New O/O

Naw, that’s the real solution but he wants to hear only what he wants to hear.

 

That’s why he asked specific questions. I don’t know why everyone feels the need to go down tangents. He asked specific questions because he wants answers for those specific topics. Not all the other negative bs.

 

Bobtail inurance is needed when you're leased on to another carrier such as Landstar or Mercer. If you're leasing on there, they'll give some basic training or a class, so at least there's that.

Insurance for a new entrant authority, which is needed to get your own customers, could be too expensive, to justify it economically.

As far as securement goes, for the simplest stuff that you just strap, you do it per DOT book and common sense, but for many loads, that.you have to tarp, you'd be better off with some hands on training. You could go around a shipper lot and ask for advice, hopefully, there's still a few old schoolers that will give you a hand but what if there's nobody around?
You need to be in some body shape...hoping on and off the trailer is expected plus you may need to have a ladder to climb up the cargo in a rain and gusty wind to adjust a tarp, that's about to fall off.
Whatever you do, be careful, get an occupational insurance...you can fall off the trailer while tarping and break a leg. God forbids, of course

 

Overall, finding own customers, in the flatbed segment, makes more sense and is more sound a business plan than say in the dry van world.
So, that's not a bad idea op.
But,
I'd go first lease on to Landstar or something similar, and do some work with their trailer, perhaps look around for own customer leads while there too.

 

I agree. I often don’t chime in on stuff like this as I’ve always been a company driver. I put pencil to paper several times and could make numbers work but when the risk was added in I could never make it work as an o/o. I’m less than a year from having my house paid off which will be the retirement home for my wife and I and an asset to leave the kids as we’re waterside on a river that is navigable to Lake Erie so it is in some ways a dream home. As I remodeled accessibility issues for elderly were provided for. So it’s all good. I feel I’m pretty squared away in most of my life and the OP sounded similar. I tagged him in my response but I think maybe everyone’s negativity and rabbit holes may have run him off. I could picture myself in his shoes had I chose to focus on the o/o route rather than the domestic front. It’s not say they couldn’t be done together but my resources weren’t sufficient to absorb the risk of the o/o model and protect the domestic side. I hope he checks back in

 

He's gone. Isn't he.....

 

Well, see he needs to hear all of it, not just the good stuff or things that support his idea. When newbies ask specifics then asks that others don’t need to answer, then to me he is just looking for people to say “hey that’s a ****** good idea”,

 

We disagree. If a guy ask for directions to the store he doesn’t need you asking how’s he planning on getting there and if he’s got a car payment. Does he have insurance and does he know how dangerous the road is. He just wants directions! All the other is unwanted noise

 

What do you expect was going to happen? lol

No, don’t do flat bed.
No, don’t lease on.

However, you don’t know me and I don’t know you so what does it really matter? If you weren’t so guarded you might learn something.

 

In my understanding, he wanted to know, if you could migrate from a dry van or reefer to open deck without a formal cargo securement training, if you had no exposure to open deck hauling before.