Is the owner-operator a dying breed?

Seems to still be like that autocar. The place I'm at quotes low rates sometimes and not many of us will take the work. Most of the time they have to reschedule the load.

 

If not for deregulation, most small carriers wouldn't even have had the opportunity to exist.

As for the pricing of services....well we can go on all day about whether it's big or small that drives rates down.

 

This is true, as Authority was very difficult to get, before reregulation. Not impossible, but very difficult.

 

Nothing to worry about during regulation days. You just slapped a "Farm Lines" name on the truck, put a few stamps on your bingo card, and hauled as an exempt commodity carrier, all the while carrying anything that would fit in the trailer.

The truck in my avitar has "Farm Lines" in the name on the door.

 

I think that the savvy owner operators will survive. Without owner operators, this country could not survive. It is the owner operators, independents and small fleets that deliver most of the freight in this country. More and more carriers are moving toward dealing with independents and small fleets or carriers than they are running their own trucks. Owner operators are more able to adapt quickly to rapidly changing economic trends. Being an owner operator still offers a driver the opportunity to be more independent and to have his own business. The successful owner operators of the future will need to learn how to be more business savvy and to hone their management skills in order to survive and prosper. There will always be a place for free thinking people with solid ideas and ambition to find a way to be successful in this business.

 

I was interested in the original article, because it assumed one thing that can easily be avoided.... the emissions stuff. Unless one just has to deal with California, a glider truck with pre-emission engine is very possible, a viable option, as is a frame up restoration of a good used truck, and a greatly reduced cost in both purchase and operation. I guess it would take some "thinking outside the box" to consider options like these. But those with a serious entrepreneurial bent would move in that direction to eliminate excess cost. But then, most of the guys who write these kinds of articles in the trucking rags are not entrepreneurs themselves and have no clear understanding of the mindset that it takes to be one. True, those that deal with California or ports would have their options limited, but there is no requirement that they service either of these locations. That is a choice they make.

 

I am futunate to live in a country that allows me to have the persuit of happiness. We all have it reach out take it. NO promises but the chance to seek it and live it...THE TRUE INDEPENDENT OWNER OPERATOR ON HIS OWN NOT LEASED. But please know your numbers and do the hard work, I dont mean drive hard and long, but plan, educate, and prepare and you might do alright, to me alright is taxable net twice of a company driver.."..BE SAFE BE SMART. Thamas Jefferson on luck...I find the harder I work the more I have.

 

the only way this O/O will be forced out, is when i'm 6 feet under!

 

Owner Operators are not going away. Companies such as Landstar, Mercer, Bennett, Baggett, or Road Runner will NEVER go to all company or L/P drivers

 

It seems that the FMCSA and the ATA are part of the problem. Trying too force eobr laws and speed limiters thru. As well as killing us with hos rules. The epa and carb running up truck price , and at the same time making trucks less reliable and more expensive too repair. Freight rates not keeping up with inflation. Shippers taking up too 180 days to pay, forcing many to use factoring setvices effectively mmaking you pay to get paid.

All of this combined is pushing people out. And if you have a run of bad luck, in some cases it can bankrupt you. Times are tough. But there will always be a few whi stay the course.