Is there truth in this statement about O/O income?

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by MonetaryWage, Jan 28, 2022.

  1. MonetaryWage

    MonetaryWage Light Load Member

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    I was watching a YouTube video and 1 of the commenters mentioned that the content creator just happened to be lucky to have turned o/o last year while prices are at their peak. He went on to state that it was so bad as recent as 2018 that truckers had to March on Washington, and if not for Covid o/o would have went extinct. True?

    The trucker in the video showed his earning statement of almost 300k gross in only 10 months of work.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2022
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  3. Wasted Thyme

    Wasted Thyme Road Train Member

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    No. He just didn't know what he was doing. While I personally am not one. Plenty of them on here have been thriving. Just look back through all the old posts and you can see it.
     
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  4. goga

    goga Heavy Load Member

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    Bible says "do not envy")

    On serious note.. Yes, there are many, who does not mind running all the time, make a lots of it. Average 10k a week (10x52=520k a year) at this point of time, even during winter. Yet, van and reefer. Have no idea how skateboard guys are doing.
     
  5. Big Road Skateboard

    Big Road Skateboard Road Train Member

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    Be picky and you can still top 10k a week flatbed pretty easy. More trash loads on now for sure.

    Any fool with money can go broke even in this market. That fool will fail no matter the market, while the one good with money will succeed, no matter the market.
     
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  6. Rideandrepair

    Rideandrepair Road Train Member

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    O/Os wouldn’t have gone extinct. That’s an exaggeration. Trucking is very Competitive. The comment has validity though. Wasn’t so easy a few yrs back. The 300k, would more likely be 200k. We’ll see how much he’s bragging in a year or so. My guess is his videos will be on how to get rich in another Industry.
     
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  7. Dino soar

    Dino soar Road Train Member

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    I always have problems with all of this kind of nonsense.

    You don't start a business because you think it's going to be a get-rich-quick scheme and jump in before the pyramid collapses. That is the absolute stupidest idea and only a moron would move forward on that.

    Yes in previous years plenty of people went bankrupt. Most likely because they did not plan their business well and just decided to jump in... many with little or no experience and no solid plan... Does that sound familiar as to what's happening right now?

    Now you have guys going out and spending $200,000 on a truck and spending $50,000 on a used trailer, with High Finance rates, because yes the rates are up but trucks and trailers are up at historic prices also, so is fuel, so are people waiting for repairs because they can't get their stupid sensors and whatever they need.

    So you tell me. If some idiot goes out and spends $250,000 because he wants to go get rich quick, and he's paying $7,-10,000 a month or whatever the hell he's paying for his truck, and it's sitting ibecause you can't get sensors or parts and then all of the sudden the market turns down and that $250,000 truck is now worth like let's say $150,000, and less as it is rapidly depreciating, now all that big big get rich money is gone and he's making a third of what he was making... who's the genius here?

    So the answer is go into business because you want to go into business. Go into business because you like the business and you know what you are doing and you have a solid plan.

    As far as the person that his grossing $300,000 gross means nothing. Absolutely nothing. You can gross $300,000 and maybe cost you $250,000 to operate, you don't know.

    And he's probably not telling you he spent $200,000 on a truck and 50,000 on the trailer and he pays $30,000 a year in insurance, and he took out a second mortgage on his house like a genius and if the market flips he's going to lose his house and everything.

    The truth of all of this is that when this Bubble Bursts a lot of people probably more than ever in history are going to go bankrupt.

    By the way none of this is directed at the op, this is just in general on the subject.

    Whoever does not have their equipment paid off with a lot of money in the bank and their homes and cars and everything else paid off and living normal reasonable mostly Frugal life it's not going to end well for them.

    Until then it's champagne wishes and caviar dreams for the idiots.

     
  8. TallJoe

    TallJoe Road Train Member

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    Ask yourself, how are you going to feel when one Monday morning, you wake up, look at DAT and all there is is 500 loads in 100 mile radius and 2000 trucks listed as ready to go anywhere...and you remember that not too long ago JB Hunt offered you $3000 for Chicago to Columbus, OH run.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2022
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  9. Atlanta trucker

    Atlanta trucker Road Train Member

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    Yep owners operators are going extinct ...
    They have been going extinct for over 100 years running
     
  10. God prefers Diesels

    God prefers Diesels Road Train Member

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    It'll either be worth it, or it won't.
     
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  11. Midwest Trucker

    Midwest Trucker Road Train Member

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    All basically true. I don't see anything non factual there. 2018 was actually good, 2019 was the year that everybody hated brokers and marched at the white house. First quarter of 2020 many went under and some barely hung on after a hard 2019 and with the covid shut down of earlly 2020. However, once things opened back up and the free money started flowing, its been gangbusters since. So, yes that guys timing was perfect but the boat has been missed now for the most part. Rates are record highs but equipment is over 100% higher then just a year ago. Fuel up, insurance up, repair costs way up if you can get parts at all. Im struggling even finding things as simple as oil and fuel filters. I had a couple carriers call this week asking if id sell them some of my tires!

    To put in perspective a new dry van was 35k last year, its now 80k. A new truck was 150k, its now 230 to 260k. New reefer 75 to 80k, now 150k. That is if you can even find those units even at that cost. The high rates will likely continue through end of the year but the barrier of entry to this business has absolutely sky rocketed and it wasnt cheap before!

    A couple little hiccups or slip ups and out the door you go.
     
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