my first week as an owner operator..ouch!!

in my 4th month now, i really do not like the company im leased on with, im either gonna find another company to lease on with or get my own authority, the latter looking most likely, my biggest concern with my own authority is the insurance costs, need to do some calling around to find a good deal, truck is still misfiring but it is intermittent and i can live with it, fuel consumption is 5.75 mpg average over the last 2 months, i would still recommend a first time o/o to lease on to begin with, i have really learnt allot, my biggest problem with the company im leased to is, no support when the load changes or gets canceled, if i sit waiting to be loaded for 10 hours i expect to be paid, if a load gets the delivery put back 24hrs so i deliver 1 day later, i expect to get paid, if in this example of todays load, i have to scale empty and then again fully loaded i expect that to be figured in the total miles, im in Boston, 46 miles to the nearest scale, 50 miles to the 1st delivery from there, i picked up 13 miles from the 1st delivery, so around 80 miles at my expense, + 2 scale tickets and an unexpected weekend layover in Boston, all due to my dispatcher not giving me all the info when i accepted the load, anyway still making ends meet, i know i will do better on my own, gonna work my but off now to save for my own authority and trailer, in future im staying out of the north east, its expensive and it sucks!!! only reason i came here was a $4000 paying load from Florida to Boston hauling watermelons, wont do that again!!!!

 

11 months now as an o/o, been some tough times, but still trucking, went from van to flatbed conestoga, got out of the truck have a great driver in it now, i find the work, do the paperwork, pay him half of the net profit, if i need extra money i go out for a couple of weeks, if i had to give advice to anyone starting out....
dont run van too cheap, dont use recap tires, dont last, always keep spare money for breakdowns, dont rely on credit cards, always push for more money than the broker offers, try and stay away from brokers period, oh, il, in, mi, wi, ar, tn are usually always good areas, shorter runs pay better, if running flatbed particularly, be careful, wear steel cap boots/shoes, carry hard hat, safety glasses, reflective vest for when required, get a twic card, keep all paperwork/bills for a year, look after your truck/trailer and it will look after you, its always a gamble in this business, if you can do something else then stay away from trucking, its hard work, and your often one breakdown from going out of business, but you can do well if you can accept the lifestyle
still with same company, dont like them much, but all companies have their good and bad....

 

i did the $5 egr delete, now the truck runs perfect, here is the link......hope you get better soon, merry chrismas to all.
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...teen-wheelers/152719-detroit-power-boost.html

 

hard to say, as i changed to flatbed at the same time as i did the egr delete, i would guess the fuel mpg did not change much, although i am seeing an improvement overall, i do have a check engine light since doing the mod, but as the truck is running so good, im not that worried about it, no smoke, no more misfire, improved low end torque....