Just throwing this out there.

I have no problems with questions, I have a problem with the folks who ask for ADVICE, receive it, then argue it with useless jibberish of why I'M wrong!?!?!?

I am leased on, why would I want to run my own authority?? I'm quite happy with my $1.71 to the truck pulling containers. Steady work, home every day at 5-6pm, weekends off; Im happy! However, to some up here, Im the lowest of the low and thats OK by me! I dont even work on my own truck unless the shop cant have me up and running quick enough!! I've been a company driver, LTL driver, Lease Purchase, leased on, and basicly run off the load boards under a friends authority; however I always come back to containers.

After reading some of the replies here I'll keep most of my advice and tips to myself cause most likely according to yall Im wrong...

And DannyTheTrucker, Im guilty of rolling in the mud for my own amusement too!! Sometimes a good 10 page argument when Im bored is just what the Dr. Ordered!!

 

Its called the ask and owner operator. you dont have to be an o/o to ask questions. just ignore the treads you dont want to answer

 

There are several threads about the decline of cb use on the forum lots of us sat we miss them others say oh I am not gonna listen to that garbage they are useless. On this forum we all use a handle for lack of a better word. Maybe a few of us just miss a good radio fight now and then, I know its childish but hey as grown adults do any of us really ever wanna grow up completely.

 

Each has its own I was leased to 3 places before going on my own. My first lease I did every load they gave me I wouldn't even ask a price or where it was going I'd just fire the truck up and go do it I was paid every two weeks than and all I was looking at was the $14,000 checks I was getting. After talking to lots of drivers I figured I was way under paid I was doing local runs at $165 a load this was in 2001 and over the road I was at $1.40/mi and deadheaded back to get my next load so no I didn't make much.

2nd lease I did half the work for the same money local runs paid $240 my part to the truck and paid every week I was getting $2.20/ mi over the road and wasn't a bad deal until fuel went up the rates never changed.

my last go at it was one of the biggest trucking outfits around and knew lots of people there and was real good friends with one of the terminal managers, he told me meet him at the yard one day and said you see all these nice trucks! You see nice trucks because these guys make really good money and have extra money to spend fixing up there trucks this was in 05 back than you didn't see many nice trucks as you do today, so I jumped ship yet again but soon learned I was at the bottom of the list and was even told so one day how the guys that get all the good loads are the ones that have been there the longest and if I stick it out I'd be there one day. I was there go to guy after they couldn't get anyone else to haul there load I called myself the weekend man I wouldn't work much all week but Friday at noon until Monday at noon I worked every weekend for almost a year.

after doing my taxes and getting a CPA I learned I wasn't so smart about this trucking thing he went back and looked at my taxes from when I started until that date I was averaging $3/mi to the truck but was deadheading back to get my next load at that time fuel was $4.50/gal my truck at the time did 5.2 so fuel cost alone ran me $.86/mi and not every load picked up across the road so I had DH miles just going to pick up the loads. I was only making $.34/mi after everything that CPA told me its time to make a change before I went under...

In 2006 I applied for my own authority and is the best move I ever made, I grossed as much as $360,000 leased to a carrier in one year but drove over a 160,000 miles not as a team but a solo driver I was a outlaw back than but all I seen was the money not the math. I know lots off people because of my mud bog and race trucks most your guys in the fields ride 4wheelers and when I pulled in with a semi with my trucks everyone remembered the crazy stuff I did last ride that's how I ended up with most of my customers, may sound crazy but it was like they wanted to give me as much work as they could because I spent lots of money on my trucks and keep getting better and better...you can call it what you want!

I never even knew what a load board was until 2010!
I ended up with five trucks and two leased O/O until this year now I'm back to a single truck owner operator and love it! And love showing off my numbers to people I'm averaging over $3.40/mi to the truck this year I don't haul many broker loads at all. My prices are high but I do what most people won't to fire up my truck it's $350 and goes up as much as $4.20/mi but I'm playing that big company game by dropping trailers off at customers and letting them load them just Wednesday I did 3 loads from Beaumont to Houston at $650 a load and was not even taking me a hour to load or unload the unload end took me longer to roll up my straps than to offload. I have good days like that than may only make $350 the next day but I enjoy ever min of it.

I am a owner operator because I like the challenge of accomplishment. I'm confident in my ability to get things done and I'm not 100% were my business model needs to be I'm in a truck that gets 5mpg that as of today is the biggest thing I need to change but I'm just not sure about the economy it can change over night.

But like I always say "there's no reward without risk"

 

That settles it. Company drivers stay out of O/O section, Flatbedders stay out of van section, van drivers stay out of tanker section, tanker drivers stay away from the car haulers, car haulers stay away from can haulers and can haulers stay away from the company drivers. We will use the honor system.

 

I don't do it I only post in 3 areas on here!

 

I understand the argument about non o/o posting in the o/o forum. The issue I would have with it is a lot of us non o/o guys try to run our trucks like we are an o/o to maximize profits for ourselves and employers.

I work for a three truck outfit with the boss being one of the three. He doesn't spend anytime on a site like this but I regularly give him info I read on here.

I would hate to lose this resource.

 

I guess you cannot post in the tax forum because you have not achieved the proper level of education then.

Not to mention, no posting in the new driver question area, because you are an owner operator and not familiar with the way it is now.


GET A LIFE.

 

Wow! That is really, really good money for containers. There is a reason container haulers are considered the lowest of the low. Thats because they get the lowest pay of all types of trucking and they tend to drive crappy run down burnt out trucks that have no business being on the road to begin with. All that for the luxury of being home every night. But even at $1.71 per mile it would still be very hard to make a living running the low miles that container haulers run. I have my own authority and average over $3 per mile and even I have some tight times. So congrats to you for doing whatever it is you are doing.

 

I own my own truck free and clear and run freight for .92c a mile +FSC all day long for 3 years now. I net/take home/keep .83c of it and am happy as a clam.


its not what you make ... Its what you keep that counts.