rates up. Don't book a load you can't legally run and there's never a problem.